Make Money Writing Short

Are you ready to make money from your writing? Learn about the variety of opportunities that exist for freelance writers and the kind of writing strategies these opportunities expire. Get a critical glimpse into today’s broad freelance writing landscape and a detailed tutorial about how to make the very most of it.

Based on IJ Schecter’s 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less, you can make money writing short marketing copy, travel pieces, interviews/profiles, presentations, and technical writing. You’ll also develop pitching and querying skills to get the job.

Course Level: Beginner / Intermediate

Required Book: 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less by I.J. Schecter

Workshop length: 6 Weeks

Tuition: $290.00 ($261 for VIP)

Start Date: View Make Money Writing Short Course Schedule

Course Structure
The workshop will consist of six one-week sessions. Each session will include online lectures (text based), associated textbook reading assignments, and writing exercises submitted to the instructor for private review. In addition, the course provides an interactive area which you might use to further the conversation with your peers and thus create a community of writers. Those peers, should you continue to stay connected after the completion of your course, could become valuable readers and editors for you going forward.

In this course you will learn:

• About the plentiful, diverse opportunities available to freelance writers in today’s market
• The importance of presenting yourself professionally no matter who you’re interacting with
• How to approach prospective customers and target specific opportunities
• How to launch and expand a professional writing and communications practice
• How to get your foot in the door and then become a “preferred supplier”

Who should take this course:

• Individuals interested in exploring the world of freelance writing and the diverse opportunities available in today’s market
• Aspiring freelancers who want to create a part- or even full-time professional writing and communications practice
• Writers who want expert coaching from a Published Writer and Professional Freelancer

Course Structure

Lesson One: Marketing Copy

Assignment: Start studying every brochure you receive in the mail. Then choose two, one under 250 words, one over 500, and for each, write a new version promoting the same product or service but from a different angle or using a different approach.

Lesson Two: Travel Pieces

• How to write different types of travel pieces, including the travelogue, the highlights piece, the themed list, the itinerary, the family excursion, and the investigative report
• How to write a travel piece that caters to the senses
• How to record notes when you travel even if you don’t have an assignment
• How to write an effective travel query letter

Assignment: Write a 750-word travelogue article or highlights piece about either your hometown or a place you’ve recently visited. Investigate its history, call its tourism office, research noteworthy milestones or anniversaries.

Lesson Three: Interviews/Profiles

• How to get them
• How to prepare for them
• How to conduct them
• How to write them

Assignment: Choose someone you know a little bit but not too well, and ask if you can write a profile on them. Tell them it’s for this course. Once they agree, agree on a date at least two weeks away, and then start to do your research. Check out their Facebook or MySpace page. Talk to others who know them to get their perspectives on the person, the nature of their relationship, the person’s best qualities and funniest quirks. When the day arrives, armed with all of your research, conduct the interview. Then sit down to write the story, determining first and foremost what your specific angle or theme is going to be. Then write the profile, keeping it to 1,000 words.

Lesson Four: Corporate Writing—Presentations

• Getting agreement on the approach
• Telling the business story
• Repeat after me: Less is more
• Keeping it simple
• Transitions and animations
• Figuring out your presenter’s style and writing to it

Assignment: Create copy for a presentation whose purpose is to pitch a new product to a corporate executive team. The copy should include only headings and bullet points with very little actual prose. Think about what the product is, how it complements the company’s existing product line (or how it’s going to take the company in a whole new direction), why it’s the right time to launch this type of product, and why the initial investment will pay off in the end. Assume that the presentation can have no more than a dozen or so slides, so your assignment should not exceed 700 words total.

Lesson Five: Technical Writing

• Becoming a faux expert
• Making sure it covers all the bases
• Writing for the lowest common denominator
• Going simple on syntax
• The Dick and Jane approach
• Testing it on others

Assignment: Choose a piece of equipment in your house and write a manual of no more than 1,000 words explaining how it works, including all of its different functions. You can use your computer, the microwave, one of your children’s toys—doesn’t matter, as long as you cover all the bases and do so in a way that is clear and user-friendly.

Lesson Six: Pitching and Querying

• Making sure it sounds like you
• Learning to love research …but not letting your research overwhelm the pitch
• Tailoring it
• Writing a strong introductory letter
• Diversifying your efforts
• Managing relationships effectively

Assignment:
Part 1: Read your local paper, and choose any article covering some topical issue. Do some further research on that topic, and then write a query letter to an imaginary publication pitching a story about some aspect of the topic that was overlooked or only touched on in the article you read. Keep your letter to 500 words.

Part 2: Write a 500-word introductory letter announcing you and your corporate writing services to businesses in the area. Make sure it both sells your specific writing offerings and emphasizes your credentials, background or expertise.