creative writing peer editing

Editing Checklist for Self- and Peer Editing

About this printout

This helpful tool will give your students the opportunity to edit their own writing and then observe as their peers edit the same work.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Before you begin, be sure to model and discuss each step of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing), preferably using a whole-class story or class newsletter article. Please note that the revising stage precedes editing. Student should have already worked through content revisions before reaching the editing step. When they are ready for the editing stage of the writing process, students should edit their writing and then meet with a partner to engage in peer editing. Prior to having students use this tool independently, it is important to model its use. To do this, display sample text on an overhead projector, document camera, or SMART Board so that all students can view it. Model the use of the self-edit column with the displayed text, with you assuming the role of author. Then have a volunteer fill out the peer-edit column so that all students can hear and view the process. Finally, discuss what went well and what could be improved in the editing steps that were modeled. This tool serves multiple purposes, including:

• The self-edit step

encourages students to evaluate specific features of their writing, increasing self-awareness of writing conventions keeps the pen in the writer’s hand for the initial editing phase

• The peer-edit step

helps build a learning community in which peers work collaboratively heightens the awareness of various print and grammatical conventions for the peer editor and the author

• Use a fish-bowl technique to allow the class to view a self- and peer-edit session of two of their classmates. To do this, first choose one student to model the self-editing phase. It is helpful to select a student who has a good understanding of the criteria on the rubric, such as proper grammar and punctuation. That student works through the items in the self-edit column as the other students observe. It is helpful to put the editing checklist on an overhead projector or document camera so all students can see the process. After the self-edit is complete, discuss the process with the students. Next, choose another student to serve as the peer editor for the piece that was just self-edited.  Have the two students sit in the middle of the class so that all students can see and hear them as they work through the peer-editing phase. Afterward, include the entire class in a discussion about the process itself and ways in which the editing session will help the author and peer editor improve on their writing.
• Have students work in groups of two or three to edit one piece of writing. The interaction between peers will help make the editing process more explicit. While the students are working in groups, move from group to group to check their understanding of the editing process and use of the checklist. Try to notice groups that lack comments in the “Comments and Suggestions” columns and encourage them to use this section to provide feedback to the writer, particularly for criteria that lack a check mark. To guide them, you could ask, “What do you think you could write in the ‘Comments’ section to help the writer fix this error?” Be sure to tell students that if they are unable to mark a check in the “After completing each step, place a check here” column, they must indicate the reason why they cannot check it in the “Comments and Suggestions” column.

• If your school uses a team approach for grouping students (a group of students who all share the same content area teachers), consider encouraging other team teachers to use this checklist in their respective content areas. Consistency in the editing process will help students understand that the editing process can apply to all written pieces, regardless of the content area.
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5 Peer Editing Strategies That Actually Work For Student Writers

When you ask your students to do peer review of their writing, do they stare at you with puzzled expressions?[…] Continue Reading

When you ask your students to do peer review of their writing, do they stare at you with puzzled expressions? Here are five specific, hands-on approaches to peer conferencing that your students can really sink their teeth into.

Revising and editing a peer’s writing helps students learn to work as a team. It also gives them a fresh perspective on the proofreading process that will help them become more aware as they write and edit their own work. So, how can you make the peer review and editing process engaging, meaningful and fun for students? Here are five ways to get your students excited about peer review that actually work!

Highlighter Markers: 3 Colors Yellow – Mark the first word of each sentence. Questions to think about: Is there variety? Does the writer use transitional words? Are there any sentence fragments or run-ons? Pink – Highlight each adjective. Think about: Is the writing descriptive? Are the adjectives strong and specific? Blue – Highlight each verb. Think about: Are there too many “to be” verbs? Are the verb choices strong?

Students begin by highlighting specifics. Then, remind them to look at the big picture. After highlighting, they can make comparisons and add suggestions about what the student needs to add, adjust or remove. Proofreading will come later. First, they are helping a peer with sentence fluency and word choice—both descriptive language and “showing without telling.”

Teach students about the revision sandwich: compliment, suggest, correct. Remind students that when reviewing someone’s work, always start out by saying what they like about their work. Next, they make a suggestion and converse with their partner. Students ask questions. Then, they make corrections. By working together, they both learn from each other.

Click here for a PDF of the Writing Wheel Checklist.

Revising (The big picture) A dd words and sentences (be descriptive, capture all ideas). R emove words and sentences (be concise). M ove words and sentences (sentence fluency, organization). S ubstitute words and sentences (word choice, voice).

Editing (Conventions) C apitalization U sage (Verbs and nouns—does it make sense?) P unctuation S pelling

To help students with their understanding, say you use your arms and hand to hold your ear to help them remember that when you revise, you want the writing to sound better. If you punch a hole in a cup and look through it, you are using your eyes. This will help them remember that when you edit, you want your writing to look better. Students could even create a telescope made out of a paper cup and call it their Revisoscope! Check out Busy Bee Kids Crafts to see how to construct one. Once students know the difference between revising and editing and have the acronyms memorized, they can jot them down on a Post-it note when checking a peer’s writing. The acronyms will remind students of what to look for and how writing can be improved to make it look and sound better!

