Writing Essentials

A successful writer once said, The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Most likely, you won't be able to find a more accurate description of this discipline. Writers need to write, write, write! They can work on perfecting their creation in the rewriting process. Writing takes time, time essential for researching a topic, getting to know the audience, developing a theme and generating an outline. Time is required to formulate a first draft and vital for editing and rewriting the initial draft into final form. Throughout this course you will discover how to engage in writing that inspires readers and moves others in a meaningful way.

* You have 4 weeks to complete this course from date of your enrollment.

Writing Essentials Module 1
Finding Your Muse

Because creativity can be so elusive, writers simply cannot afford to wait for inspiration to hit them over the head. Module 1 offers techniques for stimulating the creative juices and developing a passion for topics to write about. This module stresses the importance of recognizing how quality writers work hard every day, writing as well as consuming the writing of other authors. Writers need to determine who they are writing for and research their target audience. By getting to know them, one is more capable of infusing their writing with tone, style and the specific details that will compel an audience to read the words from beginning to end.

• The Inspiration of Writing
• The Art of Creativity
• Developing a Passion
• Considering Your Audience
• Understanding the Importance of Readers
• Writing to Your Audience

Writing Essentials Module 2
Themes, Facts and Focus

Assembling a succession of meandering words without meaning or focus pretty much guarantees a quick exit for your readers and a failed attempt at writing. Module 2 conveys ways to achieve a writer's real objective ” generating words that readers seek to consume. This lesson covers the importance of developing your topic, narrowing the focus and crafting a compelling theme or themes. This module addresses the critical aspect of supporting facts with evidence, whether it be statistics, descriptive examples or direct quotations and also offers tips for creating an organizational plan of writing that works for you.

• The Theme or Focus
• Support Claims with Facts
• The Organizing Plan of Writing
• Determining Your Needs
• Search Strategies
• Using Source Information

Writing Essentials Module 3
Basic Building Blocks

Module 3 focuses on the basic building blocks of writing and provides guidelines for writing introductions, conclusions and creating the best possible sentence structure in between. This module explores how paragraphs written for fictional pieces differ from paragraphs written for nonfiction works and also recommends several style guides to use as a reference for determining proper grammatical rules and techniques. Module 3 stresses the bottom line for excellent writing, concise writing that clearly communicates intention between writer and readers.

• Introduction
• Paragraphs
• Conclusions
• Sentences
• Pronouns
• Spelling
• Quotes, Commas
• Capitalization

Writing Essentials Module 4
Honing Your Manuscript

Module 4 emphasizes that rewriting your material with fresh eyes is an essential part of honing your manuscript into sharp focus. We are reminded that all writing is persuasive writing that requires research, study and preparation to back up our arguments. This module also encourages us to take criticism in stride when others are critiquing our work and to continue refining our prose into the perfection it deserves.

• Editing Your Writing
• Rewriting
• Clarity & Conciseness
• Rhetoric or Persuasive Writing
• Conclusion