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On Writing Fantasy: Online Classes

© Debbie Ledesma

Writing is a profession that takes time, perseverance and knowledge. A writer must constantly pursue research and learning of new subjects to help generate new ideas and feed their imaginations. This is even truer for Fantasy authors that create whole new worlds for their books. Online classes are a good way to learn new knowledge for research and increase a writer's creativity. Classes come in a variety of subjects, are reasonably priced, and self paced for a writer to gain new knowledge without a lot of time consumption. There are several places on the expanding Internet to take these classes.

A relatively new site for online classes is Suite University (http://www.suite101.com/suiteu/). Divided into several schools, classes can be found in topics under religion, writing, literature, etc. These classes are taught by knowledgeable people who know their subjects. The classes can be taken as an individualized self paced version or as a full interactive version where the student can interact with a teacher and other students. A wide variety of subjects helps writers find information they can use in their writing.

Virtual University is an online class company (http://www.vu.org) that has been around for a long time. They have classes in the areas of computers, self help, general interest and others. Up to four classes can be taken for the price of twenty dollars. The classes are taught by knowledgeable people, some with Masters degrees. A lot of information can be learned in a short time. Courses on forensics and serial killers are informative. This is a good site to learn new things.

Another good site for online classes is Course Bridge. Designed for adult learners, they have classes of general interest, spirituality and useful ones on writing. Fantasy writers would especially find the class on Medieval castles helpful to their writing. New courses are added all the time. Their courses provide a lot of information for a fair price. This site is found at: http://www.coursebridge.com

Barnes and Noble has a university of online classes at its Internet book selling site (http://university.barnesandnoble.com) Classes are available in several categories. Some are for book reading clubs, while others cover computer classes, liberal arts and others. One good thing is the price, which is free. These classes are quick and easy to get done.

A site of interest for writers is Fathom. This is a site run by several colleges like Columbia University that used to have online classes. The site (http://www.fathom.com) is now an archive, which contains information in several different subjects. There is a lot of good information to learn for ideas.

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