L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future
Online Workshop
Discussion Guides
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 36 Discussion Guide
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35 Discussion Guide
★★★★★
4.7 Rating
This free writing workshop provides valuable tools for a writer of any skill. Designed as an intermediate-level writing course, people of all levels have found this workshop helpful with the story structure, character development, the formulation of story ideas, and the business of writing.
The course includes 13 video presentations featuring Writers of the Future judges: David Farland, Tim Powers, and Orson Scott Card. There are 11 lessons with practical exercises as well as essays from Contest Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and Founding Contest Coordinating Judge, Algis Budrys.
The workshop takes one through the entire process of writing a story. Upon completion, we recommend entering the Writers of the Future Contest.
This workshop will take you through the process of coming up with story ideas, research, outlining, plotting, steps to writing your story, writing description, writing dialogue, writing narration, adding suspense, writing the beginning, middle and end of your story, and productivity.
By signing up for this free writing workshop you will also be creating an account for the Writers of the Future Forum, where you can connect with other participants.
The course was full of great information, in an easy-to-watch and easy-to-read format. I loved the tracking system as I didn’t have to worry about tracking my own progress. I’m sure I will go back to my notes in the future and study them again. This was well worth my time and effort.
—C. Michelle Jefferies United States
The free online workshop explained everything about writing a story in detail. It was clear and easy to understand and very helpful. I learned many techniques which have allowed me to complete writing a story with confidence.
—Percy AhuririNew Zealand
I have been writing for over a decade and, during that time, have taken many courses to improve my writing. Unexpectedly, the simple, clear and straightforward ideas presented in the WotF Online course tremendously helped me to streamline my prose and focus my stories. I have felt that my writing was on the brink of where I wanted it to be. Now I believe it is there.
—Joseph SidariUnited States
I have attended a lot of writing workshops on my journey to become a better writer, but the Writer’s of the Future Online Workshop did a better job of elevating and upgrading my knowledge of the writing craft. L. Ron Hubbard, Tim Powers, Orson Scott Card, and David Farland were all great mentors.
—Musa HashimNigeria
The Writers of the Future workshop was interesting and fun. I had a great time while learning a lot about writing—structuring a short story, developing characters, and formulating ideas. Any aspiring writer of short stories or novels would benefit from working through this course.
—Rebecca E. TreasureUnited States
This was an incredibly helpful workshop. The speakers were inspiring, the essays informative, and the activities instructional in the most helpful way possible. I walked away from the workshop with a half dozen new story ideas and the tools to fully plot, draft, and finish them.
—Lilla GlassUnited States
An excellent course for writers who are looking for a little structure to their current or future projects and who like the freedom of online classes. If you’ve previously taken a class on writing, a lot of the information is rehashed, but we all need to be reminded of some of these basics from time to time.
A lot of good information for beginning writers.
—EA RobinsSouth Korea
It was well presented. I learned most from the videos, specifically from the personal examples and issues covered by the professionals. More than just a beginner’s course, it contained information valuable to intermediate writers.
—Brian PerryUnited States
The free online workshop is by far one of the best online courses I’ve taken. It was really helpful and extremely insightful.
—DonaldNigeria
I just finished the Writers of the Future online writing workshop and found it HIGHLY enjoyable. I’ve been writing for awhile now, and getting to learn from these instructors was fun and helpful. They taught me new things and each has a different perspective on the “how-to” of writing. There are essays, videos, and practical activities throughout, and when you’re done you have a short story in your hands. And we all know how helpful having one of those around can be. Oh, and the best part? It’s FREE!
Thank you, everyone at WotF.
—Alicia CayUnited States
The workshop offers priceless nuggets from experts in the field that, when adhered to, can transform your writing career.
—Jacob A. OsaeGhana
Engaging and professionally done, WotF Online Workshop is among the best free writing courses. If you are used to simple instructional articles or videos, this course can make a lot of difference in retaining and applying information.
—SrdjanSerbia
Useful, comprehensive, and well-designed course.
—MiraSerbia
For the aspiring writer, this course is to be taken advantage of, especially if one wants to level up their ability. There are three of the judges for Writers of the Future Contest sharing information on how to write to win.
