95% off The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story (Coupon & Review)

Attention: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story - Udemy Coupon

Get Discount


This is the best Udemy The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story coupon code discount for 2025.

So if you’re interested in Nathaniel Mellor’s “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story” course, which will help you increase your Lifestyle skills, get your discount on this Udemy online course up above while it’s still available. (The coupon code will be instantly applied.)

The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story review for 2025

In our review of this course, we try to help you answer all of your most important questions about The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that you can determine whether this online education training is worth your time and money.

Feel free to jump to whatever question you want answered the most.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Why use TBOWACSS as an abbreviation of the course name?

During our The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story course review, you might sometimes see us refer to it as TBOWACSS for the following 2 reasons:

  1. We created the acronym by taking the first letter of every word (which was very ingenious and innovative, we know)
  2. We’re lazy and TBOWACSS is simpler and easier for reviewing purposes

The full course name is 46 characters long, including blanks, while TBOWACSS is 8 characters long.

You do the math.

Okay, we’ll do the math. We’re saving 38 characters every time we use TBOWACSS.

So, just a heads up that we’ll be using this abbreviation sometimes, so you’re not left scratching your head and wondering what the heck we’re talking about whenever we refer to TBOWACSS throughout the remainder of this review.

Is the The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story course for you?

To determine whether Nathaniel Mellor’s Udemy course is a good fit for you or not, ask yourself the following questions down below.

The more you answer “yes” to each question, the more likely it is that you’ll like this course.

Can you understand what Nathaniel Mellor’s course is about in 30 seconds or less?

Hopefully, you can easily grasp in 10 seconds or less what this online course is about simply by taking a look at the title that Nathaniel Mellor chose for the course, “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story”, as well as its subtitle: “How to create stories that capture readers and develop your skills as a writer”.

This combo of title and subtitle should be enough to communicate the purpose of the training if Nathaniel Mellor is a good, clear communicator (which, of course, you want in a teacher).

In our opinion, if you still don’t know what TBOWACSS is about after looking at these two things, then this is a red flag, and you might be better off not taking this class.

Among other things, it means Nathaniel Mellor hasn’t clearly and accurately conveyed what the course is about and might not be the best teacher for you.

For similar reasons, it’s important that you’re able to clearly understand what The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story is all about from the first few lines of the course description.

So take just a few seconds to read the opening lines down below and see what you think of them. 

Opening lines of Nathaniel Mellor’s official description of TBOWACSS

This course is for you, if you’re willing to learn.

Have you ever read a book that just fell flat? Especially one that was recommended to you by someone you respect, and you just couldn’t get into it?

Short stories are often held to a higher standard, and, more often than not, looked down on by non-writers.

(Read more about this course on the official course page.)

Does TBOWACSS pass the 30 Seconds Test?

You can read a lot more about The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story on the official course page on Udemy, but the point is this: are the title, subtitle, and just the first few lines of the description enough to help you understand what the course is about?

If so, Nathaniel Mellor has done a good job and can be considered more trustworthy and a good communicator, which are important qualities for any teacher.

And, if not, maybe you’re better off looking at other Lifestyle classes that are more clearly defined and more tailored to your specific interests.

Did The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story appeal to you in 30 seconds or less?

Now that you’ve done the 30 Second Test with TBOWACSS above, what is your gut reaction to this Lifestyle course with only the basic information of its title, subtitle, and the first few opening lines of its official course summary?

Did Nathaniel Mellor do a good job conveying its subject matter, and did it immediately get your attention and appeal to you?

If so, Nathaniel Mellor’s online course is certainly worth considering some more.

But if not, perhaps it’s in your best interest to consider some other Lifestyle courses instead, because clear communication and being able to hook and maintain your interest are two very important qualities for your online learning success.

Does Nathaniel Mellor sound like a course instructor you’d like to learn from?

You’ve already learned how to use The 30 Second Test to make a quick evaluation of whether the TBOWACSS course is worth taking.