Print out Be the Editor task cards for students to use when revising and editing at each station. Students use Zaner-Bloser’s task cards to help them discuss and check one another’s writing! The task cards provide the children with prompts, making editing/revising easier. By concentrating on one writing trait at a time at each station, students will not feel overwhelmed. Along with the task cards, put out highlighters, sticky notes, colored pencils and other writing utensils to keep students interested.

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How to Teach Peer Editing: Effective Strategies for the ELA Classroom

Wondering how to teach peer editing in your classroom? Dive into helpful reminders, effective strategies, and sample exercises to share with your students. Let this article guide you as you reassess your approach to this critical aspect of the writing process.

Even as teachers, providing feedback can be a struggle. There’s so much to process; where do you begin? How much is too little or too much? How can you ensure the feedback is constructive and effective? Now, imagine the challenge our students face when we task them with peer editing. Cue the ineffective “Your paper was good” and “I liked it” comments students typically give. There has to be a better way to teach peer editing, right? Read on for effective strategies you can use when considering how to teach peer editing in your classroom.

The Importance of Peer Editing

Revision is an essential part of the writing process, including peer revisions. Peer editing has many benefits once students move beyond superficial comments and simple proofreading.

One of the most significant benefits is receiving feedback on one’s writing from a reader’s perspective. We often read over our work with the understanding of what we meant to say. However, the intention does not always translate so clearly. Writers are so close to their work that it can be difficult to spot areas for improvement. That’s where peer editing comes into play. As students review and revise each other’s work, they provide a fresh perspective, new insight, and an overall second eye for any simple mistakes. However, peer editing is just as beneficial for the reader as the writer. By reviewing their peers’ work, students can learn about themselves as writers, gaining new insights into how they can improve their writing.

Introducing Peer Editing

Rather than assuming your students understand how to approach peer editing effectively, I recommend you begin with a brief introduction to remind students what it is, why it’s important, and how to do it. Sure, your students will likely believe they already know, but their lackluster comments and surface-level suggestions say otherwise.

Begin by explaining what peer editing is not. It is not the same as proofreading. Effective peer editing required students to look beyond surface-level spelling and grammar mistakes. Encourage students to consider the word re vision, emphasizing the idea of bringing a new set of eyes to a text.

Students need a reminder that peer editing includes critically analyzing aspects such as content and structure. Therefore, it is not just about corrections. More importantly, effective peer editing is about providing feedback and suggestions.

Introduce Various Types of Feedback

Simply telling students to leave feedback is not enough. Many students will continue to make basic corrections or stick to surface-level comments. Therefore, I find it helpful to explain the different types of feedback students can leave when peer editing:

• Compliments: This is what I call the feel-good-feedback. Making space for positive feedback is essential to building confident writers. Students should always leave at least one specific compliment about a particular aspect of the writing.
• Corrections: This type of feedback is not up for debate. Corrections are meant to note mistakes in spelling and grammar and mark something that is missing. For example, if a paper is missing a thesis statement, hook, evidence, or conclusion, a correction would point that out.
• Suggestions: Students shouldn’t take this type of feedback lightly. However, the how is up to the writer when implementing the suggestions in their next draft. The editor provides insight, but the writer decides what to do with it if anything at all.
• Questions: Questions are similar to suggestions in that the writer decides what to do with them when it comes to the next phase of writing. However, I always remind students to be mindful of their audience. If a reader has a question, it’s worth considering the answer and working it into your piece.

Regardless of which category of feedback the student is leaving, explain the importance of being specific . For example, don’t just identify something as confusing or intriguing. Remind them to explain why .

How to Teach Peer Editing: Effective Strategies

Relying on a peer editing handout isn’t the only strategy you can use. Consider the following as alternatives or in addition to your current practice:

Model the process: Before students can leave effective feedback on their own, it helps to understand how . Have a student volunteer their essay or use a model to read and revise with your students. Explain your thought process, including any questions or comments that come about as you read and annotate the piece. As you move through the paper, you can start asking students for their thoughts on what feedback they would leave.

Provide guidelines and rubrics : Before students engage in peer editing, be sure they know what they are looking for. Having a copy of the expectations on hand provides a guide for students as they engage in peer editing. Consider providing an extended rubric where students can leave specific feedback and suggestions for each category. That way, both readers and writers have a clear understanding of the feedback.

Provide a checklist: For more holistic revisions, consider providing a checklist. For each item on the checklist, leave space for the editor to leave a specific comment. If the item is checked off, the student can write a specific piece of praise or an optional suggestion for improvement. (Just because they have it, doesn’t mean it’s perfect!) If the item is missing from the paper or unsuccessfully incorporated, the editor should provide a suggestion, ask a question, or specify what is missing.

