Advanced Writing

Hours: 24 / Access Length: 180 Days / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

Welcome to Advanced Writing!  Whether you successfully completed our Beginner's Writing Workshop course, or you've been busy writing fiction on your own, there is something to be gained by moving to our next level of writing.  If you are comfortable with the basics of writing such as plot, story, building characters and editing, it's time to build on your talents and delve into topics such as narratives, viewpoints, scene building and writing beginnings and endings. Join us as we explore these and other topics!

Students will:

• explore ways in which a literary narrative can be expanded
• learn techniques for generating greater clarity in writing
• discover ways in which to create a gripping and powerful story openings
• identify components used to craft powerful story endings
• review the steps necessary to ready a novel or story for submission to an agent/publisher

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: Choosing a Viewpoint

Lesson 1 takes us through the different viewpoints available in writing.  We discuss the pros and cons of each which will help you decide which one to use in your fiction.

Lesson 2: Expanding Your Narrative

There are 4 basic types of writing; expository, persuasive, descriptive and narrative. Each has a unique purpose. In this lesson, we focus on narrative writing and ways in which to expand it in order to create a richer, more complex and detailed story.

Lesson 3: Creating Clarity and Interest 

In this lesson we explore five ways of generating better clarity and interest to your writing.  We'll discuss some common techniques that writers use to draw in their reader.

Lesson 4: Writing Powerful Beginnings

This lesson addresses the process of getting your story ready for submission to a publisher or agent.  We'll review specific "do"s and "don't"s that will help you deliver a well-prepared manuscript.

Lesson 5: Crafting Strong Endings

Getting your story started can be a challenge.  In this lesson we discuss common components of a great story beginning, as well as things you may want to avoid.  

Lesson 6: Preparing for Publishing

In this lesson we look at creating a story ending that not only delivers on the promise we made in our opening scene, but satisfies the reader with a logical and perhaps thought provoking outcome.

All necessary course materials are included.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.