We have a similar 15 Second Bio Test where you read only the first few lines of an instructor’s background — in this case, Nathaniel Mellor’s background — and then you make a quick, snap judgment as to whether you think the instructor would be ideal for you.

There is no right or wrong answer. It’s just about going with your gut instinct. What might appeal to one potential student might alienate another, and vice versa.

(FYI, all Udemy instructors, including Nathaniel Mellor, have a Udemy profile on their course page, so you can easily check for a bio and background on the Udemy website that way. We’re only including the first few lines of the bio down below for The 15 Second Bio Test).

Opening lines from Nathaniel Mellor’s Udemy bio

Nathaniel Mellor is a writer and novelist. He has a couple of published short stories, one published internationally, and a novel that has yet to leave his hard drive. Nathaniel has spent the last four years working and traveling, using his experiences to write fiction. Nathaniel also likes to build furniture for himself, because it never comes out square…

(Learn more about this instructor on the official course page.)

What did you think about Nathaniel Mellor after reading just the first few lines of the bio above?

After reading just the first few lines about Nathaniel Mellor, did it make you more or less interested in taking the TBOWACSS course?

And did it make you feel like Nathaniel Mellor was more or less credible and qualified to teach The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story?

Finally, overall, did you feel like you’d receive the proper training from the instructor of this Lifestyle course?

As always, we encourage you to listen to your gut instinct, which is different for every student.

Are the TBOWACSS lessons clear, specific, and organized well?

Part of the (good) problem with Udemy’s online courses, such as the The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story course, is that the instructors are constantly updating them, including adding and renaming lessons.

So it makes no sense whatsoever for us to list out all the modules and lessons in the TBOWACSS course here, because you can just as easily go to the Udemy course page and get all the up to date course structure as of right now.

We do, however, have some tips about reviewing Nathaniel Mellor’s course structure, so that you can get a better sense of whether this program is worth your time or not.

In a nutshell, you want to scan the the titles of the different sections and lessons of the course, and verify that they are clearly relevant to the course’s name, The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story, as well as the course’s subtitle, How to create stories that capture readers and develop your skills as a writer.

If the section names and lessons are clear, specific, and relevant, then it’s a good sign that TBOWACSS is potentially a good, useful course for you, and you can have more confidence in Nathaniel Mellor’s teaching abilities and lesson planning.

On the other hand, if the module names are confusing, vague, or irrelevant, then this is a red flag, which might indicate that the program is worth skipping.

Have you taken some free lessons from Nathaniel Mellor that you enjoyed?

Have you already learned something from Nathaniel Mellor that you valued or enjoyed?

For example, does the The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story training have some free lessons that you can try? (Almost all Udemy instructors will give you at least one or two lessons for free to help you make a better, more informed decision before enrolling in their course.)

But if you weren’t able to get any TBOWACSS lessons for free, have you perhaps watched a YouTube video by Nathaniel Mellor, or perhaps come across this instructor’s thoughts on Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn, Github, Reddit, or some other platform?

Or have you perhaps even taken one of Nathaniel Mellor’s free courses or free webinars? (Many online teachers offer these freebies, which is a great way to get to know them and evaluate their teaching methods before buying one of their courses.)

In any case, the more familiar you are with Nathaniel Mellor’s teaching methods, and the more you enjoy them, the more likely it is that The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story will be a good fit for you.

(P.S.: We strongly encourage you to seek out some free instruction from Nathaniel Mellor before purchasing this course, since it’s one of the best ways to determine whether TBOWACSS will be helpful for you.)

Are “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story” reviews generally positive?

On the bottom of the TBOWACSS page, you can read student reviews of the class.

Prior to August 20, 2025, there were 97 students enrolled, 35 reviews / ratings, and it was overall rated 4.3 out of 5.

Obviously, the more highly other students rate TBOWACSS the better, but no matter what, keep an open mind when reading the reviews, since you might still like a course a great deal that other students dislike.