Narrow the focus: This is one of my favorite techniques.To avoid overgeneralized holistic feedback (“It was good”), consider providing a specific lens through which students conduct their revision. Students are often overwhelmed by power editing because they don’t know where to begin. Narrowing the focus to one to three specifics can help take some pressure off and ensure writers get relevant feedback on their drafts.

Offer thinking stems: Providing students with thinning stems can relieve some of the stress of peer editing. Guide them toward more effective feedback by helping them get started. Here are a few ideas:

• The … was effective because …
• I was confused by the … because …. Consider …
• You make a good point about … but it might benefit from more …
• Instead of … consider trying …
• Your piece made me feel/think …

Peer Editing Exercises to Try in Your Classroom

Ready to see peer editing in action? Consider trying one of these exercises:

Peer Edit Station Rotation: The value is peer editing is perspective, right? This activity allows students to receive feedback from various students and get up and move around. Arrange the desks into six groups and leave a stack of papers at each station. Randomly assign students to a table and have them pick one essay to edit until the timer goes off. When time is up, students must move to a new table and select a different paper to focus.  Allow enough time for each paper to be reviewed at least three times. Add a little extra fun by letting students pick a fun (yet legible) color to use for their feedback. The result? A rainbow of revisions!

Mystery Peer Edit Pile: This simple peer editing activity takes away the stress of students knowing which paper belongs to whom. (Bye-bye biases and social pressure!) Have each student bring a copy of their draft without their name on it to add to the mystery pile.  Hand each student a random draft from the stack (just make sure they don’t get their own) to read and review. Once they finish leaving their feedback, they return the paper to the pile and grab another. This cycle goes on for the duration of the activity.

Editorial Board: Roleplaying can make a seemingly dull task more fun, especially for younger students. Turn your classroom into a publishing house for the day. Begin the class by assigning students the role of junior editors. Their task? Finding the next piece with “big hit” potential in a pile of submissions (aka student drafts). However, that means finding the potential in a draft and providing appropriate feedback to make it great. Spend a few minutes exploring what an editor does (hint: it’s more than making simple corrections). Then, review the guidelines for publication (the assignment itself and its rubric or guidelines) and have them get to work!  This real-world context allows them to step away from the role of a friend or peer and into the role of an editor. How fun!

Peer Edit Press Conference: Trust me, this activity is far less intimidating than it sounds. Students won’t be standing in front of their peers, answering and deflecting questions. Instead, they will be the ones asking the questions about their writing. By having students come up with questions for their peers to answer during peer editing, they must first think critically about their work.  As they reflect on their writing, they can identify areas they would like to improve or know they are struggling with. Furthermore, it helps their peers have a sense of direction as they read and provide feedback. However, I remind students that they are free to mark corrections and make a few other remarks.

How to Teach Peer Editing: A Final Thought

Peer editing is a great learning opportunity for students. But it all begins by teaching students how to effectively revise and edit each other’s work. Not only will they learn ways to improve their writing, but they will also practice clear communication strategies. After all, clear communication is a must for effective peer revisions.

Let’s be honest. Peer editing takes a bit off of our plates as teachers too. However, if we don’t begin by teaching peer editing, it’s a waste of valuable time. Hopefully, these strategies help you with how to teach effective peer editing in your classroom!

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Simple Ways for Effective Peer Editing

Helly Douglas

Does your class groan when you mention editing their work? Students can find it difficult to change their writing. Once their first draft is complete, they are desperate to move on to something new. As teachers, it’s hard to make them value and enjoy the process of proof-reading and editing.

Peer editing is an important part of formative assessment that allows students to support each other. It can reduce your workload and encourage learners to take responsibility for their work.

What Is Peer Editing?

Why use peer editing, how to include peer editing in your classroom, building peer relationships, final thoughts.

Good peer editing goes much further than a simple spell check at the end of a piece of writing. It's a process. Students work with a partner to read and refine their work.

Learners find it hard to hear that their writing needs improving. Making it a collaborative process allows them to hear an honest opinion from a friend. They can then help their partner with the same process.

If students find peer editing difficult, why do we bother teaching it? Well, editing is an important shift towards understanding that writing doesn’t end with a first draft.

Peer editing helps learners take ownership of their work. They improve it independently, without relying on you to tell them what to do. This is a big reduction in teacher workload and removes the bottleneck feeling where every student waits to receive individual feedback from you.

When writing, two heads are better than one. A collaborative practice helps children see their work from a different perspective. They can make changes to improve clarity and meaning.

Embed peer editing within the writing process, don’t treat it as an add-on. Make it an integral part of writing by building in enough time. Don’t expect your students to know automatically what you expect. Dedicate time for the direct teaching and modeling of peer editing skills.

Use high-quality examples, called ‘What a Good One Looks Like’ (known as WAGOLLs ) to let your learners see what you are expecting. Annotate and unpick the successful features of a WAGOLL as a class and discuss how they could apply this to their own writing.

