I was working today on my new site that features free online courses (from major school offerings like Yale and MIT to free email courses from niche content sites). While I was adding some new science courses I realized something – these are actually great resources for writers.

Obviously, online writing courses could benefit writers, but what about all of the rest?

I advocate specialization. One of the biggest complaints I hear from generalists is that they don’t have a degree in a field, so they feel they can’t specialize. While that’s probably true for some niches (like certain types of medical writing), it’s not true of many others. You don’t need a degree in all cases, but you do need a firm grasp on the subject matter.

Free online courses can give you that without you having to invest huge amounts of time or money in taking on-campus courses. And frankly, they’re a hell of a lot better than doing your research on sites like Wikipedia.

In the New Year, think about your specialty area(s). Do you need to brush up on basics? Would you like to expand into a similar niche? If so, see if you can find free online courses from reputable sources that can give you the background you need to improve your writing career (or just look at the folks leading the courses if you’re looking for experts to interview).

Let’s look at MIT’s OpenCourseWare classes as an example. Here are some specific courses that might be of interest to certain types of writers:

1. If you’re a marketing copywriter who focuses on writing copy targeting female buyers, you may be interested in Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies to better understand your target markets.
2. If you’re a music writer, you may want to look at the Hip Hop course to better understand that genre.
3. If you write about politics, you may be interested in the American Political Thought course.
4. If you write about real estate, you may want to look at the course in Real Estate Finance and Investment.
5. If you’re a health and fitness writer, you might be interested in the weight training course.

No matter what niche you specialize in or what markets you generally target, you can find courses to help you improve your knowledge (and your writing), making you more valuable to clients.

Here are a few other MIT-specific courses you may be interested in as a writer:

• Writing About Literature (good for book reviewers perhaps)
• Introduction to Technical Communication (a good start for those looking into technical writing as a career option)
• Entrepreneurial Marketing (a good one for any writer who’s self-employed – learn how to better market your services)
• Working in a Global Economy (an interesting option especially for Web writers who work with more international clients)
• Playwriting I (for those interested in learning how to write a script)

Many other universities and organizations offer free online courses. You can check out my site to find others added periodically, or simply search on your own. The best courses I’ve seen so far have been from MIT, Yale, the BBC (language courses), and the SBA (business courses).

Related posts:

1. Free Online Courses Update
2. Chris Bibey on Offering Online Courses
3. Top 10 Free Online Tools for Writers – As Chosen by YOU!
4. Help Me Choose the 10 Best Free Online Tools for Writers
5. Share Your Favorite Free Online Tools for Writers

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