CWN was created as a free service by writing teachers to provide a supportive and friendly place for authors and poets at all stages in their writing lives.

No matter what your level of experience, you're invited to participate in our free fiction and poetry contests for the chance to get published and win prizes.

Use the left-hand menu or the Table of Contents below to find exactly what you need for your writing. Don't forget to bookmark this page so that you can come back for a daily dose of inspiration.

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*FREE* Endless Story Ideas Learn techniques to help you generate new creative writing ideas whenever you need them. This 3-day e-mail course is currently available for free. Sign up here

Essentials of Fiction Writing This 7-week e-mail course covers all the essential elements of fiction writing. Learn how to give readers that wonderful "lost in a book" feeling, create characters that feel real and to develop plots your readers will care about. Click here for details

Description Writing Secrets Learn how to make your fiction more vivid and real. This 8-week e-mail course will show you description-writing techniques to improve almost every aspect of a story, from character and plot to setting and mood. Click here for details

Bringing Characters to Life Learn how to create 3-dimensional characters and bring them to life in the reader's imagination. If you can make people care about your characters, they'll care about your stories. This 8-week e-mail course will show you how. Click here for details

Fiction Critiques Get individualized feedback on your fiction writing -- feedback that respects your unique writing style and voice. Learn about the strengths and weaknesses and your writing, and get advice on the exact steps you can take to improve. Click here for details

Free Online Writing Courses. We offer complete free online writing courses in fiction and poetry. Work at your own level, on your own schedule.

Story Starters. Looking for creative writing ideas? Here you'll find an endless supply of free story starters and fiction writing prompts to keep your imagination flowing.

Creative Writing Courses Guide. Help finding and choosing writing courses and MFA programs.

Writing Contests. Enter our free fiction and poetry contests for the chance to become a published author or poet and win cash prizes.

Poem Starters. Hundreds of poetry prompts and creative writing ideas so that you never run out of inspiration. Bye-bye, Writer's Block.

How to Write a Story. Everything you need to know about how to write a story from start to finish. Bring your fiction to life with vivid descriptions, exciting plots, and characters your readers will care about.

How to Write a Novel. Novel-writing advice for new authors. Find out: 7 ways to get fiction ideas, 4 ways to turn creative writing ideas into stories, the 6 top tips to make your book a success, and much more.

How to Write Poetry. A step-by-step guide to writing poetry, with lots of ideas and poem starters to inspire you. Learn essential poetry techniques and how to avoid the most common poetry problems.

How to Write a Screenplay or Play. Simple steps for developing ideas into scripts for theater or film.

Creative Journaling. Inspiration for keeping a journal, including a little trick for generating a year's worth of writing topics in less than an hour.

How to Teach Writing. If you're a writing teacher, we'd love to make your life easier. Course plans, ideas, tips and activities that you can use for your own writing classes.

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