Most professional writers finish a first draft then leave it for as long as possible. When they edit their work, they are looking at it with fresh eyes. Try this technique with your learners by separating out the writing and editing sections, interleaving it with a different project.

Peer Editing Techniques

Often students find editing a boring process, but it really doesn’t have to be. Simple changes can make it feel fun.

Why not try:

• Letting students use colored sticky notes to write their edits
• Displaying work on a visualizer or photocopying for the class to see
• Using colored highlighters and pens to show the changes
• Editing via email
• Using an online editor such as ProWritingAid

Successful peer editing needs a clear purpose, or it can feel overwhelming. Don’t change too much at once. Ask yourself, what is the most important thing I want my students to develop? Decide as a class your criteria for success.

Editing is a difficult process, so value the changes and make use of them. Display pre- and post-edited work on a wall display or in a class book or blog. This shows that time spent editing has a purpose.

Start with Proofreading

Often students are distracted by simple grammatical and spelling mistakes. This stops them seeing wider changes they could make.

Try using these simple tips with your class for effective proofreading:

• Read work aloud to their partner
• Use a dictionary to self-correct spellings
• Provide a word mat of technical vocabulary needed
• Ask partners to read their work
• Check the tense of the piece remains consistent

Give them a set amount of time to correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar before moving on to developmental changes.

Developmental Editing

After proofreading, your students will be less distracted by obvious errors. Use questions to help your learners find positives and developmental areas to work on.

Key questions to ask:

• Does each paragraph make sense?
• Are my paragraphs in the right order?
• Which points are unclear or not detailed enough?
• Have I achieved the success criteria?

Give your students a template or guide to help them with editing. Sentence starters can help students who struggle to know what to say to their partner.

Peer editing can often fill students with dread. Showing your work to someone else is an intensely personal experience and needs treating with sensitivity.

To find the best partnerships:

• Put struggling learners with middle-ability students
• Partner your highest achieving students with secure middle-ability students
• Avoid placing best friends together unless you know they will work well
• Allow time to build a relationship
• Set clear expectations and rules to make sure peers are supportive of each other

Choose your peer editing partners wisely. Each partnership needs to be supportive but also effective.

Mark Gardner, writing in Edutopia , uses the acronym SPARK to help students understand what quality feedback looks like:

• Specific : Link comments to a discrete word, phrase, or sentence
• Prescriptive : They offer a solution or strategy
• Actionable : Students know what steps to take to improve
• Referenced : The feedback directly links to the task criteria
• Kind : Frame comments in a supportive way

You can’t achieve successful peer editing overnight. Learners need to be taught how to give and receive feedback in a supportive way. Using WAGOLLs, writing frames and sentences starters will help them know what to say to their partner.

Peer editing can be an enjoyable experience by building positive relationships and valuing the time spent making changes. For teachers, peer editing offers huge potential for workload reduction and encourages students to become independent.

It must be more than a bolt-on and requires time to embed, but the results in your classroom will be well worth your efforts.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Helly Douglas is a UK writer and teacher, specialising in education, children, and parenting. She loves making the complex seem simple through blogs, articles, and curriculum content. You can check out her work at hellydouglas.com or connect on Twitter @hellydouglas. When she’s not writing, you will find her in a classroom, being a mum or battling against the wilderness of her garden—the garden is winning!

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Transforming the Writing Process with Peer Editing

Listen to the full episode to hear strategies for implementing peer editing:.

I’ve talked many times about the process and importance of students engaging in the writing process. It allows students to work on their written skills and creativity. But the step that most teachers gloss over or find optional is the peer editing stage, when in reality, it provides many benefits and life skills for students. So in today’s episode, I’m sharing a new perspective to make peer editing work for your students and how to use it effectively in the classroom.

When students are peer editing, they’re building their communication, critical thinking and collaboration skills that will only make them successful in the future. However, there are so many more benefits to having students peer edit, which are highlighted and provided throughout the episode. 

Since teaching writing can be challenging for some teachers, especially with a skill as important as peer editing, I help explore strategies that you can easily implement in your classroom. And even though it’s toward the end of the school year, now is still a great time to teach peer editing to your students. Not only have they built a foundation of writing, but they’ve gained practice and experience throughout the year. 

The next time you go through the writing process with your students, don’t skip or downplay the importance of the peer editing step. I’ve established the many benefits and how it’s a game changer when it comes to developing writing skills in young writers.

In this episode on peer editing, I share:

• Why peer editing is so important and essential during the writing process
• Ways to explain the importance and concept of peer editing to your students
• Modeling is a non-negotiable for peer editing
• Guided questions to provide your students when getting started
• A list of important to-dos when planning for implementation

Resources Mentioned:

• The Daily Writing Disguise
• Writing Process Checklists
• Writing Reference Sheets
• Six Traits of Writing Charts
• Episode 125, 10 Reasons Why You Should Have Students Engaging in Collaborative Writing

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Lend Me Your Peers: How to Make the Most of Peer Editing Sessions

September 1, 2017

By Andrew Koch, Writing Tutor

"And be sure to bring a draft of your paper for next week's class. We're having a peer review day."

