Top 11 Excellent Short Story Writing Courses

Starting out with writing might feel intimidating to many of us. Whatever your story is about, how you choose to tell it makes the difference. Short story writing courses with a calm professional approach to relaxing and unwinding the creative processes will help you bring out the best in yourself, regardless of your prior experience.

What Exactly is a Short Story?

Short stories are self-contained pieces of prose fiction to impart a moral, capture a moment, or evoke a certain emotion. Short tales are frequently more concentrated since all of the elements—plot, character, pacing, story structure, and so on—must work together to achieve this purpose.

A regular short story has a word count ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 words, however, there are always exceptions to the rule. Flash fiction is a type of creative writing that can be as brief as five words, and there is a distinction between short stories and novellas (which are typically 30,000 words or more).

How to Learn Short Story Writing?

You can learn short story writing by enrolling in a writing course on a broader category such as content writing or creative writing, or you can enroll in a course that solely focuses on short story writing. Each of the methods has its pros and cons but ultimately you need to decide what suits you. To help you in that journey we have compiled a list of short story writing courses for you to check out.

List of Short Story Writing Courses

1. Content Writing Master Course by IIM SKILLS

If you prefer a more comprehensive course then this course would be suitable for you. It focuses on the broader category of content writing. IIM SKILLS has taught over 15000 people from over 35 countries across the world. IIM SKILLS is a leading global supplier of online education programs. This institution’s programs have been ranked first by top education blogs such as Career360, CourseReport, AdvisorUncle, and CourseDekho.

This course consists of 4 weeks of Live online classes. After which there will be 3 months of guaranteed internship. They have a placement assistant and also help you with portfolio development.

IIM SKILLS CONTENT WRITING COURSE MODULES & CONTENT

The Content Writing Course Consists of 16 Modules:

• Introduction to Content Writing
• WordPress Web Development
• Digital Content (Articles, Blogging, WebPages)
• Copywriting
• Marketing Collaterals
• Email Writing
• Social Media Writing & Video Scripts
• Creative Writing
• SOP & Business Listing
• Legal Writing
• Technical Writing 101
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Content Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing & Adsense
• Freelance Content Writing
• Resume Writing

Pricing:

INR 14,900 + GST

Contact: [email protected]

2. How to Craft a Killer Short Story by Reedsy

If you are looking for concentrated short story writing, then this is one of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. Emmanuel Nataf, Ricardo Fayet, Vincent Durand, and Matt Cobb established Reedsy in the summer of 2014. They established a community of over 1 million writers and 2,500 freelance professionals.

The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program provided financing for this study under grant agreement No 734046. Laura Mae Isaacman works as a full-time editor and owns a book editing business in Brooklyn, New York. Joyce Carol Oates, T.C. Boyle, and Noam Chomsky are among the writers she has collaborated with. They will provide you with a free 10-lesson course. Each lesson lasts 5 minutes and is emailed to your inbox every morning.

Pricing:

Free

Contact: [email protected]

Check out the best Online Creative Writing Courses

3. Short Story Writing Course by Christopher Fielden

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. Since this is a self-paced course with unlimited access, you can take as long as you want to finish the course. This is a free short story writing course that focuses on the craft of creating short stories and flash fiction, with a strong emphasis on getting your work published.

If you want to improve your fiction writing skills and get your work published, this course is perfect for both beginning and intermediate authors. This course’s video lessons include fundamental short story writing strategies, typical short story writing faults, information on a guaranteed publication chance, and more.

Christopher Fielden, an award-winning Amazon bestseller, is the course instructor. In 2019, he was a finalist in the Fiction: Short Story category of the International Book Awards. The free course was created so that authors may test the instructor’s teaching method before investing in his entire short story course, which employs in-depth case studies to illustrate how each piece of advice he provides has been applied in real-life to achieve literary success.

Pricing:

Free

Contact: [email protected]

4. Writing Short Stories by Learn Direct

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. Dimensions Training Solutions(DTS) presently owns Learn Direct. DTS is a company that belongs to Stonebridge Group. The Stonebridge Group is a significant education-related conglomerate that primarily focuses on online distance learning for both government-supported and commercially financed credentials and courses. The Group’s declared goal has always been to improve growth through online learning.

It is an Online and Self-paced Course, Consisting of 5 Modules:

• Plot Planning
• Writing Effective Stories
• Essential Fiction Know-How
• The Way to Characterize
• Selling Short Stories

You will receive access to the course for 12 months only, after which you will be able to purchase extensions. For finishing the course, a certificate of success from the Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary are issued. You will learn the technique of excellent fiction writing with the help of the tutors: Vivid picture that transports your reader to the scene and lets them experience the mood.

