Writing Improvement: Free journalism courses

With how busy this month has been, I've had a really strong urge to be creative to relieve some stress. One of my year long goals is to improve my writing so I was doing a little research into free journalism courses online and it's amazing how many wonderful people there are out there willing to share their knowledge for free.

• This site http://creative-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/ has me motivated to try my hand at writing a short story. 
• Here is another site with lots of good information on it http://education-ortal.com/articles/10_Universities_Offering_Free_Writing_Courses_Online.html (tons of variety!) 
• I also came across this cool tool.  You put in your writing goals and get 7 little reminders to help keep you on track.  http://www.writershelper.com/writing-goals.html .  My goal: To research what makes a great short story, to finish a draft of the story, to receive a critique, and to finish my own book!

Starting tomorrow, I will have 12 days of vacation for the holidays.  I really hope to get a short story going!  I know I have a weird dream or experience in my head just waiting to be turned into a good first attempt.  If you're interested in improving your writing skills check out the links...nothing beats free and on your own schedule!