7 Lessons on Writing for Becoming a Standout Writer
What you'll learn
- Write clear, precise, and direct prose
- Find alternative ways of constructing sentences
- Communicate better with readers
- Avoid clichéd words and phrases
- Develop greater command of the English language
Requirements
- Word processing software like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice
Description
- One of the high-rated writing courses on Udemy
- 4.77 out of 5 all time student rating (95.4%)
- 35 5-Star reviews
- Taught by a UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, Dr. Duncan Koerber
- Submit your writing to Dr. Koerber for review within the course
What students say...
"Excellent--I rate it ten stars out of five." — Julie Heyer, Udemy Student
"Take this course - improve your writing — end of story!" — James Cochrane, Udemy Student
"The content is fantastic." — Chris Lewis, Udemy Student
"Information that you can apply right away." — Kim Ruby, Udemy Student
"I can tell he's passionate about his work and he shows it throughout the lessons." — Ana, Udemy Student
"I recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve their writing." — Sheverley Maye, Udemy Student
"This is an especially useful and remarkably good course." — Avrohom Meir Greenhut,
Udemy Student
"The assignments forced me to become more objective and build better habits." — Marla Morris, Udemy Student
"The explanation of parallelism and its usage was simply amazing." — Bindu Midha, Udemy Student
Do you want to impress employers, editors, or online readers with your writing? Do you want to get A grades on term papers and essays? Do you want to become a good writer – in creative non-fiction, journalism, fiction, or academic writing – as quickly as possible?
The secret to this writing success is not studying 200 grammar and style points in the writing textbooks.
Instead, this course – designed by an experienced university professor and published author with Oxford University Press – shows you the sentence-level lessons you need to know to write well. These are the 7 most common problems found in people’s writing. These problems most likely lurk – like weeds – in your writing right now.
If you complete the lessons, exercises, and assignments honestly and fully as outlined in this course, then your writing will improve in just a few weeks of intensive study. If you do not find this course helpful, you may request a refund within 30 days, no questions asked.
These lessons, exercises, and assignments were designed and tested at the University of Toronto and York University with thousands of undergraduate students. Many students improved their grades by a whole grade category after completing these lessons, finding that this short list of key lessons provides clarity. Students have applied these lessons in the workplace to great success.
Join now and complete this course to produce writing that gets you the job, earns you an A grade, lands you a writing contract, or impresses that magazine or newspaper editor.
In this comprehensive course, I will help you:
- See sentences more objectively;
- Understand the factors that interfere with communication;
- Remove dead language – such as dead verbs and weak nouns – from your writing;
- Avoid embarrassing clichés;
- Write more clear, direct, and precise sentences;
- Use adjectives and adverbs more carefully, in targeted ways;
- Write poetically and rhythmically with parallelism and sentence variation;
- Add detail to your writing;
- Plant vivid images in readers’ minds; and,
- Become an original writer, not a copy.
Your writing transformation awaits...
Who this course is for:
- This course is primarily for beginning writers or intermediate writers looking to target trouble spots in their writing.
Course content
Welcome from the Instructor2 lectures • 3min
- Welcome from the InstructorPreview01:17
- How to Make the Most of this Course01:50
Writing Clearly for Publications, Work, and School6 lectures • 28min
How Dead Verbs Are Killing Your Writing5 lectures • 24min
Become an Active Writer5 lectures • 20min
Create Pictures in Your Writing with Strong Nouns5 lectures • 18min
How to be an Original Writer and Avoid Clichés5 lectures • 16min
Prevent Train Wreck Sentences with Parallelism9 lectures • 27min
Freshen your Sentences with Patterns and Length Variation5 lectures • 19min
Bonus Lecture1 lecture • 1min
Instructor
![Duncan Koerber](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 2,312 Reviews
- 11,802 Students
- 9 Courses
Dr. Duncan Koerber has taught writing and communications courses for the past 12 years at eight Canadian universities to thousands of students.
Oxford University Press recently published his writing textbook, Clear, Precise, Direct: Strategies for Writing (2015). Available on Amazon, the book considers the seven most common errors (interfering factors) in writing and how to improve them (enhancing factors). His second book, Crisis Communication in Canada, is now out on Amazon from University of Toronto Press.
Currently a professor at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, Duncan Koerber worked for nearly 10 years in reporting and editing roles for the London Free Press, the Mississauga News, and the University of Toronto Medium. He has freelanced for magazines and newspapers, including the Toronto Star.
Duncan Koerber has been a successful freelance editor, earning a 95% success rating on Upwork.
Duncan Koerber has a bachelor of arts degree in English, Professional Writing, and Political Science from the University of Toronto (2001), a master of arts degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario (2003), and a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from York University and Ryerson University (2009).
His academic writing, which focuses on media and journalism history, writing pedagogy, and public relations crisis communication, has been published in the Canadian Journal of Communication, Public Relations Review, the Journal of Canadian Studies, Journalism History, Media History, Composition Studies, Canadian Journal of Media Studies, and Sport History Review.