Efficient Writing

How to Write

Learn how to write by distance learning.

• What is a noun?
• What is a verb or adjective?
• How do you punctuate, write more clearly and communicate more effectively? 

This external study course allows you to better understand all of these things which will help in both your business and private life.  It will also help you to write job applications.

If you've never developed your ability to write to the extent you would like; this course could be a perfect way for you to do that.

As the course is self paced and you have your own tutor, you can deal with issues and master things in a home study environment where you might have otherwise been left lagging behind everyone else in a classroom.

Comment from one of our Efficient Writing students:

"I am glad I did the course and wish to do another one."   M. Tanzi

Lesson Structure

There are 6 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Scope of witing -where is writing used
   • What is effective writing
   • Good writing is direct
   • Good writing is objective
   • Variety is good in writing
   • Understanding human communication
   • The communication process
   • Types of communication (verbal, non verbal, etc)
   • Communication channels
   • Communicating efficiently
   • Writing for a purpose
   • Understand your reader
   • Content
2. Basic Writing Skills
   • Parts of speech
   • Types of nouns -proper, common, collective
   • Purals
   • Possessive nouns and pronouns
   • Types of verbs: regular, irregular etc.
   • Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions
   • Common gramatical errors: comma splices, fragmented sentences, dangling modifiers, etc
   • Sentence construction
   • Types of sentence: declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, etc
   • Sentance structure
   • Constructing sentances
   • Combining sentances
   • Expanding basic sentances
   • Adding modifying words, phrases or clauses.
   • Linking words or phrases
3. Clear Wording
   • Introduction
   • Common causes of confusion: homphones, malopropropisms, etc
   • Ambiguity
   • Making meanings clear: Illustrative context, glossing, etc
   • Informative language
   • Persuasive language
   • Imaginative language
   • Other types of language: colloquial, formal, informal, etc
   • Simplicity
   • Building a paragraph
   • General guidelines for effective writing
4. Concise Wording
   • Conciseness
   • Circumlocution
   • Condensing your writing
   • Common problemscontributing to lack of conciseness
   • Active and passive voice
   • Condensing text: how to Precis
5. Punctuation and Accuracy
   • Punctuation purpose
   • Semi colon, colon, dash, comma
   • Spelling
   • American or English spelling?
6. Planning what you write
   • Business formats
   • Business letters
   • Planning what you write
   • Writing a media release
   • Writing an answer or an essay
   • Academic writing, verbs, quotations
   • Unpack the question
   • Research
   • Referencing

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

• Define the nature and scope of writing.
• Discuss the way written sentences and paragraphs are properly structured.
• Develop an increased capacity to write clearly.
• Develop improved conciseness in writing.
• Develop and improve punctuation skills.
• Apply basic writing skills more efficiently in a range of situations.

Sample Course Notes:

Many documents will be read by more than one person. For instance, you might write a memo to your department, but it might also go to your boss. Therefore, you should identify likely readers of your document, and consider what they want and expect, and how they might interpret your message.

Like all forms of behaviour, writing is governed by certain cultural and social expectations. For example, in most countries, business writing is expected to be more objective, formal and factual than creative writing, or writing for magazines. It must also be formatted according to standards established in that country. In an increasingly global economy, business writing must also meet international expectations. Students must also be able to meet international standards.

Despite these international standards, however, different cultures might have quite different ideas about what is acceptable or expected. For instance, in some countries, direct requests, statements and refusals are acceptable, while in other countries, directness may be considered rude and immature. Different cultures might have quite different formal ways of starting and ending a letter. For example, in some English-speaking countries, it is polite to complement the reader and to wish them good health. In others, it is acceptable to simply address the reader as Dear Mr. X , then get straight to business. In yet others, it is common to use the reader’s first name and to sign with your first name after the first communication between you.

It is important to meet the expectations of your intended audience regarding what is appropriate. Until you become more familiar with your reader and his/her way of communicating, the safest action is to be more formal.

Why do we write?

We write for many purposes including: enjoyment, business, to achieve goals, to get others’ cooperation, support or approval, to express our thoughts and ideas, to promote ideas or encourage change, to correct perceived misinformation, to make a name for ourselves, to sell products, to change others’ opinions, to keep in touch with friends, family and others, to demonstrate knowledge, to impress, to criticise or complain, to initiate change or a course of action, to learn, to help us remember things …There is no end to possible reasons for writing.

WHY CHOOSE US?
 
• Reputation: well-known and respected in publishing and writing
  The school runs a successful publishing business, the principal has been
  editor of national magazines; many of the staff are published authots)
• Industry focus: courses designed to suit industry needs and expectations
• Different focus: develop problem solving skills that make you stand out from others
• Hands on: develop practical as well as theoretical skills
• Lots of help: dedicated and knowledgeable tutors.
• Efficient: prompt responses to your questions
• Reliable: established in 1979, independent school with a solid history
• Up to date: courses under constant review
• Resources:  huge wealth of constantly developing intellectual property
• Value: courses compare very favourably on a cost per study hour basis
• Student amenities: online student room, bookshop, ebooks, social networking, acs garden online resources.