With this Short Narrative Writing course, you will learn how to build a character, use description, establish a location, and plot a short story. Action and language make the viewer care about your characters’ actions and understand their intentions. Dramatic approaches that generate unexpected problems and tense suspense, and much much more.

Pricing:

They have flexible payment options starting at £9.99.

Contact: [email protected]

Also, find here the best Non-fiction Writing Courses

5. Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience by Domestika

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. Domestika began as an online forum and a small but vibrant exposition of creative professionals, to connect and learn from one another. Domestika expanded its scope, inspired by its successful community, by creating online courses for anybody interested in unlocking their creative potential and connecting with like-minded creatives from across the world. 

Domestika meticulously curates the instructor roster and creates all of the courses in-house to guarantee that everyone has a high-quality online learning experience. The instructor for this course is Shaun Levin who has over twenty years of teaching experience in universities, schools, art galleries, and other venues.

He has published several novels and short story collections, and even three guides for writers taking on book-length projects such as The Writing Notebooks. In this Domestika course, you get to explore Shaun’s creative approach to identifying and producing short stories totally from his imagination or based on actual events with a touch of fiction. Discover regular writing tasks that might lead to the creation of a collection of short stories, a memoir, or even a novel.

There Are 6 Modules:

• Introduction
• How to look for and find stories
• Entering the world of your story
• How to make a story
• What happens when a story is finished? Another story!
• Final project

Pricing:

$59.99 (discounts of over 80% may be available at times)

Contact: Their preferred mode of contact is through the form on their contact page.

6. Writing Short Stories: The Essential Guide from Udemy

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. This course has a rating of 4.5 after 1,004 reviews and 6946 students have enrolled in it. The instructor for this course is Jane Bettany who completed her MA in Creative Writing in 2004. She has been a teacher of creative writing since 2007.

Jane has published short stories and non-fiction essays in women’s publications in the United Kingdom (including My Weekly, Hello Magazine, The Weekly News, The People’s Friend, Yours, and Woman’s Weekly), as well as literary magazines and newspapers.

She also wrote the DI Isabel Blood crime series, which was published by HQ HarperCollins. In 2019, the first book in the series won the Gransnet Novel Writing Competition. You will grasp the many parts of short fiction writing and how to weave them into a finished tale by the conclusion of the course. You’ll learn how to find appropriate markets as well as how to edit, prepare, and submit your book.

The Course Has Been Divided Into 7 Sections:

• Introduction
• So what are short stories?
• Identify your market
• Short story elements
• Editing
• Submitting your story
• Wrap up

Pricing:

$89.9 (Discounts may be available)

Contact: To ask questions, you can try talking with their help and support chatbox. For course-related questions, you have to check the Q&A and if the question is not there, then you have to enter a new question when prompted.

Must Read: Short Story Tips

7. The Art of the Short Story from Master Class

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. The masterclass is an image masterclass line experience that allows anybody to learn from the world’s top practitioners. The teacher designed each program which contains significant pre-recorded video content, an instructor’s guide, interactive assignments, and community activities.

The 14 video lectures include topics such as short story writing concepts, observation techniques, structure and form, writing and revision workshops, and much more. You will uncover ideas from your own experiences and perspectives in this MasterCIass course, experiment with structure, and enhance your craft one phrase at a time.

You cannot buy individual courses. So the cost of its membership would be more justifiable if you are an avid learner. They have other great courses on writing as well.

Pricing:

The annual membership is $180 and provides unlimited access to all classes and new classes as they launch. All MasterCIass memberships include access to their mobile and TV apps, high-definition videos, and downloadable class workbooks.

Contact: [email protected].

8. Short Story Fundamentals by Writer’s Digest University

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. This course was created by Writer’s Digest, a top resource for aspiring authors for over 90 years. Writer’s Digest University provides a range of online writing classes for writers of all levels of expertise.

They have two available instructors: John DeChancie and Ran Walker. When you enroll in the course, you will be assigned an instructor. You will receive comments and assistance throughout this four-week course as you write and polish a full short tale from beginning to end.

You will learn what editors are searching for in short tales that they select to publish. Literary magazines are constantly seeking good tales, and with the developments in online submissions, it’s never been simpler to get your work in front of an editor.

The Course Has Four Sessions:

• Writing the Beginning
• Pacing the Middle of Your Story
• How to end
• Revision

Their Sessions Typically Last One Week and Contain the Following Sections:

• Lecture Material
• Required/Recommended Reading
• Discussion Area
• Writing Assignment
• Peer Critiques
• Private Journal

Pricing:

$249.99

Contact: [email protected]

Recommended Read: Content Writing Courses in India

9. Writing Short Stories by Curtis Brown Creative

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. For the past 10 years, Curtis Brown Creative has been assisting writers in telling their tales. They established their flagship London-based Writing Your Novel courses in 2011 to discover great authors and assist them in getting the most out of their writing and developing their books to their maximum potential.

