Writing courses

There are a variety of options to choose from, depending on your goals, learning style, and schedule. You can select a short course or single subjects if you’d like to focus on one area, an undergraduate degree if you’d like to become qualified for the first time, or a postgraduate degree if you’d like to develop your writing skills even further.

Short courses and single subjects cover topics like:

• Grammar and editing

• Academic writing

• Writing for professional contexts

• Workplace writing

• Writing for the media

• Writing for digital channels

• Feature writing

Professional writing courses teach you to use creative and critical thinking to write clearly, persuasively, and effectively.

The topics your course might cover include:

• Writing persuasively for public relations, advertising and marketing

• Understanding your audience and adjusting your tone of voice to suit

• Writing for different channels and platforms—the web, media releases, print and broadcast

• Simplfying and communicating complex information

• Copyediting and proofreading

• Conducting research and evaluating sources for accuracy

• Developing your writing portfolio

In a creative writing course, students typically focus on exploring and sharpening their personal ideas and writing style, with a focus on creative expression.

Professional writing courses teach you to prioritise your reader and meet a communication objective. As a professional writer, you’ll solve complex communication problems with your words.

A professional writing course may cover sub-fields of professional writing, such as:

• Technical writing - creating manuals and fact sheets for software companies, the finance industry or product manufacturers.

• Content and copywriting - writing for advertising or marketing channels, including blogs and social media.

• Grant writing - writing proposals on behalf of organisations seeking grant funding.

If you want to learn about writing for marketing, it’s worth exploring the marketing courses available through Open Universities Australia.

If your writing goal is to inform the public, a journalism course may be a better fit.

As you move through your studies, you’ll gain hands-on experience in professional writing. This includes producing material that you can add to your portfolio.

You absolutely can. Many students pursuing online writing degrees juggle family and work commitments with their studies. When you study online through Open Universities Australia, you can shape your professional writing degree around your life. Study a lot, or drop down to a single subject if the balance is off. It’s in your hand.

Remember, you don’t need to dive straight into a full degree. There’s no reason why you can’t start your learning journey with a single subject, short course, or undergraduate certificate in professional writing.

No. Writing courses don’t typically require prior writing experience to enrol at the undergraduate level. All you’ll need is a love of writing and the desire to learn more!

If you want to complete one of the online writing courses available through Open Universities Australia at a postgraduate level, you’ll need to meet the eligibility criteria to enrol. This could include holding a relevant undergraduate degree or previous work experience in the field.

Professional writers can work in-house or freelance for a wide range of clients, including:

• The marketing departments and website teams of organisations and brands 

• Public relations, advertising and social media agencies 

• Not-for-profits

• Online writing courses don’t typically explore areas like writing for film and TV in detail, so if that’s more your scene, explore these film and TV courses.

Here at Open Universities Australia, we make enrolling online as straightforward as possible. To get started, find the course for you by browsing the options on this page. You can also compare different qualifications using our handy comparison tool, or request help from one of our student advisors.

When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Apply now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.

Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.

Please note that enquiries and applications for some courses are handled directly by the university. If this is the case, it will be indicated on the course listing page.  

For more information about enrolment, read our online self-service enrolling instructions. If you get stuck at any time, contact us and we’ll talk you through it.