Journalism is complex but the secret to good storytelling is simple: people love to read about people.
This hands-on course explores techniques such as case studies, sourcing expert views and playing up the human interest to build empathy with your readers and make your stories come alive.
The four-week course will be taught on our online platform. This includes one lesson per week over four consecutive weeks with practical exercises, ongoing feedback and a critique of a draft feature for your chosen publication.
This course is suitable for all professional writers — from career starters to established journalists or PR professionals looking to refine their skillset in an increasingly competitive freelance market.
What does the course include?
Week one: Telling stories
- Introduction to storytelling techniques and ways to engage readers
- The value of human interest to explain complex subjects
- Brand storytelling basics
- Critique stories for next week
Week two: Finding voices
- Finding case studies
- Approaching experts
- Balance
- Critique of sources for feedback next week
Week three: Handling interviews
- How to take control
- Getting the best out of people
- What to do when it all goes wrong
- Interview practice for feedback next week
Week four: Writing a draft
- Using quotes for impact, identifying speakers
- Models of story structure
- Adding multimedia content
- Minute paper, final questions and prepare to pitch
Getting there
This is an online course.
About David Atkinson
David Atkinson is an established freelance journalist with bylines including the Telegraph, Guardian and Daily Mail. He is also a lecturer in media at the University of Chester, teaching news reporting and feature writing across undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