After all, everyone’s got their own opinion.

We recommend that you spend only a couple minutes scanning the TBOWACSS reviews to get an overall sense of them. You don’t have to read each one!

Is Nathaniel Mellor responsive to student questions in the TBOWACSS training?

You can see what other students have to say about this in their TBOWACSS reviews.

But, our simple all time favorite way of gauging an instructor’s responsiveness is to simply email the instructor and see if or how they respond.

In this case, Udemy has a messaging system for students / anyone who has an account, and you can send Nathaniel Mellor a message through this system quite easily, even if you haven’t bought TBOWACSS yet.

For example, you could say, “Hi, and I came across TBOWACSS while looking at Lifestyle courses on Udemy. If I enroll in your training, would you mind if I asked you any questions along the way?”

If you use this approach, the response (or lack of response) from the professor will tell you everything.

Obviously, the quicker the response the better!

Are you comfortable going through the lessons in The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story on your own, online?

This is a big one, because The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story is an online course as opposed to a course that you physically take in a classroom.

Of course, you will need a good internet connection to have access to the course material and lessons, but beyond that, you also have to be comfortable being self motivated to some degree, being on your own, and not having any physical interaction with any of the other students taking The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story.

Yes, you will be able to interact with the students and the teacher, Nathaniel Mellor, online, but it’s a different kind of experience than what you’d get if you were interacting with them in person.

This is not a big deal to most people, but it might be something for you to consider if you feel like you do better taking classes in person rather than learning online.

Do the pros / benefits of TBOWACSS make it worth your time?

Ideally, if you’ve gone through the evaluation steps above, you have a list of positive things about the The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story training that looks something like this:

  • The purpose of TBOWACSS can be clearly grasped and understood, and its lesson structure is clear, specific, and well organized
  • Nathaniel Mellor is well qualified to teach this subject matter, has good teaching abilities, and is responsive to student questions
  • Other TBOWACSS students have great things to say about the program

Other benefits include:

  • You get to go through TBOWACSS at your own pace
  • You join a community of 97 other students taking the course
  • You get lifetime access to the training
  • All updates to the training are free
  • You have a 30 day money back guarantee

Even if there are some things that you don’t like about the program, so what?

The question is simply this: do you think that TBOWACSS would be worth your time, even if there are some things that could be better about it?

Can you comfortably afford TBOWACSS?

Can you comfortably afford the cost of The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story?

This is an important question to answer, because even if you think TBOWACSS sounds like the greatest online class in the world, it’s still not worth taking if you can’t comfortably afford it!

Before August 20, 2025, the price was $12.99 before any Udemy discount, and you were able to pay with a credit card.

Keep in mind that this is a Udemy online course, and there’s a great chance that you can get a solid discount on TBOWACSS with Udemy coupons / promo codes, especially with the strategies we provide for helping you find the best, most popular coupons available.

We’ll cover that in greater detail in the next section, because at the end of the day, its important that you can learn whatever you want to learn without getting into a lot of credit card debt.

How can you maximize your discount on The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story?

By far, the easiest way to get the best and biggest discount on this course is to use the The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story discount code link at the top of this page.

It will instantly give you the best coupon code we could find for Nathaniel Mellor’s online training.

We don’t believe there’s a bigger discount than the one we provided, but if for some reason you’d like to try find one, you can use the methods below to hunt for the best TBOWACSS course coupons and promo codes you can find.

FYI, the methods below will help you not just with getting TBOWACSS for a better price, but also with any other Nathaniel Mellor Udemy course that you’d like to get for cheaper.

How can Google help you get a TBOWACSS discount?

To use this method, do a Google search for the TBOWACSS training, but in your search query, be sure to add words like coupon code, promo code, deal, sale, discount, and Udemy.

For example, you might do a search for “Udemy The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story promo code” or “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story udemy coupon codes” and see what turns up.

Similarly, you can use the same combination of search terms with Nathaniel Mellor’s name and see what happens.

