Start Date: July 2022

We are pleased to announce a new course added to our programs of study. The Freelance Writing Course is for you if you want to start earning quickly from your writing. You learn how to write for different publications (magazines and newspapers), the essentials of freelance journalism and news writing, and the craftsmanship techniques to accurately present facts compellingly and dramatically.

Aim: To equip you with the necessary skills to write professional articles for magazines and newspapers and earn from your writing.

Duration: 16 Weeks

Mode of Study – Hybrid learning.

Learning Objectives

• About the equipment, you need as a writer, how to become a professional writer, grammar in writing, and the craft of writing.
• How to conduct a detailed market survey for your writing, analyse writing markets, and sell your articles to the right publication (magazine/newspaper).
• How to professional articles for magazines and newspapers.
• Develop an understanding of the business approach to and legal aspects of writing and how to earn from your writing without being exploited.

Expectations/Requirements

• Attend all weekly and monthly virtual/online and in-person classes unless prevented by an emergency – participation enables you to learn from our tutors and experts, clarify unclear concepts, and network with other students. If you are not in class, you can’t participate.
• Read widely, in addition to the course material, to learn from others and hone your skills.
• Submit assignments on time to meet the course timeframe and requirements.
• While this is not a supervised academic course, we expect you to be honest to yourself in your learning and assignments – don’t plagiarise, be positive about tutor feedback, and follow our guide, especially on becoming a published writer.

Evaluation

Though our courses are about imparting knowledge and skills, not an academic/theoretical approach to writing, there will be self-assessment quizzes and written assignments submitted to your tutor. The tutor-submitted assignments are designed to allow you to apply the lessons and techniques learnt.

Articles you submit to your tutor for marking you may submit for publication (your tutor will advise you accordingly). Once published, share the news with us/your tutor. This will also form part of your evaluation. There are additional 20 points for articles published.

Grading

• Self-assessment quizzes: Some modules will have quizzes for you to assess yourself. Once you do the quiz, you will see your score out of 100%. However, the final score at the end of the course will be the average of all quizzes and assignments. Together, these quizzes will comprise 30% of your final grade.
• Tutor-marked Assignments: Your assignments will be marked and returned to you with tutor feedback. Since we aim to help you become a published writer, we expect you will be a published writer if you follow our guide. Thus, any of your work published by an independent publication (magazine, newspaper, or journal) will count towards your grading – 70%.

Note: We don’t recognise articles published on your or your friend’s blog/website, pay-to-publish sites or publications, online publishing platforms with no editorial policies/review process, or, if a book, self-publishing with vanity publishers. (If you self-publish, use a self-publishing company with a clear publishing policy and contract. If you self-publish yourself, the book should meet industry standards – this will be evaluated before grading you.)

Certification

We will award you a certificate on successfully completing the course; however, the certification is not important if you do not acquire the skills necessary to write and publish professionally to earn from your writing.