198 Best Fiction Writing Classes in 2026

Four in-person sessions at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Aram Mrjoian, $315, on the visual dimension of prose - how a page looks, how white space and shape carry meaning alongside the words. Starts 29 October. A narrower brief than most prose workshops, and one that suits writers already comfortable with sentences who want to think about the page as an object.

An eight-week in-person foundation course at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Kathryn Kruse, $585, covering the elements common to fiction, non-fiction and poetry rather than specialising early. Starts 21 October. The genre-spanning approach makes it a sensible first course if you have not settled on a form yet, and eight weeks is long enough to build a habit rather than just sample one.

A two-day in-person weekend at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, 7 and 8 November, built around writing of the West - nature writing, western settings and western sensibilities. Open to fiction and nonfiction writers. One of the few Lighthouse offerings taught in the room rather than on Zoom. Pricing is announced with registration.

A two-day in-person weekend retreat for LGBTQIA+ writers at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, 10 and 11 October. Lighthouse runs most of its adult catalogue on Zoom, so the weekend fests are where its in-person teaching actually happens - worth knowing if being in the room matters to you. Pricing is announced with registration rather than listed in advance.

A free weekly fiction group at Pacific Highlands Ranch Library, 12911 Pacific Pl, running Tuesdays 5.30pm to 7.30pm with Crissy Simon. Open to fiction writers at any stage, working either to prompts or on their own project. The first half hour is given over to settling and community before the writing starts, which makes it easier to walk into cold than most groups.

Two Saturday sessions with Caroline Bock at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $100 ($85 for members), drafting a series of micro stories of 300 words or less that stand alone but can also link into something larger. 17 and 24 October, 10am to 12.30pm. The linked-sequence angle is the useful part - most flash workshops treat each piece as a one-off.

A Saturday morning session with novelist Eva Langston at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $60 ($50 for members), on sharpening a novel's premise and learning to pitch it briefly to agents, editors and readers. Two hours on 26 September, 10am to noon - useful at the point where a draft exists but you cannot yet say what the book is in a sentence.

A ten-month in-person course at the Writers Studio's Bronte studio in Sydney, built to get a complete first draft of a novel or screenplay finished by people who work full time. Fee is $4,495 AUD including GST, or $965 registration plus nine monthly payments of $400. You meet one Saturday a month, 10am to 6pm, plus one full weekend intensive, with founders Roland and Kathleen teaching and further tutors supporting between sessions. The structure breaks the draft into weekly tasks rather than leaving you to pace it yourself.

Weekly writing workshops that facilitate creative exploration in various genres, including literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Participants can attend the first session at no cost as a guest. The workshops use the Amherst Writers & Artists method to encourage artistic growth.

In-person retreat mornings in Cincinnati, $100, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. Four standalone Saturday dates - 19 September, 10 October, 14 November and 5 December 2026 - each running 10:00am-12:30pm, ages 18+. Each date is a self-contained half-day retreat rather than a sequence, so you can book a single morning without committing to a term. Need-based scholarships of up to $100 are available for any CCAC class via a short application.

A two-day online event focused on getting published, with sessions on pitching, publishing avenues, and storytelling techniques. Includes personal critiques and optional one-on-one meetings with agents.

Weekly work-in-progress group at Emmanuel Church on Barlow Moor Road in Didsbury, Tuesdays 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Your first session is free, after which it is GBP 2.50 to cover the room hire and a coffee halfway through. Each week around six members read out what they have been working on for the rest of the group to comment on and question, with a different six the following week. The stated focus is getting published, so a typical evening might cover characterisation and dialogue one week and how to get a literary agent's attention the next. Mostly novels in progress, with short stories, poetry, memoir, science fiction, horror, children's fiction and the occasional play script. Contact them before turning up - there is sometimes a waiting list.