(Internal groan)

Peer editing days are like Cincinnati weather: either great or miserable, with not much in between. The right suggestions from classmates about your writing can give you great insights on how to improve your paper, but if you're anything like me, you find bad peer editing can be a real drag.

Bad peer editing comes in many forms, from the hypercritical (red ink dripping from every line) to the unresponsive (a blank expression and a shrug when you ask "So what'd you think?"), and the worst peer editing can make you feel worse about your paper than when you began the session. Many professors have students critique others' works as a way of improving writing, but misguided peer review sessions can turn into time spent either politely nodding and discussing weekend plans and last night's game or (worse) passive-aggressively tearing each other's papers apart. Sometimes a student may not know what kind of advice to give to a classmate, especially if he or she is personally struggling to understand the assignment.

But you don't have to settle for anything less than the best from these sessions! As is the case in many areas in life, you'll get what you give from peer editing. By committing to being a better peer editor, you're helping to improve the peer editing culture and showing your classmate what kind of feedback you're looking for in return. By learning the right questions to ask, your partner and you can both walk away with a better paper and more confidence about the assignment. Here are some ways to help you get the most out of peer editing sessions:

Look at the big picture. A common mistake among editors is putting too much focus on "proofreading" and not enough on the content of a paper. Though it pains me (a grammar nerd) to admit it, good peer editing is about a lot more than policing spelling and punctuation. Rather, good peer editing ensures that a piece of writing, in addition to being grammatically correct, makes sense to the audience and is accomplishing what the assignment asks. Don't be afraid to ask more general questions about the paper and its structure and focus. Is the writer's focus too broad? Too specific? In an argumentative paper, is the writer's main opinion coming through? Are there ways that the writer could be clearer? Does your partner's paper fulfill the assignment's requirements in terms of focus?

Listen to the writer and let him/her guide. See if there's a specific aspect of the paper that your partner is concerned about. While some of your fellow students might not know what they want to improve about their writing/assignment, others will more precisely know how they want to better develop the paper. As a peer editor, your goal is to help the other student improve his or her assignment and writing ability, whatever shape that may take, and your classmate will do the same for you. As tempting as it might seem, this is not a chance for you to show off your intelligence or writing prowess. Remember to stay focused on what your review session partner needs and follow his or her lead.

Read the paper out loud. If you've been to the Writing Center, you're probably familiar with this technique, one of our favorites. It's easy to become bogged down in your own words while writing a piece, but verbally revisiting your words by doing a read through can help you catch content weaknesses and, yes, spelling and grammar mistakes, too, by revisiting your language in a new way. Time permitting, have your partner read his or her paper aloud to you.

Ask questions and be patient. If you're unsure about something in your partner's paper, just ask! Writers love to talk about their writing, and face-to-face communication allows you the opportunity to quickly and efficiently ask questions and get feedback. Don't assume that you understand what a writer is saying - feel free to pick your partner's brain about his or her subject or topic. I've often found that my best ideas come when I'm explaining my paper's subject or my writing assignment to someone else.

Being a better peer editor for someone else can help you focus on your own writing as well. By being a more thoughtful peer editor, you can break the cycle of unproductive and unhelpful peer editing sessions, and everybody will win.

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A Framework for Teaching Students How to Peer Edit

Giving meaningful feedback on a peer’s work doesn’t come naturally to students. Try these tips to help students hone their editing skills.

Too often, asking students to edit each other’s writing results in superficial commentary. Many students are uncertain about how to provide meaningful feedback on a peer’s work. 

One way to make peer review more effective is by scaffolding it, or breaking down the practice into several classes where students critique each other’s work in a more focused, incremental manner. Scaffolding allows students to identify and address a single type of error in an allotted time period. While it is a valuable process for all students, it is especially useful for English-language learners and learning-support students, who benefit from breaking tasks and information into more manageable components. 

Deconstruct Constructive Criticism

Students need to learn how to give and receive criticism in a productive and respectful manner. Before embarking on a class-wide peer review activity, teachers might underscore the importance of responses that are forthright and civil. Mastering the art of giving valuable feedback that doesn’t offend will benefit students in nearly every professional and personal relationship they maintain. 

Start by breaking down the two words: constructive and criticism . What do these words mean by themselves? What synonyms might apply to each word? Ask students to think of examples of ways they might offer constructive criticism on a peer’s writing. They can be as simple as “Remember to capitalize proper nouns” or “Restate your thesis in your final paragraph.” Underscore to students that the criticism must be specific and helpful. “Good job!” doesn’t suffice. Write their responses on one or two poster boards, and place them where students can see them and refer back to them throughout the process. 

Provide samples of criticism for students to emulate. You may want to advise learners to attach positive feedback with constructive criticism. For example, “Your hook poses a good question, but it contains several grammar errors” or “You inserted this quotation correctly.” 

