You’re stuck in a rut. Maybe you’re a freelancer looking for the way forward or a fiction writer who’s majorly blocked and can’t finish your story. Maybe you’re something in between. What do you do? Search the internet for answers, of course! And what do you find?

… Courses that cost thousands of dollars. 

At best, you move on and find what you’re looking for somewhere else. At worst, you think this whole writing thing might not be for you if it costs so much.

The thing is, it doesn’t. Everyone just tries to make it look like it does. 

I believe that if you really want to, you can become a successful freelancer or author without paying a dime for writing courses. Why? Because the key to being a good writer is not learning from someone famous. It’s not about how much money you pay for a course.

It’s all about two things: practice and how you spend your time.

Okay, that second one might sound a bit contradictory; writing courses are supposed to save you time, right? But do they really? They’re tailored to one specific subject, not individualized. Sure, you’ll probably learn at least one valuable thing from any course you attend, but at the cost of sitting through lots of info that’s irrelevant to you. Personally, I think that doing your own research is almost always the right way to go. First off, anything you can find in a course—anything that’s really worthwhile, anyway—is already online for free somewhere (like this blog!). Secondly, this way, you can tailor your research to what you actually need.

Now, I don’t want to criticise the existence of paid writing courses entirely. Workshops, which are a totally different story, do serve a specific purpose that you really can’t get anywhere else. They offer real experience and an opportunity to network, both of which are very important in the writing world. Still, many popular writing workshops majorly overcharge, so make sure to do your research beforehand. Remember that meeting tons of famous authors is not the point. You can get just as much—if not more—valuable experience from a much smaller, local workshop.

And even workshops aren’t strictly necessary for becoming a successful writer. There are plenty of free or really cheap places online where you can share and get feedback on your work, as well as network with other writers.

Lots of great people make good writing courses and workshops for good reasons, but however much they justify it, it’s often just not worth it to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for this one thing. Besides, you could be using that money on actual personalised help like critiques or a book coach. These services are usually quite a bit cheaper than a course or workshop and actually give you the exact help you need based on your individual needs.

And remember the number one thing you need to become a great writer: lots and lots of practice. No one can do that for you, no matter how much you pay them.

So learning how to write well or run a successful freelancing business doesn’t have to break the bank. As long as you’re truly dedicated and commit yourself to research, you can go far all on your own, or even with a lot of free help. If you’re not sure where to start, make sure to look at some of my favourite free resources for writers!

Happy writing!
—E.J.

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Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash