One thing that I do a lot is teach online workshops. I find it a wonderful way to interact with other writers spread far and wide around the world. I love sharing bits of knowledge I have picked up in my professional writing career with them.

Recently, I have seen courses advertised that will teach you how to create an online course. I personally don’t believe a person needs to take a course to teach online. What they do need to know is how to select the right topic, set a schedule, and chunk it into clear, easy-to-follow lessons.

STEP 1 Selecting a Topic for an Online Course

There are many possible topics for an online writing course. A good topic is:

• Unique
• One you are super expert in
• Inspires participants to sign up

To find a unique topic, do an internet search for online writing courses. You will find that some topics are taught over and over. Plotting and how to write a novel are two of the most common.

Instead of choosing something so grandiose, think of what particular details in your own writing have been complimented by critique partners and readers.

Do you have a special trick or practice that helps you write better or faster?

Have you researched a particular historical event that would be of interest to other writers?

Do you have a template or structure that helps you write better. Fresh topics with intriguing titles will attract the most participants.

Decide if your topic will be applicable to general fiction or to a specific genre. A workshop on overused words or eliminating clichés would be useful to all fiction and non-fiction writers. If you are an expert on weapons, you may find an audience with mystery, thriller, and romantic suspense writers. If you know how to write Scottish dialect, writers of historical romances set in Scotland may be drawn to your workshop. Knowing who would be interested, will help you focus your marketing of the course later.

STEP 2: Show Your Expertise

Generate a list of possible of topics and decide which one you are most expert in. Don’t be satisfied with what you already know. Do research. Read articles and blog posts on the topic. Take notes. Become more and more expert. The more you know, the better you can teach it.

Next make a list of your credentials that qualify you to teach that topic. While having a degree or coursework in a topic area is a strong credential, experience counts too. Have you won topic-relevant awards? Published relevant books and articles?

For example, if you have chosen humorous banter between characters as a topic, do you have books or stories published that illustrate this? If you want to teach a course on the use of adverbs, have you taken a grammar course or done editing?

STEP3: Setting a Schedule

Online workshops can be anything from an intensive one to three hour video workshop to a forum-style offering of eight to ten lessons spread out over a month. The more specific the topic the less time it will take to teach. More general topics or ones that involve substantial writing assignments from participants will benefit from a longer time frame.

Also think of the time commitment of teaching a course. Short intensive workshops, allow for greater participation by workshop members, but require you, as the instructor, to focus solely on the course during that time.

Month-long workshops might fit better into your schedule, especially if you are also writing a book or working full-time at another job. They also allow participants time to do any writing assignments you assign. However, participants often lose interest when they have to wait several days for feedback or the next lesson.

STEP 4 Chunking the Material

The topic you choose will influence the length of the workshop as well. After you pick your topic, make a list of the major elements you need to cover.

If you come up with eight to ten major headings, then you have enough for a month-long workshop. Here are headings for my one month Draft Fast workshop, based on my book Fast Draft Your Manuscript and Get it Done. Each heading, itself, could be a one- to two-hour workshop.

• Creativity
• Preparing Yourself to Fast Draft
• Tracking Your Progress
• Challenging Yourself
• Setting Your Course
• Ready Set Go
• Conquering Speed Bumps
• Staying Your Course
• Sprint Your Way Home

Design your course so that it utilizes a variety of media, including lectures, worksheets, writing assignments, illustrative graphics, photos, and video. It should also have a chat feature so you can talk to student or send them messages and hand assignments back and forth.

Offering something as a reward for participating in the course can be an added benefit for those taking the course. I often give out copies of my books or critique a piece of writing.

One of the best ways to learn how to design and teach an online workshop or course is to take many yourself.

STEP 5 Offering the Course on Your Own

Once you have a course ready, you need to make your workshop live on the web.

There are several sites that host self-directed and video workshops and facilitate payment. Teachable is one. Check this review site for several other suggestions.

If you use WordPress, there are a WordPress plugins you can use to build a course inside your website.

Zoom and its alternatives provide a format for live video courses that include chat. You can share your computer screen and PowerPoint type presentations and video.

A less fancy, but free place to offer a workshop, is groups.io. This is a place to host a forum for a closed group of approved members. Messages, which can include photos and videos, go directly to participants’ email. To respond, they reply back to the message. Many groups offering online workshops use this platform. Discord is another choice. You can also run a course on a Facebook Group Event page. This is how Mary Buckham offers some of her workshops. (Note: Her workshop write provides an excellent model of what to include in a writing workshop.)

STEP 6 Offering Your Course Through Writing Groups

Many writing groups offer online workshops as do writing conferences. There is also an online conference-type platform called a Mastery Summit.

Some places to check:

• Mastery Summits
• RWA Chapters
• Writing Conferences
• Writing Groups (scroll down)

Pricing and Publicizing Your Course

While it is tempting to charge the equivalent of a college course or a course from a famous author, starting out with reasonable fees will help you build your reputation as an excellent teacher and gain you more opportunities to teach.

The sweet spot is probably somewhere at $50 and below per person. Later when you are established, you can raise your fees.

Finding participants is no different than marketing your books or anything else. Use your newsletter if you have one. Share the course in any writer’s group you belong to. Join specialized writing groups on Facebook, Instagram, etc. Advertise on social media.

Don’t worry if you start small. Even a one-on-one course can be rewarding. Have happy participants write reviews for you so the next time you can share testimonials. Encourage them to tell other writers about your workshop. Word-of-mouth is some of the best advertising you can have.

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Have you ever taken an online workshop? What did you like about it? What did you not like?