As there is no definitive guide to constructive criticism, teachers and students are encouraged to discuss what constitutes responsible feedback to find a definition and standards that best suit the class.

Set Clear Plans

In the same way that instruction often demands that educators create the assessment first, teachers should prepare for the peer review at the beginning of any writing assignment. A scaffolded peer review can be time-consuming, so consider the length of the writing assignment to be assessed when making a determination about the class time required. 

Before assigning writing, consider what writing skills you want your students to learn, review, or practice. The objectives will vary by class, and they should be articulated to students from the outset. Some teachers may have the class focus on writing an effective thesis, incorporating quotations, or adding in-text citations. In other classes, the objective may be reviewing capitalization or comma usage. Identify the skills that students are expected to practice writing and finding in each other’s papers.

Facilitate the Process

Scaffolding the peer review provides an opportunity for students to read a piece multiple times to assess different elements of writing. First the class reviews the objective as a whole group. Then peer pairs review their individual writing with a focus on the defined learning objective. 

Some students may be reluctant to criticize peers’ work. Consider choosing peer-review partners instead of letting the students pick. This might cut down on students’ being fearful of offending their friends. Also, if the debrief period is generating little discussion, ask students to debrief with their partners as opposed to in front of the class. Give students a set of debrief prompts to focus their discussion, such as “Discuss the corrections you made.” 

Encourage students to refer to the posters regarding constructive criticism examples, especially if someone has given an impolite criticism. 

Debrief as a Class

After the pair reviews, debrief by discussing the findings as a class. The debrief can be an open-ended session in which the teacher encourages students to ask questions and voice misunderstandings about both writing and critiquing. The debrief can also be more structured and incorporate specific questions, such as “What is a challenge an editor or peer reviewer might face?” or “What is one element of your writing you wish to improve upon?” The debrief can also take the form of a small writing assignment, such as a reflective paragraph on the peer review process in which students summarize what they have learned as an editor and proofreader.

We want our students to be proficient writers and thinkers. Reviewing a peer’s work can help young people better understand the often difficult process of writing by challenging them to adopt a dynamic new role as critic.

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10 Best Creative Writing Courses for 2024: Craft Authentic Stories

Learn how to tell your story and engage your readers with great storytelling.

As a lifelong literature enthusiast, I decided to challenge myself in 2010 by participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which tasks participants with writing a 50,000-word draft within a month. Although I’ve only achieved this goal twice since then, the experience has been invaluable. I’ve connected with a wonderful community of writers, both online and in person.

Through my experience, I can confidently say that creative writing is a skill that can be developed and honed, just like any other. While traditionally associated with literature, creative writing is increasingly being recognized as a powerful tool in various forms of writing, from copywriting and storytelling to novels and poetry. It has the ability to captivate readers and elevate the impact of written expression.

If you’re searching for the best online Creative Writing courses and resources, you’ve come to the right place. This Best Courses Guide (BCG) is built from Class Central’s catalog of over 300 Creative Writing courses and selected according to a methodology that you can check below.

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What is Creative Writing?

Courses overview, why you should trust us, how we made our picks and tested them, here are our top picks.

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Creative writing is a genre of writing that seeks to evoke emotions and feelings in its readers. It surpasses the limits of traditional forms of literature and emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes and poetic traditions. Creative writing finds application in various forms of writing, including screenplays, plays, novels, poems, and other written works. In this guide, I will delve into some of its most popular facets.

Enhancing resilience and creativity through writing

Research shows that the brains of professional writers work differently from those of novice writers. Moreover, creative writing has been found to boost resilience in students . If you want to enjoy the benefits of writing, it’s important to develop the habit of jotting down your thoughts and words. Doing so can help you overcome writer’s block.

Creative writing is so powerful that it’s used in prisons to give inmates a chance to express themselves in programs like PEN America . “By providing resources, mentorship, and audiences outside the walls, we help these writers to join and enrich the broader literary community.”

Creative writing is a skill that can be learned and practiced like any other. Techniques such as ABDCE structure, 1st or 3rd person point of view, “show don’t tell”, dialogues, and tropes can be easily learned through the online courses in this guide.

• Together, they account for over 1M enrollments
• Skillshare, with 2 courses, is the most featured provider
• The single most popular course has nearly 400k enrollments
• Three courses are entirely free or free-to-audit.

Best Fantasy And Short-Stories Writing Lessons For Beginners (Brandon Sanderson)

Besides being an awesome writer, Sanderson is an instructor with a very unique talent for keeping us engaged. He has also made available a full course in creative writing on YouTube , originally presented at Brigham Young University, which includes the most crucial tools for any beginner or even experienced writers. The course is comprehensive and rich in content, with great sound and video quality.

Each video discusses a specific tool or technique, so you can easily select the theme you want to explore next or watch it all in sequence. It’s up to you. I recommend you take your time, watch one video at a time and experiment with each concept, or even better, find a writing buddy or form a group to practice writing together.