—D. R. SweeneyUnited States
I would recommend the WotF online workshop, as it may have helped me isolate the last one or two items I needed to take my stories to the next level of well-written stories.
—George KoelschUnited States
This course is for people at all stages of their writing. It’s great for the beginner and sets them on the right track, removing many of the little bad habits. The intermediate still gets something out of it, especially considering we are not at the level of the three instructors. Even a seasoned pro could get something from these instructions.
I particularly appreciated that I could do a step of this course then go off and follow the instructions and come back to continue on later. And you know what else? It’s free! Can’t beat that.
—John HaasCanada
This is a very good free course that covers the basics every new writer needs to know. It may not be very in depth, but for a free course it’s amazing.
—HarrySouth Africa
I think this was a great opportunity for aspiring writers, and very nice of you to offer this for free (and to attach successful writers to it). I did appreciate all of the advice sprinkled throughout.
—Faraz GafoorUnited States
This workshop was amazing. I would recommend it to any author, regardless of genre or skill level. It builds the foundation and lays out concepts to help anyone build the start to a professional and polished story.
—Rey NicholsUnited States
I took the Writers of the Future Online Workshop and learned amazing story crafting tools from some of the top Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors around! If you’ve ever wanted to take a class from David Farland, Tim Powers, or Orson Scott Card, but thought you couldn’t afford it, no worries—this workshop is FREE. Register today and you could have a story completed ready to submit to WotF by next week.…
—Duchele LongUnited States
I loved it. It was a simple and effective way to get me to write again!
—Hannah FlandersUnited States
The Writers of the Future Online Workshop is a deep dive into the process of starting with nothing and producing a viable first draft.
The workshop focuses on developing a unique story through personal experience, random ideas, random objects, and research.
For me, this workshop increased the depth of characterization and world building I include in my stories.
—LC TreeheartUnited States
I would recommend this class to anyone interested in writing science fiction or any other genre. Wonderful teachers who are also wonderful authors.
—Jean-Paul GarnierUnited States
The free Writers of the Future Online Workshop was an eye-opener for me. I have written a few short stories and some five novels, and I found the content of the workshop not only relevant, but vital to my becoming a true writer.
I learned a great deal from the resource people, their shared experiences, technical expertise, instructions, and most especially the essays by L. Ron Hubbard. These essays brought home to me the vital necessity of some technical and business aspects of being a writer—a successful writer—that over the years I have taken for granted.
A big appreciation to L. Ron Hubbard for establishing the WotF Contest.
—Babatunde OdutolaNigeria
Although I am not eligible to enter the Contest, I took the course to assist me with some new stories I’m working on and that was exactly the right thing to do! I feel I dramatically improved my story because of the relevant information I learned from this course!
—Tom McNultyUnited States
This workshop is a valuable tool for any writer working to master the craft of fiction. It covers all aspects of planning and writing a short story, with advice and tips directly from proven, successful authors. I have already recommended it to several writer friends, and would recommend it for any writer working to grow their craft.
—C. CrawfordUnited States
Being able to access the WotF workshop for free for the first time ever was a blast, the best World Book Day present ever. Both the essays by L. Ron Hubbard and the videos from Mr. Farland, Mr. Powers, and Mr. Card were interesting and useful, for writers in general and for sci-fi writers in particular. Orson Scott Card’s long videos were fantastic; I loved his style, funny and witty, and found myself smiling and nodding at the screen many times.
—Romy AntonelliSpain
The videos were my favorite of the presentation. Will use them as references.
Thank you for an excellent workshop!
—DonnaUnited States
This workshop is extremely beneficial. There can be no doubt that these great writers uplift and inspire your writing!! Also, being able to fall back on this type of instruction is a solid rubric for success! Whether I agree or disagree does not matter. The truth is writing is a business and art. As a working writer you must appease both business and art.
BRAVO WotF!!
—Michael A. Gill-BranionUnited States
This workshop opened my eyes to key points in writing: time to think, common objectives, events, how to circulate myself to get characters. The seven-step process to outline a story is genius. The lesson about ART is priceless. I am now rethinking several of my projects. Thank you for a wonderful workshop.
—Debbie FogleUnited States
The essays dealt with questions that I had about professional writing.
—Aníbal HernándezRepública Dominicana
I was pleasantly surprised with how detailed this course was. It’s a great set of tools to start any writer on their path of writing. I even shared the concepts and tools with my 15-year-old daughter to help her with her creative writing assignment for high school English. Suddenly, the task of writing a short story was not so scary for her.
—Judy L MohrNew Zealand
This workshop gives me freedom to learn the essence of writing science fiction at my own pace. The content is amazingly structured, there are mentions of techniques but the delivery never loses the human connection.
—IzwaziMalaysia
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Online Workshop is worth it. First, it is free. A workshop like this should be more than two to three hundred dollars. L. Ron Hubbard and Orson Scott Card are big names. I still remember the first time I read Ender’s Game and left it feeling emotionally charged.
Thank you very much for a writing program that pushed me to write and believe in myself.
—Wendy O’ConnellUnited States
I enjoyed every part of the online workshop, it is beautifully put together and easy to use. That the system retained my next lesson was the pinnacle joy of relief. Excellent!
—RobertAustralia
Now I have a full short story to revise and submit, a flash fiction piece, and two outlines for other stories. You, too, can find a way to write. This free online workshop came at the right time for many of us. It will remind you of the tools you know and give you some new insight as well. A big thank you to the Writers of the Future Contest judges who took the time and effort to share their knowledge with us, and to the producers, for making the workshop free when many of us are having financial difficulties at this time.
—Catherine J. ColeUnited States
This online course gave me so much hope as a writer. Instilling confidence into how I can create art to enrich humanity. I learned more about writing and authorship in this course than any other course I’ve done before: Covering all aspects of writing from cultivating ideas, the importance of research, dialogue, structure, to actually understanding what art really is. With high quality audiovisual presentations and accompanying transcripts, this course is certainly at the forefront of aiding in developing future writers.
Finally, an organisation and a course that elevates the writer through encouragement and advice to achieve a workable and valuable final product. I would highly recommend this course to all writers in the fiction genre.
Thank you WotF for the opportunity!
—Robert GennariAustralia
I had the privilege of participating in and completing the Writers of the Future free Workshop. It was an informative and enriching experience that has helped to enhance my skills exponentially in the craft of writing.
—PT RussellCanada
The course was full of great information, in an easy-to-watch and easy-to-read format. I loved the tracking system as I didn’t have to worry about tracking my own progress. I’m sure I will go back to my notes in the future and study them again. This was well worth my time and effort.
—C. Michelle Jefferies United States
The free online workshop explained everything about writing a story in detail. It was clear and easy to understand and very helpful. I learned many techniques which have allowed me to complete writing a story with confidence.
—Percy AhuririNew Zealand
I have been writing for over a decade and, during that time, have taken many courses to improve my writing. Unexpectedly, the simple, clear and straightforward ideas presented in the WotF Online course tremendously helped me to streamline my prose and focus my stories. I have felt that my writing was on the brink of where I wanted it to be. Now I believe it is there.
—Joseph SidariUnited States
I have attended a lot of writing workshops on my journey to become a better writer, but the Writer’s of the Future Online Workshop did a better job of elevating and upgrading my knowledge of the writing craft. L. Ron Hubbard, Tim Powers, Orson Scott Card, and David Farland were all great mentors.
—Musa HashimNigeria
The Writers of the Future workshop was interesting and fun. I had a great time while learning a lot about writing—structuring a short story, developing characters, and formulating ideas. Any aspiring writer of short stories or novels would benefit from working through this course.
—Rebecca E. TreasureUnited States
This was an incredibly helpful workshop. The speakers were inspiring, the essays informative, and the activities instructional in the most helpful way possible. I walked away from the workshop with a half dozen new story ideas and the tools to fully plot, draft, and finish them.
—Lilla GlassUnited States
An excellent course for writers who are looking for a little structure to their current or future projects and who like the freedom of online classes. If you’ve previously taken a class on writing, a lot of the information is rehashed, but we all need to be reminded of some of these basics from time to time.
A lot of good information for beginning writers.
—EA RobinsSouth Korea
It was well presented. I learned most from the videos, specifically from the personal examples and issues covered by the professionals. More than just a beginner’s course, it contained information valuable to intermediate writers.
—Brian PerryUnited States
The free online workshop is by far one of the best online courses I’ve taken. It was really helpful and extremely insightful.
—DonaldNigeria
I just finished the Writers of the Future online writing workshop and found it HIGHLY enjoyable. I’ve been writing for awhile now, and getting to learn from these instructors was fun and helpful. They taught me new things and each has a different perspective on the “how-to” of writing. There are essays, videos, and practical activities throughout, and when you’re done you have a short story in your hands. And we all know how helpful having one of those around can be. Oh, and the best part? It’s FREE!
Thank you, everyone at WotF.
—Alicia CayUnited States
The workshop offers priceless nuggets from experts in the field that, when adhered to, can transform your writing career.
—Jacob A. OsaeGhana
Engaging and professionally done, WotF Online Workshop is among the best free writing courses. If you are used to simple instructional articles or videos, this course can make a lot of difference in retaining and applying information.
—SrdjanSerbia
Useful, comprehensive, and well-designed course.
—MiraSerbia
For the aspiring writer, this course is to be taken advantage of, especially if one wants to level up their ability. There are three of the judges for Writers of the Future Contest sharing information on how to write to win.
—D. R. SweeneyUnited States
I would recommend the WotF online workshop, as it may have helped me isolate the last one or two items I needed to take my stories to the next level of well-written stories.
—George KoelschUnited States
This course is for people at all stages of their writing. It’s great for the beginner and sets them on the right track, removing many of the little bad habits. The intermediate still gets something out of it, especially considering we are not at the level of the three instructors. Even a seasoned pro could get something from these instructions.
I particularly appreciated that I could do a step of this course then go off and follow the instructions and come back to continue on later. And you know what else? It’s free! Can’t beat that.
—John HaasCanada
This is a very good free course that covers the basics every new writer needs to know. It may not be very in depth, but for a free course it’s amazing.
—HarrySouth Africa
I think this was a great opportunity for aspiring writers, and very nice of you to offer this for free (and to attach successful writers to it). I did appreciate all of the advice sprinkled throughout.
—Faraz GafoorUnited States
This workshop was amazing. I would recommend it to any author, regardless of genre or skill level. It builds the foundation and lays out concepts to help anyone build the start to a professional and polished story.
—Rey NicholsUnited States
I took the Writers of the Future Online Workshop and learned amazing story crafting tools from some of the top Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors around! If you’ve ever wanted to take a class from David Farland, Tim Powers, or Orson Scott Card, but thought you couldn’t afford it, no worries—this workshop is FREE. Register today and you could have a story completed ready to submit to WotF by next week.…
—Duchele LongUnited States
I loved it. It was a simple and effective way to get me to write again!
—Hannah FlandersUnited States
The Writers of the Future Online Workshop is a deep dive into the process of starting with nothing and producing a viable first draft.
The workshop focuses on developing a unique story through personal experience, random ideas, random objects, and research.
For me, this workshop increased the depth of characterization and world building I include in my stories.
—LC TreeheartUnited States
I would recommend this class to anyone interested in writing science fiction or any other genre. Wonderful teachers who are also wonderful authors.
—Jean-Paul GarnierUnited States
The free Writers of the Future Online Workshop was an eye-opener for me. I have written a few short stories and some five novels, and I found the content of the workshop not only relevant, but vital to my becoming a true writer.
I learned a great deal from the resource people, their shared experiences, technical expertise, instructions, and most especially the essays by L. Ron Hubbard. These essays brought home to me the vital necessity of some technical and business aspects of being a writer—a successful writer—that over the years I have taken for granted.
A big appreciation to L. Ron Hubbard for establishing the WotF Contest.
—Babatunde OdutolaNigeria
Although I am not eligible to enter the Contest, I took the course to assist me with some new stories I’m working on and that was exactly the right thing to do! I feel I dramatically improved my story because of the relevant information I learned from this course!
—Tom McNultyUnited States
This workshop is a valuable tool for any writer working to master the craft of fiction. It covers all aspects of planning and writing a short story, with advice and tips directly from proven, successful authors. I have already recommended it to several writer friends, and would recommend it for any writer working to grow their craft.
—C. CrawfordUnited States
Being able to access the WotF workshop for free for the first time ever was a blast, the best World Book Day present ever. Both the essays by L. Ron Hubbard and the videos from Mr. Farland, Mr. Powers, and Mr. Card were interesting and useful, for writers in general and for sci-fi writers in particular. Orson Scott Card’s long videos were fantastic; I loved his style, funny and witty, and found myself smiling and nodding at the screen many times.
—Romy AntonelliSpain
The videos were my favorite of the presentation. Will use them as references.
Thank you for an excellent workshop!
—DonnaUnited States
This workshop is extremely beneficial. There can be no doubt that these great writers uplift and inspire your writing!! Also, being able to fall back on this type of instruction is a solid rubric for success! Whether I agree or disagree does not matter. The truth is writing is a business and art. As a working writer you must appease both business and art.
BRAVO WotF!!
—Michael A. Gill-BranionUnited States
This workshop opened my eyes to key points in writing: time to think, common objectives, events, how to circulate myself to get characters. The seven-step process to outline a story is genius. The lesson about ART is priceless. I am now rethinking several of my projects. Thank you for a wonderful workshop.
—Debbie FogleUnited States
The essays dealt with questions that I had about professional writing.
—Aníbal HernándezRepública Dominicana
I was pleasantly surprised with how detailed this course was. It’s a great set of tools to start any writer on their path of writing. I even shared the concepts and tools with my 15-year-old daughter to help her with her creative writing assignment for high school English. Suddenly, the task of writing a short story was not so scary for her.
—Judy L MohrNew Zealand
This workshop gives me freedom to learn the essence of writing science fiction at my own pace. The content is amazingly structured, there are mentions of techniques but the delivery never loses the human connection.
—IzwaziMalaysia
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Online Workshop is worth it. First, it is free. A workshop like this should be more than two to three hundred dollars. L. Ron Hubbard and Orson Scott Card are big names. I still remember the first time I read Ender’s Game and left it feeling emotionally charged.
Thank you very much for a writing program that pushed me to write and believe in myself.
—Wendy O’ConnellUnited States
I enjoyed every part of the online workshop, it is beautifully put together and easy to use. That the system retained my next lesson was the pinnacle joy of relief. Excellent!
—RobertAustralia
Now I have a full short story to revise and submit, a flash fiction piece, and two outlines for other stories. You, too, can find a way to write. This free online workshop came at the right time for many of us. It will remind you of the tools you know and give you some new insight as well. A big thank you to the Writers of the Future Contest judges who took the time and effort to share their knowledge with us, and to the producers, for making the workshop free when many of us are having financial difficulties at this time.
—Catherine J. ColeUnited States
This online course gave me so much hope as a writer. Instilling confidence into how I can create art to enrich humanity. I learned more about writing and authorship in this course than any other course I’ve done before: Covering all aspects of writing from cultivating ideas, the importance of research, dialogue, structure, to actually understanding what art really is. With high quality audiovisual presentations and accompanying transcripts, this course is certainly at the forefront of aiding in developing future writers.
Finally, an organisation and a course that elevates the writer through encouragement and advice to achieve a workable and valuable final product. I would highly recommend this course to all writers in the fiction genre.
Thank you WotF for the opportunity!
—Robert GennariAustralia
I had the privilege of participating in and completing the Writers of the Future free Workshop. It was an informative and enriching experience that has helped to enhance my skills exponentially in the craft of writing.
—PT RussellCanada
Additional Resources for Writers
Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast
Amazing life stories and proven tips for both writing and illustrating, listen to Contest judges, winners, and industry pros in these personal interviews on the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast.
Blogs
Writers & Illustrators of the Future latest news and tips on writing.