You can never stop learning. At least, I can't. I just love starting new courses in topics that interest me. At the moment, the world is my pearl (was that Hilda Ogden? Apologies to Shakespeare). One of the joys of lockdown has been an upsurge of courses, especially of the writing kind. I did a short course in songwriting with Sheffield University and am now looking at signing up for a refresher course in freelance features.
The internet is awash with 'So you want to be a writer?' courses. And there is no doubt there is a huge market of would-bes out there. I have my reservations about recommending those, there are so many, all promising to provide you with untold wealth in return for alarming fees. I can assure you that the only wealth is likely to be gained by the people running those courses. The wealthy writers are those you read about in the media who have arrived and it's a small percentage of writers at that. The rest of us usually have day jobs and other sources of income to keep us afloat. And if you're writing at home for a hobby and paying to see your name in print, rather than being paid, that's a different kind of writing. Professional writers get paid for their work. It's how they pay their bills.
It's a bit like waking up one morning and deciding you'll become a landscape gardener. Writing tends to be seen as something anyone can do. 'We all have a book inside us' - as an editorial consultant, if I had £1 from everyone who has told me that, I wouldn't need to earn my living from writing. We do all have a story to tell but there is no guarantee that it will be a good one. It's why we have ghost writers. It's debatable where this quotation actually originated but several established writers have tweaked it and even their quotes have been re-tweaked. One of the most well-known came via journalist and intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who said: 'Everyone has a book in them and that, in most cases, is where it should stay.' Or words to that effect.
If you're not in the writing business, editors and publishers are unlikely to want your unschooled work and if you don't understand how the business works, they haven't got time to show you. A crash course online isn't going to be much help breaking into the business. Nor do editors and publishers care whether you've achieved a Master's Degree in creative writing or its various genres. If you can give editors what they want, rather than what you want to give them, and they consider your work to be marketable, the door will open with or without a degree.
FutureLearn
Find a course, if you must, with a reputable trainer. The one I use most, for a wide variety of topics, is FutureLearn at https://www.futurelearn.com/ These courses are run by top universities all over the world. They're free and they last from 2 to 8 weeks. I've followed short courses in nutrition, screenwriting, online teaching, music psychology, history of antisemitism and jazz piano, in addition to the recent songwriting. Owing to work commitments, I don't always get to the end in time but I run off copies of the lectures for future reference and the information has all been useful for my work. You can also do degree courses with them.So what are these courses? Among the arts section I found:
- A-level Study Boost with the University of Reading: Unseen Poetry and the Creative Process;
- An Introduction to Screenwriting with the University of East Anglia;
- Discovering Science: Science Writing with the University of Leeds;
- Explore Film-Making from Script to Screen with the National Film and Television School;
- How to Make a Poem with Manchester Metropolitan University;
- Start Writing Fiction with the Open University and more.
For another reliable writing course provider, try the National Union of Journalists.
https://www.nuj.org.uk/work/training/ You do have to pay for these but they're worth it and you don't need to be an NUJ member. They run courses 'from feature writing to web design to multi-platform courses using all the latest digital technologies.' They're all run by established and experienced journalists.
I picked out a couple aimed at new or established freelancers looking for a refresher course, that interested me:
- Writing for women's magazines (online) with Tiffany Wright. You can start anytime as the start date is flexible and it costs £250 + VAT. The course offers practical advice on writing and pitching feature ideas for glossy mags. It's suitable for those new to freelancing and established freelancers or staff journalists. It lasts six weeks and includes lectures, assignments, guidance and email support;
- Freelance feature writing (online) with Ellie Levenson, again flexible start date. It costs £250 + VAT. It's suitable for new and established journalists who want a refresher course and it works through the process of feature writing from original ideas to writing a pitch, researching and writing the feature.
Good luck!
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