What you’ll learn:

• Plot construction, character development, and engaging storytelling
• Techniques for crafting immersive worlds and believable viewpoints
• Insights into the publishing industry, tailored for emerging writers
• Strategies for writing compelling short stories and leveraging them for larger projects.

“Very informative! I’m a beginner writer looking to study writing for video games, and this class gave me a lot of helpful tools to start understanding how stories work/how to organize my ideas! Will definitely be returning to some of these lectures in the future for guidance 👍” – Paige Webster

Best University-level Creative Writing Course (Wesleyan University)

Creative Writing by Wesleyan University is a specialization for those looking for a way to improve their writing structure, scene and character creations and finding your style. Each course includes writing practice (for paying learners) and insightful interviews. It’s worth your time and effort if you are a disorganized writer like myself.

• Techniques for crafting a bracing story with memorable characters and an interesting setting
• How to employ a fresh descriptive style in your writing
• Skills for analyzing and constructively evaluating peer writing
• The ability to refine your writing, critique writing in general, and draw inspiration from existing literature
• The process of drafting, rewriting, and completing an original story in the genre of your choosing.

It should be noted that the peer-grading system often lacks depth. However, the assignments are well-crafted and can be easily evaluated with minimal effort, providing some insights from other participants in the form of feedback or inspiration from their submissions.

“Great information about plot and scene structure. The information about revision was entirely new to me – thank you! The exercises were good and difficult in a good way that helped me hone my writing.” – Laura B, Coursera learner

Best Course to Find Your Voice (Neil Gaiman)

Neil Gaiman is currently one the most prolific writers I know of: he’s written books , comics , movies and even TV shows . Even if you’re not a fan of his style, there is definitely something you can learn from him.

In Neil Gaiman Teaches The Art Of Storytelling you will discover Neil’s philosophy on what drives a story and learn to unlock new stories within yourself.

While MasterClass doesn’t sell single courses, a subscription provides access to their entire library, including other writing courses like Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing , Dan Brown Teaches Writing Thrillers , Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing , and James Patterson Teaches Writing . If you are considering the purchase, you should definitely enjoy the rest of their catalog.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Discover and develop your unique writing voice
• Generate and develop original ideas
• Create dynamic, well-rounded characters that come to life on the page.

This course includes a 94-page workbook that includes assignments and supplemental material.

Best Practical Writing Course With Support (Trace Crawford)

I love it when a passionate teacher like Trace Crawford puts the effort into creating a comprehensive curriculum. COMPLETE Creative Writing – All Genres is a 12-hour course with 145 downloadable resources. In this course, you will learn how to write engaging fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction, helping you become the successful writer you want to be.

• The four genres of creative writing: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction
• How to discover, refine, and share your unique writing voice
• A series of authentic writing assignments designed to target the skills you need to develop
• Writing techniques, literary devices, and specialized skills to enhance your writing
• Opportunities for publishing, podcasts, and how to create a professional creative writing portfolio
• Discover multiple public outlets to share your writing with others as you gain confidence and experience success in your writing ability.

This is a practical creative writing course that includes assignments reviewed by the instructor, though response time may vary.

“The short snippets of theory in combination with the short assignments suits my learning style. I don’t remember the last time I’ve written anything creative, but this course gave me the incentive to set some foundation and its actually quite enjoyable if you stick to it.” – Nikolaos-Stylianos Z., Udemy learner

Best Course to Overcome Writer’s Block: 10-Day Journaling Challenge (Emily Gould)

I couldn’t resist adding Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge to this guide. Emily Gould is a delightful instructor, and her approach to inviting you to participate in the challenge is impossible to decline. It’s the perfect course to overcome writer’s block, which is exactly what she proposes. In this 10-day creative writing challenge, filled with inspiring examples, observation prompts, and clever revision tricks, writers and enthusiasts will be able to express their creativity in a personal and artful way.

This course is the shortest one on the list, and it’s more about the challenge of keeping a journal. If you decide to subscribe to Skillshare, you can also enjoy their entire library of courses. In addition to the other two recommended courses on this list, you can also check out these other Skillshare courses: Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre and The Writer’s Toolkit: 6 Steps to a Successful Writing Habit .

Best Course to Create Fiction From Personal Experience (Shaun Levin)

Shaun’s approach to writing in Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience is an unusual one. It draws from your personal experience to create a compelling fictional story. I can say from experience that this technique will help you write with more depth and authenticity. Every time we bring our own life to the story, it becomes alive, believable and relatable. In a way, all fictional stories are based on the author’s life.

This course will help you with techniques and a series of practical exercises to start writing your scenes from a more philosophical point of view, creating compelling stories. You’ll learn how to delve into your imagination to find everything you’ll need to become a prolific writer, no matter where you are.

By the end of the course, you will have a final project that will receive feedback from Shaun and other learners as well. Actually, if you want to check it out, in the course page on Domestika you can open the submitted projects and read the comments.

Shaun’s other courses: Creative Writing for Beginners: Bringing Your Story to Life .

