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Want to write for magazines? This course offers you the chance to write an article and get published!
Learn how to....
- come up with ideas for articles
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pitch stories to magazines
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conduct interviews and research
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write different kinds of articles
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run a professional business as a freelance writer.
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Course Details:
Modules: 10 lessons
Cost : $895.00
Length: Course can be completed at own pace: between six to twelve months
Registration: Online at http://www.nzwriterscollege.co.nz/
Students must complete:
- 10 writing exercises (10 for assessment and feedback)
- 1 quiz on magazine industry protocol
- 1 query letter
- 1 full-length article of publishable quality
Course Tutors:
 Yvonne van Dongen has been a writer for over 20 years. She has worked for many magazines, including North & South, Next, NZ Life & Leisure, NZ House & Garden and Foodtown magazine. She has worked at Condé Nast Traveler in New York. Yvonne has won numerous awards, including a fellowship to study travel writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
Other awards include: Dulux Junior Feature Writer of the Year (1983); Young Reporter of the Year (1983); Qantas best newspaper tourism/transport feature (1994); Cathay Pacific Travel Writer of the Year (1995); Qantas Best newspaper health/medicine feature (1997); Avis Awards - best article about the travel industry (in 1995,1998 and 2000); Commonwealth Media Awards - winner tourism & transport (in 1997 and 1998); Qantas award for best government, diplomacy & foreign affairs feature (2000); Qantas Travel Journalist Award (2004); MPA Lifestyle Journalist of the Year (2004); Qantas Media Awards Winner Best Tourism & Travel Column (2007) Yvonne has a BA in English & Religious Studies, as well as a post-graduate diploma of Journalism from the University of Canterbury.
Yvonne teaches travel writing at the University of Auckland.
 Paul Smith is a veteran journalist and author and former media commentator. He began his reporting career on the Auckand Star in 1964 and then went to London for three years to work on newspapers and magazines. He was a senior reporter for the New Zealand Herald, Dominion and the New Zealand Times.Paul was New Zealand correspondent for the London Standard for 20 years, and the Sydney Morning Herald's correspondent for five.
As a freelancer his stories have appeared in magazines ranging from the Readers' Digest to the Guardian and Asian Wall Street Journal. He specialised in media from 1988, beginning the country's first Media Watch column for the National Business Review. He also became a long-serving correspondent for the show biz bible, Variety.
He is a winner of the Sir David Beattie Award for best news reporter in the print media, and a runner up in the 2002 Peace Awards. In 1986 he was awarded a Press Fellowship to Wolfson College Cambridge.
A past President of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN) he has written six best-selling non-fiction books, ranging from social histories to a text on the social impacts of broadcasting de-regulation.
Paul has taught freelance and non-fiction writing at Auckland University's summer schools for 18 years and is a non-fiction mentor for the Society of Authors.
 Paulette Crowley is a Qantas award-winning journalist who has worked on several New Zealand national newspapers and magazines, including Woman's Day, New Idea, Rip It Up and Crème Magazine. She has a special interest in health reporting, and has edited and written for international and local healthcare publishers.
As part of her freelance career, Paulette has also edited book manuscripts, written advertising copy and worked on public relations projects. She has a postgraduate certificate in publishing from Whitireia Polytechnic.
 Nichola Meyer has written feature and cover articles for several leading magazines, among them O: The Oprah Magazine, Femina, Your Baby, Baby & Me, Your Pregnancy and Essentials. With a university Major in English and a Masters Degree in Psychology, Nichola has a special interest in reporting on issues of interest to women and parents.
Previously she lectured in psychology, taught English to High School Pupils since 1998, and presented the Magazine Journalism Short Course since 2004 at CityVarsity Film & Television and Multimedia School, as well as at Boston Language College.
