Just finished my first free writing course! What should I take next?

[LarryBrown]

Hey everyone! I finally did it. After years of just thinking about writing, I enrolled in a free writing course offered through the MIT OpenCourseWare platform . I took the "Writing and Reading Short Stories" class, and it completely demystified the process for me. Learning about narrative structure without spending a dime was incredible.

Now that I have a tiny bit of confidence, I'm standing in the middle of a huge library of free writing courses and feeling a bit overwhelmed. There are so many options! For those of you who started with fiction, did you jump into poetry next, or did you try technical writing to build discipline? I want to keep this momentum going but don't want to pick something so advanced it discourages me. Any suggestions for a solid "level 2" free writing course that focuses on character development? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Amelia]

The MIT OpenCourseware platform is a treasure chest, and you've just unlocked the first door. Your instinct to focus on character development is spot-on.

For a "level 2" course that builds directly on your short story foundation, I highly recommend the Open University's "Start writing fiction: characters and stories" available for free on OpenLearn . This course was created to do exactly what you're looking for: help writers of all levels develop compelling characters. It's a practical, hands-on course guided by novelist Derek Neale, featuring interviews with acclaimed authors like Michèle Roberts and Abdulrazak Gurnah about their creative processes . You'll explore how to use a writer's journal, learn to "read like a writer," and get dedicated exercises in character creation . It's designed to take about three hours a week, making it a manageable and enriching next step .

Once you've deepened your character toolkit, MIT's own catalog has fantastic genre workshops on fantasy and science fiction where you can put those characters into new worlds . You're on a great path!