Study Non Fiction Writing

• At your own pace from where and when suits you best
• Interact with tutors who are professional writers 
• Broaden the scope of what you can write about
• Sharpen your writing skills
• Grow your awareness of what is possible and what you might be able to achieve in the writing industry

COURSE CONTENT

Ten lessons as follows: 

1.  Scope and Nature of Non-Fiction Writing

• Non Fiction Styles
• Types of Non Fiction Writing
• Academic vs Commercial Non Fiction Writing
• Text types in Non Fiction Writing
• Text Structure
• Pseudonyms

2.  Writing Forms and Media Options

• Sample Author Platform
• Using Fiction Techniques to Create Strong Non Fiction Texts
• Making a Story Memorable
• Hook the Audience
• Emotional Language
• Plain and Simple Language
• Writing for the Readership
• Ways to Publish/Share Non Fiction Writing
• Non Fiction Scripts - TV, Radio, Social Media, Advertising, Education, Voice overs, News

3.  News Writing

• Writing News
• Headlines
• Lede
• Key Point Summary in Digital Formats
• Reverse Pyramid
• News Coverage and Focus
• Conflict
• Proximity
• Prominence
• Impact
• Relevance
• Oddity/Human Interest
• Timeliness
• Newswriting for Different outlets
• Newspapers
• News Websites
• Broadcast News
• Newsletters
• Blogs

4.  Travel Writing

• Commercial Travel Writing
• Overused Descriptions in Travel Writing
• Holidays
• Special Events
• Travel Bloggers
• Adventure Tourism
• Lifestyle Blogging
• How to Travel
• Destination Pieces
• Adventure Travel
• Side Trips/Weekend Trips
• Literary Travel Writing
• Career Paths for Travel Writers
• How to be a Good Travel Writer
• How to Construct a Travel Piece
• Researching a Travel Piece
• How to Pitch a Travel Piece

5.  Memoirs and Biography

• Types of Memoirs - Confessional , Transformational, Portrait, Professional
• Diaries
• How to Write a Memoir or Biography
• Autobiography
• Research
• Biography and Profiles
• How to Pitch a Memoir, Autobiography or Biography

6.  Writing about Leisure Activities

• Introduction
• Niche or Widespread Writing
• Leisure and Hobby Writing
• Hobby Writing
• Sports Writing
• Craft Writing
• Garden Writing
• How to Pitch Leisure, Sports and Craft Writing

7.  Writing about Food and Diet

• How to Write about Food
• Constructing a Food Article
• Sensory Writing
• Recipes
• Informative Writing
• Types of Food Writing
• Nutritional R & D
• Allergies and Intolerances
• Recipes, Diet & Exercise
• How to Pitch Food Writing

8.  Writing about Wellbeing

• How to Write about Health and Wellbeing
• Grounding and Context
• Plain English
• Research
• Balanced Viewpoints
• Different Types of Health and Wellbeing Writing
• Health, Medicine and Complementary Medicine
• Creative Therapies
• Exercise

9.  Fact Based Storytelling

• Storytelling at Work
• Storytelling with Data
• Sales and Marketing
• True Crime
• Historical Events
• Seeking Stories

10. The Business of Non-Fiction Writing

• Successful Writers
• Collaborative Writing
• Delivering your Work
• Management and Opportunities
• Contracts and Publishers
• How to Make Writing More Profitable
• Syndication
• Intellectual Property Management
• Legal Systems
• Protecting Your Work - copyright, Issues
• Copyright Licencing
• Risks when Writing Non Fiction - specific, libel, defamation, slander, false light
• Fact Checking, Perspective & Time Shift
• Copyright Infringement
• Accuracy Errors
• Digital Rights Management
• Information Rights Management
• Electronic Books and Magazines
• Referencing
• Thinking Outside the Box

Course Duration - 100 hours of self paced study.

Learn to be a Successful Non Fiction Writer?

Developing a successful career as a non-fiction writer requires a business-like approach to writing. This means that writers should continuously build their author platform, look for opportunities to build their networks, and remain aware of how their work fits into the larger non-fiction market.  Networking does not have to be an obvious activity or take up excessive amounts of time.  Within the writing sector, competency, consistency, and attention to detail are more highly valued than personality. Freelance writers who can deliver work which meets the brief (on time) are sought after. 

Successful writers should be aware of the commercial aspects of what they are writing. If you give them what they expect (or want), they keep employing you; but if you don’t, you reduce your chances of gaining ongoing work.  
Writers tend to take ownership of their work; wanting to write what they want to write, rather than what a publisher may want them to. A writer with a successful style of writing, on interesting and successful topics, might decide to do something totally different, and write in a different way, which may not be what the publisher wants.

As a non-fiction writer, it is important to consider the balance between what you want to write and the following:

• Are you willing to be open minded about what you write?
• Are you willing to accept criticism?
• Are you willing to write to order?

Many people aspiring to be a writer have an idealised notion of what a writer is like and what sort of lifestyle they live. What do you see when you think of yourself as a writer - an enigmatic, slightly aloof character living a solitary life in a picturesque village in the countryside? This romanticised image of the writer is common, but it is not what (in reality) your lifestyle is likely to be. Even if some writers do have this type of character, it also takes shrewdness, forbearance, positivity, flexibility a thick skin, common sense and business acumen to succeed these days as a professional writer. 

Do writers have a particular personality type? If asked to describe a writer, I am sure most people would have a set idea or stereotype of what a writer is. Obviously not every writer will fit into the same stereotype. A science fiction writer may have a different temperament to a travel writer, to a business writer, to a crime writer and so on. 

Obviously not all writers are going to be the same. Not all writers are introverted or intuitive. Not all writers are able to work alone, as we have seen earlier in the chapter.  It really depends on their personality and what they want to write about.  But this is a good indicator.

What writers write and how they write can tell us a lot about an author. If they are writing about a fictional character or a rainforest, some aspects of the writer’s personality will shine through, even subtly.   The same applies to non-fiction writers. Think about journalists. Many journalists will have a specific personality in their writing, particularly if they are writing editorials. Readers will follow non-fiction writers not only because of the things they write about, but also because they like their writing style.