Writing courses

• What makes good writing – an introduction to the principles of good copy
• A look at different types of news writing – hard news, analysis, backgrounders, human interest, picture stories etc
• What’s the story?
• Identifying the angle
• Grabbing the reader’s attention and keeping it
• Who’s the audience and what do they want to know?
• Story structure – the inverse pyramid principle of news writing
• The intro – what it is and why it is important
• How to use quotes
• The use of pace and texture
• Keeping it simple – sentence and paragraph structure
• Tips on style and vocabulary
• Jargon – what it is and how to avoid it

Course Length: Two days.

Why do we assume that good news reporters will automatically become good colour writers? They don't. Newspapers are littered with so-called features which are poorly researched and are, in effect, little more than extended new stories. This course examines good writing and how to achieve it. There are also specialist sessions on leader and column writing.

Who should attend: Journalists seeking to improve their feature-writing skills.

Course Length: Two days.

This hands-on course equips the journalist with the writing skills and newsgathering techniques needed to be an effective sports writer. It deals with different styles for match reports, interviews, sports features and columns; how to analyse and interpret statistics and looks at visual opportunities. The course, run by highly experienced sports journalists, also looks at different sources and angles and how to nurture contacts and find exclusives.

Who should attend: Sports reporters wanting to develop their skills or general reporters wanting to make the switch to sport.

Course Length: Two days.

How to turn human interest stories into features that women's weeklies will be fighting over and how to turn issues into saleable pieces. The course also looks at interviewing skills, insightful quotes, conveying emotion, issue-led features with case histories and relevant experts, seasonal pegs, sex and relationship features, health features, extra value features and column writing.

Who should attend: Anyone who contributes to the women's pages in newspapers or who wants to explore a career in women's magazines.

Course Length: Two days.

A course for senior reporters who want to sharpen their skills. This high-powered course deals with alternative sources of stories, professional forward planning techniques, story development, investigative work, different writing styles, effective interviewing and many other essential tools for the off-diary reporter.

Who should attend: Senior reporters who are not constrained by the diary.

Course Length: Two days.

Good reporters become chief reporters and suddenly they are managers - responsible for their own staff. This course helps to ease this first step into management. Sessions deal with time management, motivation, running a diary and how to balance the role of journalist and leader.

Who should attend: Chief reporters and reporters who aspire to a more senior role.

Course Length: Two days.

A course for all correspondents, photographers, advertising staff, copywriters or others who have no formal training in the written word. The programme deals with what makes news, how to write good intros and use clear, simple language, and basic interviewing skills. This course opens up the mysteries of good writing. It can also be run in newspaper offices for correspondents.

Who should attend: Those with no journalistic training who want to write clearly.

Course Length: Two days.

Editing and writing for web and print

A workshop for non-journalists

Whether it’s an article for the company website or a feature for the next newsletter, the ability to produce engaging copy is one of the prerequisites for success.
The written word is still one of the most powerful tools in business. It’s also one of the most important. These days everyone is expected be a publisher, which is why the ability to produce clear, crisp copy is a must for anyone involved in business today.
This course is aimed at business people who want to brush up their writing skills. It will cover everything from sentence construction to vocabulary, different writing styles for different media and tips on improving written English.
The course is led by Andrew Drinkwater, a journalist and media consultant for 25 years who also worked as a senior executive in business responsible for internal and external communications.

This intensive one-day course will cover:

• The secrets of effective writing – understanding the audience and identifying the message.
  
• The good, bad and the ugly – a look some good and bad examples of written English.
  
• Practical exercises on tight writing, sentence construction, grammar and vocabulary.
  
• The meaning of words – how much do you really know about the English language?
  
• What makes good web content
• Writing for the web and how it differs from writing for printed media
  
• Construction and development – the use of anecdote and narrative to bring copy to life.
  

Who should attend: This course is aimed at anyone who is now expected to manage web and print publishing without any previous journalistic experience. The boom in digital and desktop publishing means many already stretched staff are, in effect, being asked to become publishers – without any experience of what that means.

Course length: One day

Investigative journalism

How to find new ideas and turn them into news or feature stories that will set your publication ahead of the rest of the pack. The course will look at your publication and how its current articles could be given an investigative spin, investigation methods, sources, interview technique, writing style, how to handle any fall out (such as threats to withdraw advertising) and law and ethics.

Who should attend: News and feature reporters/editors looking for off-diary stories and an innovative approach or anyone aiming to take on investigative stories.

Course length: One day

Editing and writing for in-house journals and newsletters

How to turn facts and figures into exciting copy and represent management views in a dynamic way. The course will look at your publications and how their current articles could be given more spin. From headline and caption writing to sub-editing copy, the course will take you through everything you need to know to make your publications attractive to look at and compelling to read.

Who should attend: Anyone editing or writing for in-house publications or aiming to do so.

Course length: Two days

Content that sells

Today's newspapers have to work harder with fewer resources to satisfy their readers. Those that take the easy option – using reactive material from handouts, police calls, courts and plundering the What's On entries for news stories – will only see their circulations slide further. And when this material is repackaged for the web, how many hits is it likely to bring?
This course deals solely with content – it looks at what readers want, how they want it packaged and where journalists can find it. There are sessions on forward planning, story development, generating ideas, newsroom best practice, using libraries and the web, real life stories, anniversaries and a lot more.

Who should attend: All reporters, newsdesk and features desk staff.

Course length: One day

Journalism for writers

Who should attend: Those who have come into newspapers as writers, columnists, specialists and correspondents but have had no formal journalistic training.

Course length: Two days