Show and Tell: Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media Show and Tell: Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media Show and Tell: Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media

Show and Tell: Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media

Transform your passions and experiences into compelling first-person essays, opinion pieces, and columns under the guidance of acclaimed journalist Sarfraz Manzoor.

Level

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Starting out

What do these levels mean?

Location

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London

Length

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12 weeks
  • Start Date
  • Time
  • Thursdays, 19.00–21.00

Places available

£1095

£1095

£300 / month for 2 months and a £495.00 deposit

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Write about your passions at Faber

How do you get the world – or more specifically a newspaper editor – to let you write about your personal obsession? Why should anyone care about your music taste, your relationship with your parents or your thoughts on the latest must-see Netflix drama?

The critical skill of any writer is to create a compelling story, with a distinct voice and revealing insights – and these are especially important when writing in a competitive and demanding non-fiction environment.

In this course, Sarfraz Manzoor will show you how to write about yourself so that others will care. He will show how to relate deeply personal experiences, interests and opinions so they hint at larger themes: how to transform the specific into the universal.

Over twelve carefully structured weeks, Sarfraz Manzoor will show you how to transmute your opinions and experiences into a multitude of short-form pieces for newspapers, magazines and online publications – as well as supporting you to find your journalistic voice and to develop your relationship with commissioning editors.

Is this the right course for me?

This course is intended for anyone who is serious about writing short-form essays, opinion pieces or columns. You may be an emerging journalist wanting to sharpen your skills, an author interested in writing for media publications, or already producing reviews, podcasts or travel writing and want to hone your craft and learn about the industry.

You will be expected to put what you’re learning into practice through writing every week – and sharing what you’ve written with your classmates and Sarfraz for feedback.

As well as insights from Sarfraz and expert guest tutors, you’ll get a taste of what a realistic career writing for newspapers, magazines and online publications looks like – as well as joining a group of supportive writers who are on the journey with you.

‘The job of the artist is to get your audience to care about your obsessions.’ – Martin Scorsese

Being a writer in today’s world involves mastering various types of composition. You might be a novelist, a memoirist or a poet – or just starting out – but knowing how to write about your personal experience for a range of publications can add an invaluable string to your bow and skill in your portfolio.

Maybe you want to translate your personal passions, interests and opinions into an additional income stream – or maybe you’re just keen to learn how to make a reader care about your store of personal experience, memory and opinion.

This course will take you through the basics into a deeper understanding of the various genres today’s jobbing writer will encounter – each approach adding something to a general toolset of writerly skills. Special industry guests will complement Sarfaz’s extensive experience to provide a thorough grounding in approaching, pitching and selling your pieces into today’s media landscape.

    Weekly sessions will run 19:00–21:00 on Thursdays, in Faber’s headquarters at The Bindery, near Farringdon Station.

Course Programme

Session 1

Thursday 24 April, 19:00–21:00

Introduction and Understanding the...

Session 2

1 May, 19:00–21:00

Basic Skills

First-...

Session 3

8 May, 19:00-21:00

What to Write About

...

See remaining sessions

Course Programme

Show and Tell: Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media

Session 1

Thursday 24 April, 19:00-21:00

Introduction and Understanding the Basics

What is first-person writing and what forms does it take? Why do we write it – and why are we so compelled to read it?

Session 2

1 May, 19:00-21:00

Basic Skills

First-person writing is a very specific area of journalism, with its own conventions, rules and expectations. In this session, you’ll look at the foundations of good journalistic writing - how to write tightly, brightly and with verve.

Session 3

8 May, 19:00-21:00

What to Write About

To create work that is both deeply personal and relatable, you’ll dig into your past to find themes, obsessions, fears and incidents to explore in your writing.

Session 4

15 May, 19:00-21:00

How to Find Your Writing Voice

The most important part of writing compelling first-person pieces is finding your distinct voice. As well as finding your own, you’ll analyse lauded journalists with unique writing voices.

Session 5

22 May, 19:00-21:00

Special Guest from the World of Journalism

N.B. This session will be followed by a reading week.

Session 6

5 June, 19:00-21:00

The Dangers and Rewards of Packaging Personal Pain

First-person writing is often deeply intimate. In this session, you’ll explore the ethics, risks and rewards of confessional journalism.

Session 7

12 June, 19:00-21:00

Writing Columns

Columns are the perfect place to express your opinions and to showcase your point of view in a concise way. Using your distinct voice and viewpoint, you’ll explore how to generate ideas and write columns.

Session 8

19 June, 19:00-21:00

Short-Form Memoir Writing

A practical session on writing stories about childhood and family so that they have appeal to newspapers, magazines and online publications.

Session 9

26 June, 19:00-21:00

Travel Writing and Arts Writing

In this session, you’ll explore the fundamentals of travel and arts writing - and how to develop and write ideas that will engage the relevant editors.

Session 10

3 July, 19:00-21:00

Writing and Rejection

Any form of writing will involve knock-backs. In this session, you’ll put strategies in place of how to recover from rejection and to keep writing.

Session 11

10 July, 19:00-21:00

Special Guest: A Newspaper Commissioning Editor

Session 12

17 July, 19:00-21:00

Pitching

And now you’re ready to get your ideas out there. To finish the course, Sarfraz will lead a practical workshop on how to pitch to newspapers, magazines and online publications.

Tutor

Sarfraz Manzoor, tutor on Faber Academys's Show and Tell (...and Sell): Writing for Newspapers, Magazines and Online Media course

Sarfraz Manzoor

Sarfraz Manzoor is an author, journalist, screenwriter, broadcaster and playwright whose work over the last thirty years has often been based on and inspired by his life...

More About This Tutor
Sarfraz Manzoor

Location

The Bindery

51 Hatton Garden

London EC1N 8HN

How to get here

Faber’s office, The Bindery, is well connected by public transport, with Farringdon Station just five minutes’ walk away, and stops for several bus routes in the area too. If you’re coming from outside of London, the office is a short bus or taxi journey from Kings Cross, Euston and St Pancras stations.

Browse the Reading Room

From author interviews and writing tips to creative writing exercises and reading lists, we've got everything you need to get started – and to keep going.

For more information, message us or call 0207 927 3827