Freelance Writing

Comment from a student in 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

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
   • The definition of 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.

Success as a Freelance Writer depends upon finding Publishers who will pay for your work.

Freelance writers are dependent on publishers to buy their work and get it into the marketplace, so it is important to get an overview of the world of publishing. Publishers are in the business of editing, designing, printing and marketing books, magazines, reports, newspapers and other written works. At one end of the spectrum is a desktop publishing business run by one person who does all the writing, editing, artwork, printing, promoting and distribution, and at the other end are the multi-national companies that publish thousands of books and magazines worldwide each year.

The people who work in publishing include editors, proof readers, designers, graphic artists, typesetters, printers, literary agents and marketing executives. Allied businesses include distributors, book sellers, newsagents, libraries and public relation companies. Depending on who you sell your work to, you may have dealings with these people.

As a freelance writer, always keep in mind that you have to sell your work to a publisher. This means that to some extent you will need to tailor your writing to meet their needs. Publishers only publish work they can easily sell, and until you are an established writer, they call the shots!

This course recognises the difficulty in making a start. No amount of training will ever guarantee success; but there are ways to improve your chances - and we believe it is important to get help from tutors who are not only qualified in writing, but also "street smart" about dealing with publishers.