43 Best Short Story Writing Classes in 2026

A free Halloween-day class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 31 October on writing short fiction that unsettles. Seasonal in timing but craft-focused in content - what actually makes a short story frightening on the page. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 14 November on telling a complete story in under 1,000 words. Covers the range of flash lengths and what each one can carry. A useful discipline if your drafts sprawl. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

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.

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.

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.

Monthly morning group at Withington Library, last Friday of the month at 10.30am, GBP 1 a session. Each meeting takes a theme - the group's example is 'write about what you know' - discusses it, then members read out work they have brought. Members are working on short stories, poetry and novels, and the group says it welcomes life writing, children's writing and articles too. Two things to know before booking: it runs through U3A, so you need to be a member, and U3A is aimed at people no longer in full-time work.

Eight-week evening workshop at the QWF office on Atwater Avenue in Westmount, Montreal, Tuesdays 8-10pm from 6 October, led by Eva Crocker, author of the novels Back in the Land of the Living and All I Ask and the prize-winning collection Barrelling Forward. One element of craft per week - setting, character, dialogue, description, voice, theme, point of view, structure. You submit one full story of 2,500-3,000 words for group critique and must have it ready before the first session. Capped at 12; registrations default to in-person seats, with two virtual places available only on request. This autumn's intake is full and QWF is running a waitlist - fees are shown once places reopen.

Eight-week in-class short story course on the St. George campus in Toronto, Tuesdays 6.30-9pm from 20 October, with Toronto writer Derek Mascarenhas. Fee $699 CAD. The autumn term runs two in-class sections and this is the later one, which suits anyone who cannot start in September. Counts towards the SCS Certificate in Creative Writing.

Six-week in-person short fiction workshop at The Porch House in Nashville with Erin Cecilia Thomas, $365 ($311 for members). This is a true workshop rather than a lecture course: you submit your own work in progress for critique and are expected to give considered feedback on everyone else's. Published models under discussion include Joy Williams. Aimed at writers already drafting stories, not at complete beginners.

In-person course in Minneapolis, $148 ($133.20 for Loft Friends), taught by James Ellis. Four Wednesday evenings, 16 September to 7 October 2026, 6:00-8:00pm at The Loft Literary Center. Four weeks to build one short story from scratch - the shortest multi-week commitment on the current in-person list, and the cheapest of the term courses.

In-person single session in Chicago, $65, taught by Cyn Vargas. Monday 24 September 2026, 6:30-8:30pm at StoryStudio’s Chicago studio. Two hours on how a story is put together - where it starts, how it moves, where the weight falls. Renewed from the expired ‘Form & Content: Experimenting with Prose Structures’ listing, which StoryStudio no longer runs; this is the closest current same-provider equivalent on structure. URL moved off the generic /classes page onto the class itself.

In-person course in Los Angeles at UCLA Extension, eleven weeks from 23 September 2026. Continues the short story sequence: writing and workshopping complete stories rather than exercises, with the expectation that you arrive with some drafting experience. Renewed from the expired Short Story I listing - UCLA Extension is not running Short Story I in person this term, so this is the closest current same-provider equivalent, one level up. The stored URL previously pointed at the uclaextension.edu homepage and now points at the course itself.