For example, you might do a Google search for “Nathaniel Mellor Udemy coupons” or “Nathaniel Mellor course coupon codes” and see if that helps you.

However, in general, it’s far more powerful to do a search for deals and coupon codes with the actual training’s name, than with the instructor’s name.

So in this case, for example, prioritize searches for “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story coupons” rather than “Nathaniel Mellor coupons”.

How can a Udemy sale get you TBOWACSS for cheaper?

Every once in while, Udemy will do a sitewide sale where they offer all (or almost all) their courses at a discounted price. For example, one of the best sales is where every course is only $10 or $9.99.

So, if you’re interested in saving as much money as possible, you could wait and see if you can get TBOWACSS for this cheaper Udemy sale price one day.

The problem is that these sales only occur sporadically, so you might be waiting for a while. Also, if Nathaniel Mellor decides not to participate in the site wide sale, then you won’t get a discount on TBOWACSS, even though you could get a great discount on almost any other class at Udemy!

To understand this, think of there as being two different coupon categories for the TBOWACSS course. Category one is an official Udemy coupon (which instructors can opt out of), while category two is a coupon offered directly by the instructor.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of a coupon tag you’re dealing with (for example, “officially from Udemy” or “officially from the instructor”), as long as long as as you’re dealing with active coupons that get you a better price.

How can you get a TBOWACSS discount from Nathaniel Mellor?

If you’re really serious about getting “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story” for the cheapest price possible, then perhaps one of the most powerful things you can do is get a coupon code straight from Nathaniel Mellor, instead of waiting for a Udemy sale.

To do this, you can use either the direct approach or an indirect approach to try to get your discount.

With the direct approach, the big idea is to simply get Nathaniel Mellor’s contact info in some way or another (whether it’s email, or Twitter, or whatever else).

Then you send a message saying something like “I’m interested in enrolling in The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story. Do you happen to currently have an active coupon code for it that I could use?” (And then, hopefully, you’ll get a reply with your discount code.)

On the other hand, with the indirect approach, you join Nathaniel Mellor’s mailing list, if you can find it, and then you hope that at some time TBOWACSS will be promoted to you at a discount.

By far, the more powerful approach is the direct approach, because it tends to get results faster. But you can experiment with the indirect approach and see if it works for you.

Can you get TBOWACSS for free?

Of course, the best possible price for the TBOWACSS training is free! As in, you pay no money whatsoever.

And guess what? Sometimes Udemy instructors provide coupon codes that enable students to take their courses for free. So, perhaps it’s possible that Nathaniel Mellor has done this.

Basically, if you’re trying to get this program for free, you will want to search for the course’s name along with other words like free coupon, or 100 off coupon.

For example, you might do a google search for “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story free coupon” or “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story 100 off coupon” and see what happens.

But keep this in mind: often, Udemy teachers will offer a free coupon for their course when it first opens to get some publicity and reviews. And then, after a few days, they’ll make the coupon expired.

So even Nathaniel Mellor has offered free coupons for TBOWACSS in the past, the odds are likely they will all be currently expired. This is a common pattern that we have found.

What about a TBOWACSS free download?

It’s important to understand that there’s a difference between getting full access to the TBOWACSS training for free legally with a free coupon code vs. finding a way to download TBOWACSS illegally.

If you really want to go the download route, you can do a google search for something like “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story download”.

And if that doesn’t get you the results you want, you can add the word “free” to your search.

For example, perhaps you could do a google search for “The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story free download”.

However, even if you get some results from these searches, we do not recommend that you take this course of action.

First of all, there are some shady sites out there that could be trying to infect your computer.

Second, Nathaniel Mellor created this course and deserves monetary compensation for it.

And third, if you go the free download route, you’ll be missing out on a lot of value, because you won’t be able to ask the instructor questions or interact with the other 97 students enrolled in the program.

Can you get a refund on The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story if you don’t like it?

