Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot
Coursera
In this course aspiring writers will be introduced to perhaps the most elemental and often the most challenging element of story: plot. We will learn what keeps it moving, how it manipulates our feelings, expectations, and desires. We will examine the choices storytellers make to snag our imaginations, drag them into a fictional world, and keep them there. We will learn how to outline and structure a plot, discuss narrative arc, pacing and reversals and reveal the inevitable surprise: connecting the beginning, middle and end.
More resources on Creative Writing
Mythcreants
Long-running craft blog and podcast by Chris Winkle and Oren Ashkenazi, analyzing story structure, worldbuilding, character arcs and common failure modes in published speculative fiction. Posts diagnose why specific scenes work or collapse, giving writers repeatable revision criteria.
Writing Excuses
Podcast founded by working genre novelists including Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal and Dan Wells, with hundreds of archived episodes on plot, character, revision and career. Each short episode closes with a writing exercise to apply immediately.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King's part memoir, part practical manual: an account of his early life and career followed by direct advice on vocabulary, grammar, style, dialogue, revision and the daily writing habit. Readers come away with a concrete toolbox and working routine for producing fiction.
Reedsy Learning
Catalog of short courses from editors, publicists and authors who work in publishing, delivered as free ten-day email lessons or paid video series. Covers novel planning, self-editing, querying agents, and marketing a finished manuscript.
Brandon Sanderson's 2020 Creative Writing Lectures
Learn creative writing from bestselling author Brandon Sanderson! This course covers storytelling, character development, and worldbuilding.
Poets & Writers
Nonprofit organization's site for creative writers, with searchable databases of literary magazines, small presses, writing contests, grants and MFA programs, plus craft and publishing essays. Writers use it to find submission venues, track contest deadlines and plan a path to publication.