Course Highlights
  • Find your voice as a business writer, blogger or writer of other non-fiction
  • Transform writing from dull to dazzling - within the first 10 mins of the course
  • Uncover the secret persuasion tactics known only to the world’s top copywriters
  • Create musical sentences that readers can’t resist
  • Craft addictively readable text that keeps readers glued to the page
  • Discover a wealth of free online tools to take your writing to the next level
Skills you will learn!
Curriculum

6 Topics
Introduction – is this the right course for you?
Activity: Introduce yourself!
Three tips for overcoming writer's block
The #1 habit that sets great writers apart
Practice activity: four AMAZING tools to develop the #1 habit of great writers!
Section 1: summary

21 Topics
Introduction: Why knowing your reader is the starting point of all great writing
Don't write for readers!
Activity: Who is your reader?
How your reader really sees you
Reflect on how your reader really sees you
So what's your point exactly?
Identify the ledes in these extracts
The three questions you need to ask before you even start to write
Practice activity: use this guide for your next writing project!
Does your writing pass the "so what" test?
Practice activity: apply the 'so what?' test
How readers read...
...and what to do about it
The reason you've probably been starting in the wrong place
Can you make this email more compelling for the reader?
The one word no reader can resist
How would you respond?
Two real-life reader awareness FAILS - and how to fix them
A brilliant technique to get inside your reader's head
NEW practice activity: Build an in-depth profile of your reader
Section 2: summary

11 Topics
Three reasons to write less
The writing habit that makes you sound like a liar
Trimming the fat: where to start
Ditch these unnecessary words
Flabby phrases to avoid
The lazy descriptors that will weigh your writing down
A brilliant online tool for making your writing leaner
Cut the lazy unnecessary descriptors
Mind maps are evil - here's what to do instead!
Practice activity: Edit this text to make it shorter and more compelling!
Section 3: summary

7 Topics
Why there's really no need to worry about dumbing down
How to get your message across to the widest possible audience
How to avoid the curse of knowledge
Practice activity: Try out this online tool for banishing the curse of knowledge
Choosing the best words for the job
Tips for choosing the best words
Section 4: summary

11 Topics
The number one writing habit that's turning your readers off
Burn this figure into your brain!
Three quick ways to identify a sentence that will send your reader scuttling
How to tame a sentence that's out of control
How to structure your sentences to make them easy to read
More tips on structuring your sentences for maximum readability
Practice activity: turn these sentences into something beautiful!
How to knit your sentences together to make your writing flow
Now we're ready to put a little music into your writing
Practice activity: Use sentence length to tell a story with music and drama
Section 5: summary

22 Topics
What do we mean by storytelling anyway?
Show don't tell
Your endless source of stories
Why you need to use concrete language
An unforgettable story
A brilliant tool for making your writing more vivid
Nounitis - how to spot abstract nouns
Practice activity: Identify the nouns and verbs in this extract
Nounitis - how nouns can make your writing lifeless
Cure these terrible cases of nounitis
The neuroscience of stories
How to get to the "why" with a metaphor
How to hit on the perfect metaphor
Practice activity: metaphor challenge #1!
How to use storytelling techniques to bring data to life
Practice activity: metaphor challenge #2!
Active writing: a storytelling tip from Hemingway Orwell...and Beyonce!
Building trust: another reason to make your story active
Tackle these passives!
NEW! How to structure your story for maximum persuasiveness
The secret to making your story go viral
Section 6: summary

22 Topics
Introduction to rhetoric
Assignment: analyse this piece of business writing
The rising tricolon
Practice activity: the rising tricolon
Anaphora: the artful use of repetition to persuade
Practice activity: anaphora
Epiphora: another type of artful repetition
Practice activity: epiphora
Asyndeton: removing the 'ands' and the 'buts'
Practice activity: asyndeton
Polysyndeton: putting in extra 'ands' and 'buts'
Practice activity: polysyndeton
Chiasmus: the persuasive power of a criss-cross pattern
Practice activity: chiasmus
Antithesis: why opposites attract
Practice activity: antithesis
Hypophora: posing a question to your reader
Practice activity: hypophora
Alliteration: using repeated sounds to make your point
Practice activity: alliteration
Revisit the employee manifesto
Final exercise: write a public review for the course

5 Topics
Cambridge post-graduate lecture 2015 - Dr Clare Lynch
Online writing tools
NEW April 2019: Writer's Checklist
Where's my certificate?
Bonus lecture

  Write a Review

Writing With Confidence: Writing Beginner To Writing Pro

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