Freelance Writing

FREELANCE WRITING COURSE -Study writing online, or study by distance education with printed notes

ACS Student comment:
Yes [this course is a valuable learning experience]. I have never had the benefit of a writer give feedback on my work. That along with structure and content lessons have been beneficial. Bradley Clark, Australia - Freelance Writing

• Learn how to write what publishers want
• Improve your professional writing skills under the guidence of a team of internationally published book, magazine and newspaper writers
• Learn how to optimise opportunities for "breaking in" to the writing profession as a freelance author, writer or journalist

Student Comments about this course:

"I found the course to be extremely helpful. It has given me the confidence and the skills to present my work to publishers" D. Bond, Freelance Writing graduate.

"The Freelance Writing course has been one of my most favourite due to the ease & flexibility of correspondence. I have found the staff always helpful and friendly. I appreciated that there were no deadlines and I could complete the work involved when I had time."
- Janine

Freelance writing can be a highly satisfying and rewarding way to earn money, either as a part time or full time career. To be successful at Freelance Writing, you need good writing skills of course ....but also, saleable ideas, patience, persistence and an ability to meet obligations and deadlines.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to freelancing
   • Scope of freelance writing (types of writing, where to begin, styles, etc). getting help, finding resources & contacts, understanding industry terminology.
2. Basic writing skills
   • What is communication, types of communication, types of language, clear wording, concise wording, parts of speech, grammar, punctuation.
3. The publishing world
   • Periodicals, books, remaindering, copyright, publishers advertising conditions, public lending rights, contracts, selling.
4. Manuscripts
   • Types of printing, preparing a type script, etc.
5. Planning what you write
   • Mechanics of writing, developing an idea, sentence structure, precis, planning what you write, building a paragraph.
6. Newspaper writing
   • Newspapers, regular columns, fillers, short features, etc.
7. Magazine writing
   • Travel writing, magazine articles/features, determining potentially marketable articles.
8. Writing books
   • Non fiction, fiction, short stories, determining what to write and developing an idea.
9. Writing advertising
   • Writing a press release, writing an advertisement, writing for public relations, etc.
10. Special project
    • Planning and developing a manuscript for a small book.

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

• Discuss the nature and scope of freelance writing.
• Evaluate your basic writing skills and identify deficiencies needing attention in order to
  • be successful at freelance writing.
• Develop a concept for freelance writing which has potential for selling.
• Identify commercial opportunities to sell writing to publishers.
• Describe the preparation of a manuscript for submission to a publisher
• Write commercially viable items for publishing in a newspaper.
• Write commercially viable items for publishing in a magazine.
• Plan for production of a commercially viable book manuscript.
• Write commercially viable advertising.
• Apply all skills and knowledge so far developed to the production of a complete manuscript.

What are the Different Types of Freelance Writing

• Fiction – adult and children’s books, short stories for magazines and newspapers
• Non-fiction – newspapers, technical (specialist) books and magazines, government publications, trade journals, general interest magazines
• Copy writing– advertisements, press releases
• Script writing – TV, movie, video and radio scripts
• Web writing – ezines, advertising copy

The following steps are a broad guide to getting started as a freelance writer:

1. Identify areas of writing that interest you.

2. Research the market place to get a feel for what other successful writers are doing. Visit bookshops, and buy newspapers and magazines to see what’s currently being published. Get a feel for what publishers want and look for gaps in the market. If you have the chasnce get some feedback from experienced and successful writers. You may come in contact with such people through a course like this.

3. Develop your writing skills. Start off small and hone your skills by contributing to newsletters published by your school, work or social club. You could enter short story competitions or even try writing short articles for local newspapers or hobby or trade magazines. Don’t be disappointed if your articles are rejected – at this stage the aim is to practise your writing and to get a feel for what is acceptable in the marketplace.

4. Develop a personal reference library. Collect examples of other writers’ work in the areas that interest you. Books, newspaper articles and magazines are not only a useful information resource, they also help you to develop an awareness of how other successful writers write!

5. Develop your selling skills! Build up contacts with publishers and organisations in your chosen area of writing. Successful writers need to not only write well, but be able to sell themselves as a valuable commodity to publishers.

• Become a more confident, skillful, creative writer.
• Improve your writing skills and help stimulate ideas
• Learn to write for books, novels, short stories, plays, etc.
• Learn to place yourself in an unexpected situation
• Be guided by our international team of published, professional authors from both Australia and the UK