“A practical course. Shaun Levin talks about theory but also demonstrates his process, which was invaluable. The exercises got my creative juices flowing. Thinking about doing his other course in the future.” – Maya Dicheva

Best Course to Make Writing Less Stressful with Best Practices (Jennie Nash)

If you struggle to start or get stuck in your writing, Write Your Book: Start Strong and Get It Done can help. With good advice and emotional support, you’ll learn techniques to make writing less stressful. The accompanying workbook guides you to think methodically by asking the right questions to keep you focused on your story and not chasing your own tail.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

• Design every element of your novel or memoir, including the protagonist, plot, story structure and a project success plan
• Define your narrator’s voice
• Determine where your story begins and where it ends
• Decide what point you’re making about human nature
• Make sure you’re giving your ideal reader exactly what they want
• Gain the confidence you need to push past any doubts and finish your book.

This course is more of a masterclass, so there are no assignments included but it teaches good practices and provides a very useful workbook.

Best Course to Create A Compelling Story (Lisa Cron)

Writing: The Craft of Story is a series of well-produced lectures covering the basic building blocks of a story. Taught by author Lisa Cron, you will learn how to create compelling stories based on the way the brain responds to storytelling. This course emphasizes the importance of capturing the reader’s attention through techniques such as suspense, exploring the protagonist’s inner issues and dreams, specificity, and cause and effect. Upon completion of the quizzes, you will receive a certificate for your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, you can watch all the videos without subscribing to the course.

“Learning the fundamentals of crafting a story was and is a fascinating experience. And yes, I would highly recommend writing to anyone interested in learning how to express the communication of feeling.” – Nicole Gillard, LinkedIn learner.

Best Course to Write Personal Essays with Impact (Roxane Gay)

Discover the art of crafting powerful personal essays with best-selling author Roxane Gay in her course, Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact . Through her honest and thoughtful approach, Roxane will help you find your story, craft your truth, and write to make a difference.

This master class offers eight video lessons that are filled with practical guidance, actionable tactics, and example essays to guide you from the first idea to a final, publication-ready work.

You’ll learn how to:

• Find a specific purpose for telling your story
• Connect your work to larger conversations and timely themes
• Conduct crucial research to support your work
• Navigate personal memories to write your truth
• Write and revise your final work, and submit your work for publication.

Additionally, the class provides a downloadable worksheet to support your ongoing creative nonfiction writing practice, as well as links to additional resources.

If you enjoy creative nonfiction writing, you might consider this course that’s also on Skillshare: Creative Nonfiction: Write Truth with Style (Skillshare Original) by Susan Orlean

Best Course to Develop Your Ideas And Research for Characters (The Open University)

Start Writing Fiction explores the writing process, from journaling and idea development to reflection and editing. It features insights from established writers such as Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts, and Monique Roffey,  who share their approaches to research and turning events into plot. Led by Derek Neale, a novelist and short story writer, this course provides a comprehensive understanding of the writing rituals and techniques used by successful writers.

You’ll get to critique the work of other writers and receive feedback. This course is designed for individuals interested in starting or improving their fiction writing and does not require prior experience in the subject.

You’ll learn:

• Creation of characters in fiction
• Different sources and ways of presenting characters in stories
• Reading as a writer
• Writing practice including creativity, research, observation and editing
• Peer reviewing, workshops and the importance of feedback.

“This course takes learners through many aspects of writing such as developing characters, observing and describing details, finding inspiration, writing and editing. It includes some peer reviews which can be varying in quality. I was lucky enough to have some of my writing reviewed by a reviewer who gave very helpful and positive feedback.” – Pat Bowden

What’s Next

Scribophile is one of the largest online writing communities. You can get feedback on your writing and join writing groups. If you decide to join with a free plan, you need to collect points by reviewing other writers’ work before submitting your own work for review. They also developed some advanced tools for evaluating work and guidelines to make sure you give/receive feedback that is actually meaningful.

NaNoWriMo started out as a month-long challenge where you invite your friends and join other writers in your region, be it online in their forums or in person, to challenge yourself in writing your first draft. Nowadays, they run all-year round writing challenges (but November is still the biggest one in terms of participation). What is cool about it is you actually get to meet people in real life with various writing skills and backgrounds. I was able to make some great friends over the years and even met a few professional writers that decided to join our local group just to support us.

If you have any resources you would like to have added here, leave a comment below.

Class Central , a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 60 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 200,000 online courses and 200,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.

First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn about creative writing.

When choosing courses, I considered the following factors:

• Renowned Institutions : I looked for recognized institutions in creative writing
• Instructor experience : I sought instructors with extensive experience in creative writing and engaging presentation styles
• Popularity : I checked numbers of enrollments and views to find popular courses
• Course content : I examined courses that covered a range of topics and presentation styles, including the basics and more advanced topics. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken
• Learner reviews : I read learner reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as available course provider reviews.

Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A creative writing course can cover various topics, so I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields.

Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a reliable way to learn about creative writing.

Fabio Dantas

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