Online Courses

Until July 2018, I ran eleven writing-related and two I.T. courses for Northamptonshire County Council at various locations around Northamptonshire, England and I am bringing these courses online – seven are already available, see the links below (the rest will be available in the next coming weeks) and most are priced at a very reasonable $20 / £20 each, and those on Udemy are currently half-price using the codes below.

They are based on the format of those listed below and run via independent educational websites (using video, audio and text-based learning). Unlike some online courses, mine are ongoing and start whenever you wanted them to start, and split into several video lectures (with quizzes) so you can work at your own pace. Feel free to email me or complete the form below if you need more information but here are the relevant details…

Online only – seven available to-date via Udemy.com (more courses following in the next few months)…

writer’s block workbook – volume 1: five weeks’ worth of beginning prompts to help create over 100 new pieces with tips to help your writing ongoing. This course is now FREE! See below for the course description.
writer’s block workbook – volume 2: five weeks’ worth of keyword prompts to help create over 100 new pieces with tips to help your writing ongoing. This course was £20 / $20 but is now FREE! See below for the course description.
writing tips – part 1: 30 tips and 90+ exercises to spark your creativity. This course is currently just £20 / $20. See below for the course description.
writing tips – part 2: 30 tips and 90+ exercises to enhance your writing. This course is currently just £20 / $20. See below for the course description.
entering writing competitions: writing competitions from an entrant’s and judge’s viewpoint. This course is currently just £20 / $20. See below for the course description.
make your book pitch-ready: take your novel, non-fiction book or story / poetry collection from draft to submission and beyond. This course is currently just £20 / $20. See below for the course description.
plot scenarios – month 1: 31 scenarios each with three exercises per day (62+ plots given) to provide you with a better understanding of the components of stories and how many variations can be taken for one idea. Exercise three in each scenario encourages you to create your own plot inspired by the scenario. This course is currently just £20 / $20. See below for the course description.

The prices listed above are for the course only (to include help with the course itself within the discussion areas on the courses themselves).

UNDER DEVELOPMENT:

more scenarios series – a series of volumes designed to last 31 days, each providing 31 scenarios plus three exercises per scenario and tip every day! (price: £20 / $20 each)
creating compelling characters (price: £20 / $20)
dynamic dialogue (price: £20 / $20)
great grammar (price: £20 / $20)
creative writing – beginners (online price: t.b.a.)
creative writing – intermediate (online price: t.b.a.)
writing genres (online price: t.b.a.)
plan and write a novel (online price: t.b.a.)
ideas and inspiration series (online price: £20 / $20 per volume)
short stories and flash fiction (online price: t.b.a.)
editing your fiction (online price: £20 / $20)
eBooking (online price: £20 / $20)
blogging (online price: £20 / $20)
and anything else I can think of…

If you are interested in any of my courses or if there a writing course you’d like to do that I’ve not listed, please either email me or complete the form below. In the meantime, here are the course descriptions:

Make your book Pitch-ready course summary: This course covers the key aspects required to take your book from its final draft to submission to an industry professional as well as an overview of dealing with rejections and acceptances. The eleven lectures consist of audio-accompanied videos, back-up resources (documents, pictures and videos) or quizzes. Starting with the manuscript’s content and layout, this course then looks at creating a synopsis, elevator pitch and tagline, creating a cover letter then looks at the submission process, how to handle rejections and what to do when you are accepted. This course is ideal for anyone who has completed – or is nearing completion of – a novel, non-fiction book or collection of short stories or poetry. It provides encouragement for anyone who has been rejected – or fears it – with statistics of authors who have made it despite the odds being against them. This course is currently just £20 / $20.
Writer’s Block Workbook vol 1 course summary: This course provides over 100 sentence beginnings to aid the writer to create new stories, three daily for five weeks. At the end of each week, there is a related writing tip with other guidance along the way. Explained in clear, simple language with audio, together with the words on the screen, the videos can be paused at any time. The slides are available to download along with other support materials. The course is structured over nine lectures (of between two and five minutes’ duration) with an introduction, explanation of points of view, tenses and week-by-week prompts and tips, concluding in the final lecture. Suitable for writers of any age and experience with support from, and contact details for, the tutor. This course is now FREE!
Reviews include: “With 3 sentence starters per day for more than 31 days, Morgen provides ample creative kindling. I like how the course is divided up by week and provides all the prompts in slide form. I can refer to the slides each day keeping the whole process digital. Morgen also gives a good refresher on the basic, foundational forms of writing and story development. This is a good course to take not only for writer’s block but also for a defense against writing-avoidance excuses. I look forward to Morgen’s other course offerings.” and “It looks like I will have a lot of writing to do and maybe that will help. The writing prompts are to help get over writer’s block, but I can see that they would also help to get you started writing if it is not a habit yet. Well put together (almost used nicely!), short, and direct. I am gonna try it! Thank you!” You’re very welcome. 🙂
Writer’s Block Workbook vol 2 course summary: This course provides over 100 sets of keywords to aid the writer to create new stories, three daily for five weeks. At the end of each week, there is a related writing tip with other guidance along the way. Explained in clear, simple language with audio, together with the words on the screen, the videos can be paused at any time. The slides are available to download along with other support materials. The course is structured over nine lectures (of between two and five minutes’ duration) with an introduction, explanation of points of view, tenses and week-by-week prompts, concluding in the final lecture. Suitable for writers of any age and experience with support from and contact details for the tutor. This course is currently FREE!
Writing Tips – Part 1 course summary: These thirty-two lectures highlight key aspects of creative writing, and include thirty tips, each one accompanied by three related exercises to spark your creativity. The course is taught via video slides with clear audio narration from a native English speaker who is not only a writer but also a freelance editor, blogger, and creative writing tutor for a variety of clients. Terminology is simple, ideal for those for whom English is a second language. Depending upon the student’s timeframe, the course, without pausing, lasts just under an hour and a half. If completing one tip with its exercises per day, the course could last a month, or at one exercise per day, this course contains three months’ worth of content. No specific materials are required other than pen / pencil and paper or blank document. All slides and mentioned handouts are provided as downloadable documents. If you have no prior creative writing knowledge, this course will provide a strong foundation on which to build a body of work. If you already have some knowledge, it will refresh those skills and improve your confidence going forward. An accompanying ‘part 2’ course provides 30 tips and 90+ exercises concentrating on the craft of writing and will enhance the skills learned from ‘part 1’. This course is currently just £20 / $20.
Reviews include: “This course offers 30 hours of exercises, assuming you can complete each of them in the suggested 20 minutes. Full of great tips and ideas.”
Writing Tips – Part 2 course summary: These thirty-two lectures highlight key aspects of the craft of creative writing, and include thirty tips, each one accompanied by three related exercises to enhance your writing skills. The course is taught via video slides with clear audio narration from a native English speaker who is not only a writer but also a freelance editor, blogger, and creative writing tutor for a variety of clients. Terminology is simple, ideal for those for whom English is a second language. Depending upon the student’s timeframe, the course, without pausing, lasts just under an hour and a half. If completing one tip with its exercises per day, the course could last a month, or at one exercise per day, this course contains three months’ worth of content. No specific materials are required other than pen / pencil and paper or blank document. All slides and mentioned handouts are provided as downloadable documents. If you have no prior creative writing knowledge, this course will provide a strong foundation on which to build a body of work. If you already have some knowledge, it will refresh those skills and improve your confidence going forward. An accompanying ‘part 1’ course provides 30 tips and 90+ exercises concentrating on sparking creativity, aimed at writers of any age and experience. This course is currently just £20 / $20.
Reviews include: “the tips are excellent and the exercises fun.”
Entering Writing Competitions course summary: These fourteen lectures highlight key aspects of entering writing competitions, and include a variety of insider tips followed by a dozen competition-related exercises. The course is taught via video slides with clear audio narration from a native English speaker who is not only a writer but also a freelance editor, blogger, and creative writing tutor for a variety of clients. Terminology is simple, ideal for those for whom English is a second language. Depending upon the student’s timeframe, the course, without pausing the video, lasts just over half an hour. If completing one exercise per day, however, the course could last a couple of weeks. No specific materials are required other than pen / pencil and paper or blank document. All slides and mentioned handouts are provided as downloadable documents. If you have no prior creative writing knowledge, this course will provide a strong foundation on which to build a body of work. If you already have some knowledge, it will refresh those skills and improve your confidence going forward. Accompanying ‘writing tips’ and ‘editing your fiction’ courses provide tips and exercises concentrating on sparking creativity and improving writing skills, aimed at writers of any age and experience. This course is currently just £20 / $20.
5* review: Great way to get started… This is a straightforward course offering lots of useful advice on entering competitions, with prompts to get you started on what could be a prize-winning story.
5* review: Thoughtful, practical tips that help easily avoid those mundane errors that occur either in the planning stage of a story or at submission. I shall certainly refer to the points before making future submissions to competitions. Insights into how judges consider submissions was very helpful.
5* review: Morgen provides clear and helpful guidance in a series of bite-sized lectures which can be watched individually or in batches. The approach is up-beat, encouraging and inspiring and there are lots of good tips. It’s good to be able to put a face to an online tutor and Morgen comes across as being friendly and helpful. I enjoyed doing this course and feel sure I will do better in competitions on the basis of what I’ve learnt.
5* review: This is a straightforward course offering lots of useful advice on entering competitions, with prompts to get you started on what could be a prize-winning story.
4.5* review: I truly enjoyed this course. I didn’t know about writing competitions, but now that I do, I might enter one… Thank you, Morgen
4.5* review: a-bit-short,-but-I-am-very-glad-that-I-took-this-course. 🙂
plot scenarios – month 1: 31 scenarios each with three exercises per day (62+ plots given) to provide the student with a better understanding of the components of stories and how many variations can be taken for one idea. Exercise three in each scenario encourages the student to create their own plot inspired by the scenario. This course can be completed at a scenario per day during any month or at the student’s own pace. With a tip per day, it will aid the identification of various writing techniques for use in these scenarios as well as writing ongoing. No previous experience necessary with just a pen (or pencil) and paper or blank document required. This is the course for you if you struggle coming up with new ideas, are a new writer looking to learn, or an established writer looking to put some new life into your writing. This course is currently just £20 / $20.