After a decade, they now have an increasing number of low-cost online courses covering not just novel writing, but also a range of other genres and forms such as children’s writing, short stories, and memoir writing. These shorter courses are intended to help you discover your potential and learn new writing abilities, regardless of your present level.

There is no application procedure for these courses; simply enroll in the course of your choice. If you enjoy short tales and want to learn how to write them well, this is the course for you. Perhaps are you just getting started with creative writing and want to find your way ahead by working with a brief and manageable form?

Perhaps you’re an experienced writer looking to polish your craft and compose stories that will serve as a terrific showcase for your work. Or perhaps you’re completely enamored with the exquisite worlds-in-small that make up the finest short stories and want to build your own.

Cynan Jones, award-winning short-story writer, and novelist will walk you through the process of writing and editing a whole narrative in this brand new six-week online course, providing you with all the tools you’ll need to create something unique.

This Course is Divided Into 6 Modules:

• Starting
• Stop, Look, Listen
• Who, and in What Place?
• Finishing
• Detail and Dialogue
• Concision

Pricing:

For full participation in the online course it is £210. If you want an assessment as well then it is £355. If you want to add both assessment and tutorial then it is £450.

Contact: [email protected]

10. Short Story Writing for Magazines Course by UK Writers College

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. They have 22 global instructors on staff, 35 writing courses, and hundreds of happy alumni. Their students come from as diverse a range of backgrounds as they do geographical areas, ranging from published or professional authors looking to enhance or broaden their writing talents to first-timers who have always wanted to write but haven’t known how or where to begin.

Ginny Swart is the course instructor. Ginny Swart has sold almost 700 short tales to women’s magazines worldwide. Her more serious writing has appeared in literary journals in the United States, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and on the Internet. She has also received the prestigious Real Writers’ Prize in the United Kingdom in 2003 with her winning contribution chosen from 4,000 submissions.

The Course Consists of 8 Modules:

• Getting Started
• Characterization
• Writing Dialogue
• Point of View
• How to Plot Your Story
• Setting and Story Structure
• Editing Your Story
• Submitting Your Story for Publication

Pricing:

£ 569

Contact: [email protected]

You may also want to learn the Effective Creative Writing Tips

11. Advanced Fiction: Writing the Short Story by Harvard University

This is another of the short story writing courses that we would recommend. This course is associated with the Harvard Summer School. This course is delivered through live online conferencing. Students are expected to attend and participate in the allocated meeting time. Secondary School Program pupils are not permitted.

Elizabeth Ames has been awarded the Linda Moscow Prize for Teaching Excellence. She has taught writing to a Rwandan drumming band, jailed youths in Michigan, college students from Michigan to Washington state, and Quincy House at Harvard College.

This is a hands-on session on the technique of creating short stories. It’s for authors who enjoy reading short tales and want to bring their own to life on paper. Students must read widely among historical and present practitioners of the short story form when they enroll. They build the course on that basis by closely reading and discussing outstanding short tales.

They also explore how to structure a work-in-progress collection, how to submit pieces to literary magazines, and how to stay committed to your vision. You are going to spend a lot of time together in the workshop with students attentively reading and thoughtfully replying to one another’s writing and collaborate to figure out how to effectively filter and synthesize the feedback provided in a workshop format.

Peer review abilities are essential for editing one’s work, and students finish the course having created and altered two new short stories.

Pricing:

$2,980

Contact: [email protected]

Frequently Asked Questions- FAQs

Q2. Are short story writing courses worth it?

They are worth it if you choose a course taught by a credible instructor. You have to finish the assigned tasks of the course and write and share your short tales or articles.

Q2. What are some examples of great modern short stories?

If you are looking for good examples to learn from, then you can read some good short story collections such as:

• The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt (2017) 
• A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction by Terry Pratchett (2015)
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell (2013)
• Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu(2012)
• The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer(2011)

Q3. What if I’m not sure what form of writing I want to focus on?

If you feel uncertain about the short story being the appropriate niche for you then you should opt for a course on the broader category of creative writing.

Conclusion:

The short story is abundant writing courses out there. In this article, we have tried to help you by providing you with a list of the finer courses available. You can take any of the courses that suit your specific needs. Short story writing is seen as an essential exercise that is used to develop young minds. However, it can even be taken up at any age.