You have a story in your head and you would like to write it down. You want to get it out of your head and onto paper either for your own satisfaction, or for others to read and hopefully enjoy. Maybe you want to write some bedtime stories for your children, or grandchildren. It could be a hobby or local history that you are well versed in and want to write about, or even that great novel that everyone is said to have inside. You have the information, you want to write, but you don't know how to go about it.

You could join a local writers group; there are many of them about - the local library should be able tell you where the nearest one is - and you will find that most of them are very friendly and will be pleased help a beginner out. But if you are a bit nervous and feel that you would like to know more about writing before you join a group. Then what you need is an established writer to give you lessons at home in your own time and preferably the lessons should be free. 'Oh yeah,' I can hear you say, 'what's the catch?' There is absolutely none.

This information and more is available free, some of that information is right here, on these pages and the rest is out there on the World Wide Web. The Internet is awash with information on writing, some of it is good, some of it is bad and some of it is indifferent. There are loads of writing courses out there that will cost you good money and I have no doubt that many are very, very good. But what I want to do here is point you in the direction of a couple very good sites where you can get lessons that are totally free.

The following are top quality sites I have used myself in the past, in fact one of them, a site belonging to the Open University will give you for FREE, the full course work, for a course that I paid £90 for a few years ago and now costs £145 to £155 if you sign up for it today. (Please note, I have no connection whatsoever with any of the sites and I only recommend them because I have used them myself in the past)

Let's Start with a favourite of mine "BBC Get Writing" Here you will find free Mini courses to suit the beginner, the intermediate and the advanced writer. These are complete mini courses that teach and give you exercises to do. Ideal for the beginner, "What is a short story" " How To Start A Short Story" "Finding Inspiration" New courses "Children's Fiction" "Horror Fiction".

While you are there, take a look at "The Craft" (also Free) where you will find articles on writing by, Stella Duffy, Jon Ronson, Rose Tremain, Minette Walters and Mark Billingham. Plus many, many, more, in fact far too many to list, so why not take a look for yourself.

This next site, I only found a couple of weeks ago, type "openlearn" in your Google search box, open up "Openlearn Learning space" Click on "Arts and History" go to page three and you will find a 12 hour course called "Start Writing Fiction" It is an easy course to follow and will give you a good grounding in the basics. You can use this full course, in your own time, at home and it is completely free to use. (I should however point out you will not have access to a tutor nor will you have your work assessed. To do so you will have sign up for the course with the Open University and pay the course fee of between £145 and £155) You can however register for free, become part of a community of like-minded open learners and join the forum.

Copyright Fred Watson December 2007