WRITING NON-FICTION BWR309

Write commercial non-fiction for any media - print, broadcast or digital.
Writers or aspiring writers will improve with this course. Writers will broaden capacity to write nonfiction magazine articles, blogs, news and biographies.

Become a Professional Non-Fiction Writer
This course will strengthen the skills you have as a writer. It is not a technical writing course – the focus is popular media and broadcast media. It will also help you to consider more ways of writing non-fiction.

Why Non-Fiction?
Non-fiction work generally offers more chances for a secure income and is often a more viable starting point than writing fiction. There are always jobs for good nonfiction writers.

Non-fiction writers can usually:
• learn to write across multiple genres
• adapt writing habits and style for different purposes
• have a thirst for research and know how to use it effectively
• ‘recycle’ research to produce multiple versions of their work
• adopt a business minded approach to their writing

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Complimentary Medicine
- Creative Therapies
- Exercise
Fact Based Storytelling
- Storytelling at Work
- Storytelling with Data
- Sales and Marketing
- True Crime
- Historical Events
- Seeking Stories
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

The 10 learning aims of this course are:

Discuss the scope and nature of commercial and professional non-fiction writing.

Distinguish between different forms of non-fiction writing used in different contexts including different industries and disciplines.

Formulate and create news writing for different applications.

Formulate and create travel writing for different applications.

Formulate and create biographical writing for different applications.

Formulate and create craft, sports, hobbies, and related writing for different applications.

Formulate and create food writing for different applications.

Formulate and create wellbeing writing for different applications.

Explain how to write fact-based stories.

Explain how non-fiction writing is a business.

Do you have what it takes to be a Successful Non-Fiction Writer?

The successful writer needs to have awareness of how writing makes money – that is the commercial aspect of the work.

Working in paid employment as a writer requires knowledge of how of exactly what is expected for the job. If you produce writing which meets a brief, the chances are you will continue to be employed. Some writers lose sight of what a publisher wants.

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

To be a great professional writer of non-fiction it takes shrewdness, forbearance, positivity, flexibility, a thick skin, common sense and business acumen to succeed.
If this sounds like you? Or you want to develop skills to transition into something new, get in touch today.

Enrol today and receive:

Caring and supportive tutor input and insight.
Quality learning materials delivered through a secure learning platform.
Efficient administrative support, and a friendly and warm student services team to guide you as you need.