Getting Started In Writing

Do you have an aptitude for writing that you’ve never had a chance to develop? Perhaps you write memos and reports for work, but yearn to try something more creative. In this workshop, you will explore your writing interests and discover your personal aptitudes for writing. You will be introduced to a wide variety of categories of writing, and learn basic techniques to improve your narrative skills.

This workshop provides an introduction and overview to a number of types of writing, from fillers, to short stories, to books. You’re encouraged to experiment with a variety of forms with the goal of discovering your own writing path.

Course Level:  Beginner

Required Book:  Keys to Great Writing by Stephen Wilbers

Workshop Length:  12 weeks

Tuition:  $330.00 ($297 for VIP)

Start Date: View Getting Started In Writing Course Schedule

Course Structure
This workshop will consist of six two-week sessions. Each session will include online lectures (text based) and associated textbook reading assignments, along with a writing assignment related to the session’s topic, which will be submitted to the instructor for private review at the end of the first week of the session. During the second week of each session, work will be posted for group review and feedback. Throughout the workshop you will be able to participate in asynchronous lecture discussion and encouraged to take advantage of ongoing informal discussions and posted self-directed writing exercises. Each session will also include a “Writer’s Glossary” to help you become familiar with terms related to the craft and business of writing. (2.4 CEUs)

In this course you will learn:

• The fundamentals of grammar and mechanics
• Using description and sensory detail to enhance your writing
• How the principles of creative writing apply to both fiction and nonfiction
• The types of short nonfiction, including fillers, research articles, personal experience articles, how-to articles, books, and memoirs
• The different categories (genres) of fiction, and the various fiction forms, including short stories, short-short stories, novellas, and novels
• The importance of revising and rewriting

Who should take this course:

• Individuals who have always been interested in writing but have found it difficult to dedicate the time and/or weren’t sure how or where to start
• Beginning writers who want to explore multiple disciplines to discover what writing style they enjoy most
• Those looking to kick start their writing with the help of a Published Author

Course Outline

Session One: Getting Started—The Writer’s Toolbox

• Essential writers’ reference guides and the resources of your local library
• The fundamentals of grammar and mechanics
• Using description and sensory detail to enhance your writing.

Writing Assignment: Three versions of a descriptive paragraph, each establishing a different mood or emotion (50 words or less per paragraph); an original passage that uses description and sensory detail to paint a “word picture” (up to 250 words).

Session Two: The Elements of Creative Writing

• How the same principles of creative writing—characterization, viewpoint, dialogue, and conflict, among others—apply to both fiction and nonfiction
• How to apply these techniques to any kind of writing you choose to do.

Writing Assignment: A “sketch” of a fictional character or a real person that reveals something important about that character through a combination of dialogue, narrative description and action (up to 250 words); A short scene of dialogue between two characters in conflict (up to 250 words).

Session Three: Short Nonfiction

• Fillers, research articles, personal experience articles, how-to articles, and other article types
• Finding out what kind of nonfiction writing appeals to your talents and interests.

Writing Assignment: Two to three short fillers; one short personal experience OR how-to article that does not require research (up to 750 words); a plan for a research article, including a brief summary of the article idea and a description of the research you would conduct (up to 500 words).

Session Four: Short Fiction

• The different categories (genres) of fiction, and the various short fiction forms—short stories, short-short stories and novellas
• Plot
• Outlining
• Exploring your own story ideas.

Writing Assignment: A brief summary of an original story (250 words or less); the story itself (up to 1,500 words): EITHER a complete short-short story OR the first 1,500 words of a longer story or novella.

Session Five: Books

• Novels, nonfiction books and memoirs
• Openings—getting off to a strong start
• Exploring your own ideas to decide what kind of book might be in your future.

Writing Assignment: A completed Idea Summary Sheet for a book you’d like to write (fiction or nonfiction); the opening pages of the book (up to 1,500 words).

Session Six: The Finishing Touches

• The importance of revising and rewriting
• How to be your own best editor
• Preparing a professionally formatted manuscript
• Deciding what kind of writing you’re most interested in pursuing, and where to go from here.

Writing Assignment: An original work of fiction or nonfiction, either a complete short work or the opening of a longer work (up to 2,000 words).