Let’s say that you used our tips above, and you were able to buy the TBOWACSS training at a fantastic discounted price. So at this point, you’re super excited.

Then, you actually dive into Nathaniel Mellor’s course, and you discover that it just isn’t for you for whatever reason.

And now you’re super bummed, because you feel like it wasn’t money well spent.

Well, guess what?

Udemy offers a rock solid 30 day money back guarantee on all their courses, so you can get a refund on TBOWACSS no matter what. And this means there is absolutely no risk.

Indeed, even if you left a super negative, critical review on the TBOWACSS training, and then asked for your money back, you’d get a refund. For better or worse, there’s nothing Nathaniel Mellor could do about it, since it is simply Udemy policy.

To sum it up: yes, you can get a full refund, so at the end of the day, don’t worry about the possibility of purchasing TBOWACSS and not liking it, since you can always get your money back.

What is OCP’s overall rating of The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story?

During this TBOWACSS review, you’ve learned about some of the unusual ways we like to evaluate courses, such as with The 30 Second Test and The 15 Second Bio Test.

So our overall review process is perhaps a little unusual and different from other reviews out there. Keep this in mind when you consider the overall rating / score that we have given this course.

Anyway, after taking a look at the TBOWACSS training, the instructor, Nathaniel Mellor, and reading what other students have said about this program, we give it an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5.

Ultimately, though, what matters most is what you would rate it based on the same criteria.

What are some potential alternatives to The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story?

If you like this course, you might also be interested in:


1. Crafts for Kids: Autumn and Winter

Your essential guide to autumn and winter holiday themed crafts for children and the whole family!

Taught by Early Childhood Educator


2. street magic: The ultimate magic tricks show

Pure entertainment just like watching a live magic show. Great for those who want to be a magician

Taught by eCommerce Instructor, 150,000 students & 50+ courses


3. Introduction to Tea

Learn the basics about tea – where it’s from, how it’s made, and how to brew a great cup!

Taught by Tea Sommelier & MBA


4. Immigration! Applying for a “U.S Family Based Green Card”

How to apply for a U.S Green Card without paying for an expensive Immigration Attorney and save thousands in fees.

Taught by The Green Card Expert!


5. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Practitioner Cert

A fully comprehensive Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Practitioner Certification Course combining Mindfulness & CBT

Taught by Best Selling Instructor – Emotional & Behavioural Therapies

TLDR: Just the quick facts about TBOWACSS

Okay, if all of this was Too Long Didn’t Read for you, here is the Cliff’s Notes version of what TBOWACSS’s online training is all about:

TBOWACSS coupon & course info

Course Name: The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story

Subtitle: How to create stories that capture readers and develop your skills as a writer

Instructor: Taught by Nathaniel Mellor

Category: Lifestyle

Subcategory: Arts & Crafts

Provided by: Udemy

Price: $12.99 (before discount)

Free coupon code: Get Udemy coupon code discount at top of page (no charge for coupon, especially since we are compensated for referrals via affiliate marketing)

TBOWACSS review info & popularity

Prior to August 20, 2025…

Students: 97 students enrolled

Ratings: 35 reviews

Rank: ranked #754 in Udemy Lifestyle Courses in Udemy Lifestyle Courses

Rankings tip: rankings change all the time, so even if The Basics of Writing a Compelling Short Story is a bestseller or one of the top Udemy courses one year, it doesn’t mean it will be a top Udemy course the next year

TBOWACSS final details

Languages: English

Skill level: All Levels

Lectures: 20 lectures lectures lessons

Duration: 1.5 total hours hours of video

What you get: Write in a way that will feel more honest and natural to readers.

Target audience: Although anyone can take this course, it is geared for beginning or newer writers.

Requirements: You should have at least one idea that you’re willing to write about.

Access: Lifetime access

Peace of mind: 30 day money back guarantee

Availability: available online, as well as on iOS and Android

Download options: check course to see if you can download lessons