IMPROVE YOUR WRITING ABILITY
Boost your chances of selling your work
- Look for work with publishers or as a freelance writer elsewhere.
- Develop your writing abilities with the help of a professional, published writer who will serve as your instructor and mentor.
- Plan projects, conduct interviews and research, and learn various writing approaches.
The freelance writing industry is very cutthroat. Together with strong writing abilities, successful freelance writers also possess a keen sense of narrative, a command of the subject matter of their chosen field, the capacity for rapid and concise writing, strong communication abilities, and a vast network of helpful contacts.
Although each of these career-enhancing abilities is crucial, it obviously takes time for them to mature. This course expands on whatever prior knowledge and abilities you may have. It entails that you have a firm grasp of writing. It’s possible that you’ve already had work published. But, if you want to expand on your prior knowledge and abilities, this course is ideal for you.
Lesson Structure
There are 8 lessons in this course:
- Introduction.
- Writing Themes, Sentence Structure, Summary Skills, Theme Development (eg. Deductive, Inductive, Classic, Chronological, Descriptive, Analogy, Cause & Effect, Classification, Definition Analysis, Comparison & Contrast, Flashback etc)
- Writing a Regular Column
- Newsletters, News Columns, Criticism Journalism (eg Theatre Critics, Book Reviews, Film Reviews, etc)
- Educational Writing
- Interviewing Skills, Illustrating an article, Putting it all together
- Scientific Writing
- Technical Writing, Statistics
- Writing a Biographical Story
- Developing a draft plan, Research, Writing the final manuscript
- Writing a News Article
- Analysing a news article; writing and illustrating a sporting event
- Fiction Writing
- Category Writing; Mainstream Writing; Characteristics of good fiction (ie. A strong plot;. A hero or heroine; Obvious motivation; Plenty of action; A colourful background), Forming and developing an idea.
- Other Writing
- TV & Radio Scripts, Science Fiction, Conducting a Survey; Developing a Story.
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
- Examine fundamental writing techniques and talk about theme development
- Learn how to write a regular column for a magazine or newspaper.
- Explain the essential components of academic writing.
- Name the essential components of technical writing.
- enhance your interviewing and biographical writing skills.
- Improve your writing abilities for news pieces.
- Improve your fiction writing abilities.
- Explain different forms of writing, such as scriptwriting.
The Heading Needs Attention
The most crucial element of newsletters or news columns is the headline. These will be the first thing the reader reads, and if they fail to capture their interest, they won’t continue. They must be direct, powerful, and pertinent to the main material. They must also utilise acceptable language that readers can easily understand.
Two categories of headlines exist:
- The title, which is typically just one or two words and just mentions the subject without providing any information or message, such as “TREASURER’S REPORT,” “What’s On,” “HISTORICAL NOTES,” or “Elderly Citizens Club.”
Regular columns utilise labels as headings because they serve as signposts for readers who wish to learn more about a certain subject. Labels lack the impact or information necessary to serve as news headlines. - The phrase that conveys information, such as “Magpies Win Premiership,” “PRESIDENT RETIRES,” “$4 Million Grant,” or “Bus Excursion to the Snow.”
- The headline of a sentence serves to draw the reader’s attention, hence it is used to convey information that is newsworthy. The best and most impactful sentence headlines are typically condensed and to the point.
Successful headlines meet the characteristics listed below:
- There should be a verb and a subject in the headline (i.e. either a noun or pronoun).
- The body of the article should include and elaborate on the information in the title.
- The main idea of the news should be the basis for the headline.
- In the article below, the headline shouldn’t be written exactly the same way twice.
- The headline ought to be clear on its own (it must have its own entity).
- Verbs should be active, not passive.
- To provide the idea that something is happening, use the present tense.
You must think about the layout of the headlines if you are participating in the actual production of a newsletter or news magazine. Several things to think about:
- The articles with the greatest headlines are the most significant.
- To prevent having a page that is bottom-heavy and uneven, the largest headlines should be put towards the top of the page.
- Use short words instead of hyphens in headlines and subheadings.
Who can benefit from taking this course?
Writers trying to break into marketplaces like magazines and newspapers for freelancing.
Writers who are self-employed who want to expand their market reach or sharpen their writing skills.
Editors seeking to provide specialty writing services to current clientele and draw in new ones. Interviews, scientific writing, and educational writing are examples of specialised services.
Fiction authors looking to expand their readership by writing nonfiction, such as creative non-fiction, memoir, or biography.
By completing this course, you will:
- Learn how to create a concept, then create a structure and start your investigation.
- Recognize how to write a catchy headline
- How to develop a compelling lead or introduction for your work.
- Enhance your current writing abilities and look into possible specialisations (such as technical writing)
- Go from fundamental revision techniques to sophisticated document polishing
