Formerly Writing Well: Process and Practice
What’s behind Stephen King’s vocabulary-rich dark fiction worlds? How does Margaret Atwood turn sentence fragments into award-winning dystopian prose? What are their secrets, and how can we tap into them?
Drawing inspiration and techniques from time-tested creative writers, learn how to transform, bend and sometimes break the rules of grammar and style to create attention-grabbing writing – no matter what genre or audience you’re writing for.
Get close and personal with the writings and styles of Virginia Woolf, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and CS Lewis. Discover how to apply their techniques, processes and practices to your own works from start to finish, whether you write fiction, non-fiction or even advertising and marketing copy.
Topics include finding your voice as a writer, making strategic use of sentence structure and punctuation, mastering the effective development of paragraphs, choosing diction to strengthen your vocabulary and word choices, considering creative inclusion of imagery and knowing when (and how) to break the rules to make your point.
Part of the Writing Well series, this course can be taken along with Writing Well: Grammar or Writing Well: Style, or it can stand on its own.
Course outline
Week 1: Introduction to Voice
Week 2: Powerful Sentences
Week 3: Unparalleled Paragraphs
Week 4: Words and Worlds
Week 5: Effective Imagery
Week 6: Taking Risks / Breaking the Rules
How am I assessed?
This course is graded as complete/incomplete based on participation. Your instructor provides you personalized feedback on the assignments you hand in.
Expected effort
Expect to spend 3–4 hours per week completing readings, exercises and assignments, and participating in online forum discussions.
Technology requirements
To take this course, you’ll need access to:
- an email account
- a computer, laptop or tablet under five years old and using Windows or macOS
- the latest version of a web browser (or previous major version release)
- a reliable internet connection.
One day before the start of your course, we’ll email you step-by-step instructions for accessing your course.
Course format
This course is 100% online and instructor supported. Course work is done independently and at your own pace within deadlines set by your instructor. Log in anytime to your course to access the lessons as they become available.
Online materials will be available for three weeks after the course ends, after which time you will no longer be able to access the course.