Admission Requirements:
- Basic writing skills are essential
- Computer skills, e-mail and Internet access required
- No previous tertiary qualification required
Course Curriculum:
Module One - The Genre of Magazine Writing
- Distinguish magazine writing from other genres of writing
- Acquire an understanding of the elements that characterise magazine journalism
- Get answers to FAQ about a career in Magazine Journalism
- Writing Exercise 1: Practise writing scenes that “show” rather than “tell” (assessment and feedback task)
Module Two - Targeting your Market
- Analyse a magazine in terms of content, style, format, tone, target market and demographic.
- Learn how to match your writing with that of a selected magazine.
- Distinguish between the different types of articles found in magazines.
- Writing Exercise 2: Analyze the demographic, style, tone and format of a selected magazine (assessment and feedback task)
Module Three - Topics that Sell
- Know where and how to find sellable ideas.
- Learn techniques for generating ideas
- Distinguish between a topic and an angle.
- Study an overview of prominent publications in NZ.
- Writing Exercise 3: Refining topics into angles; Coming up with an angle for an article (feedback task)
Module Four - The Ins and Outs of the Magazine Industry
- Find out how to write the perfect query letter
- Distinguish between writing on speculation versus querying and being commissioned
- Writing Exercise 4: Write a query letter
Module Five - Getting the Facts Straight
- Plan and map a structure of your piece
- Learn interviewing techniques
- Source reliable information
- Understand what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it.
- Writing Exercise 5: Map out your proposed article, ensuring logical flow of content (feedback task)
- Conduct your interviews and research.
Module Six - The Compelling Opener
- Distinguish the critical elements for writing a compelling lead
- Identify the different types of introductions
- Writing Exercise 6: Write a compelling opening to your article (feedback and assessment task)
Module Seven - Body-Building Part I
- Identify the main components of an article
- Use a basic story structure to map out your piece
- Use transitions and logical flow to make reading easy
- Writing Exercise 7: Testing knowledge on logical flow of content, use of transitions, constant Point of View and tenses (assessment and feedback task)
- Writing Exercise 8: Begin to write up the body of your article
Module Eight - Body-building Part II
- Identify the main grammar, style and punctuation rules
- Know the rules for apt usage of quotations
- Find out how to create catchy sidebars and resource boxes
- Writing Exercise 9: Testing knowledge of grammar, style and punctuation (assessment and feedback task)
- Writing Exercise 10: Panel-beating the body into shape (feedback task)
Module Nine - Closing Off In Style
- Identify the different types of closers
- Writing Exercise 11: Write the closer for your piece (feedback task)
Module Ten - The Final Cut
- Edit your piece by following basic guidelines
- Understand the different kinds of cover letters and how to submit your piece in a professional way
- Invoice and organize payment for your stories
- Understand the basics of copyrighting and syndication
- Writing Exercise 12: Edit your piece and submit it with a cover letter. (assessment and feedback task)
How does the course work?
Detailed class notes covering the content of each module are e-mailed to students, or students can download modules directly from the Student Centre online.
At the end of each module, students will be required to complete one or two writing exercises. In total, the course includes ten short writing assignments, all of which count towards the final result of the student. Students must also produce one query letter (300 - 600 words) and one feature-length article (800 - 1600 words).
Once the writing assignment has been completed, and e-mailed to the lecturer, an assessment and feedback will be sent to the student, and the module will be considered complete. Students can also participate in ongoing online discussions by posting comments about the materials covered in the course or other issues pertaining to writing in the college blog.
Conditions of Certification:
Students will receive an NZ Writers' College Certificate upon successful completion of the course, provided they meet the following conditions:
- Students must have completed all 12 assignments (namely: 10 writing exercises, 1 query letter, I article)
- Students must have attained a minimum of 50% for the quiz on magazine industry practice
- The course must have been completed within twelve months of registration.
- Students are expected to attain a minimum average of 50% for the course
Minimum Estimated Time Commitment:
The minimum time commitment to benefit from the course is roughly:
- Reading time: 10 hours
- Writing time: up to 20 hours
- Research time: 2 - 5 hours, depending on the complexity of the selected topic for article.
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