Cost:                R4995.00
Modules:          10 modules
Duration:          One Year
Start Date:        At any time; applications all year round
Course now available in Afrikaans (Please specify your preference in your application)

Student produces: A book of 10 000 - 20 000 words, a book synopsis and book proposal

Admission Requirements:

• Basic writing skills are essential
• Students must be proficient in the English Language
• E-mail and Internet access required
• No previous tertiary qualification required
• Access to a library or book shop

English Tutor:

 Helen Brain is the author of 30 books for children, and has contributed stories and plays to numerous school anthologies. Her teen novel, "Tamara", won an ATKV award. She has also published several short stories for adults. Her memoir, Here Be Lions, was published by Oshun in 2006.

As a teacher, Helen likes to unlock her pupils' creativity, and help them overcome the fear of failure. She says: "I can't turn you into a writer like a wizard waving a wand, but I can tell you it's a long road to being a published writer, and a companion who knows the road can make your journey easier."

 Afrikaans Tutor:

 Carina Diedericks-Hugo behaal die grade BA (Internasionale Studies), Honneurs Afrikaans en Nederlands (cum laude) en MPhil (Joernalistiek). Sy is die skrywer van die Thomas@-reeks en ander boeke sluit in Koning Henry, Operasie M.I.A.A.U. en Die verdrinking van Josua van Eden.
 Sy is al benoem vir die Sanlamprys vir Jeuglektuur en die M.E.R.-prys. Sy het die ATKV-Kinderboekprys reeds vyf maal gewen. As sy nie stories skryf nie, werk sy as uitgewersredakteur by Protea Boekhuis.

Curriculum:

Module One - Introduction

• Some myths about writing children's books
• What to think about if you want to write a successful children's book
• How much you can earn from writing a children's book
• Studying your market
• Starting the writing process

And you will complete four tasks:

• Tell me about yourself
• Set up a Schedule
• Study the market
• A warm-up writing exercise

Module Two - Knowing Your Readers

• In this module you will learn about:
• How reading levels have changed
• The developmental stages of children
• The length and language levels of books for each age group
• Where to get ideas to write about

And you will complete a task:

• Reading and analyzing five children's books
• Coming up with an idea for a novel, as well as a working title, synopsis, setting and at least two characters.

Module Three - How To Plot

• A recap of the three categories of story.
• Two ways that writers approach writing a novel
• What exactly is a plot?
• How to balance your beginning, middle and end
• How to develop a story idea into a full length children's book

And you will complete a task:

• Flesh out your synopsis using subplots if necessary.
• Divide your synopsis into ten chapters
• Draw a graph showing how the tension in your synopsis builds up over the ten chapters.

Module Four - Writing Technique

• The difference between formal or business writing and story telling
• The basic elements of creative writing: Action
• The basic elements of creative writing: Description
• The basic elements of creative writing: Dialogue

Task:

• Twenty short writing exercises to be completed.

Module Five - Point of View 

• Choosing a point of view 
• Building mood
• Writing with the Right Side of your Brain
• Time to start writing
• How to develop a scene

And you will complete the following tasks:

• Write a brief description of the point of view you will use, and the mood you are trying to create, and tell me why you think these will work well with your story.
• Complete the Right Brain exercises. Submit a one to two line sentence per exercise telling me how it worked for you. 
• Write a 500-word scene from a writing prompt
• Start working on Chapter one and two and submit them to me when completed. This task is for feedback only.

Module Six - Characterisation

• Making an emotional connection
• Creating characters that readers relate to 
• Understand your character's personality
• Physical traits, quirky habits and other ways to reveal personality and character
• The importance of the "back story"
• The importance of the right name

And you will complete the following tasks:

• Write back stories for your main and secondary characters. /50
• Write and submit chapters three and four of your story

Module Seven - Dialogue

• In this module you will learn how to:
• Use dialogue to build character
• Move your story forward
• Use attributions and adverbs
• Use language that is appropriate to the lifestyle and outlook of the speaker

And you will complete these three tasks:

• Recording conversations
• Writing up dialogue
• Write chapters five, six and seven of your book

Module Eight - Beginnings And Endings

• Learn what makes a good beginning to a book
• Look at different ways to begin a story
• Examine a practical example of improving a beginning
• Learn how to construct a solid ending to your story
• Look at different ways to end a story

And you will complete two tasks:

• Go back to your own chapter one and rewrite the beginning to apply the techniques you have learned, and
• Write the final three chapters of your story, taking special care with the final chapter to apply what you have learned about strong endings.

Module Nine - Rewriting And Editing

• In this module you will learn five steps in editing your story.
• First look at the Story as a whole
• Now go through your story chapter by chapter
• Going through sentence by sentence, word by word.
• Proofread
• Test the book on readers
• Edit your manuscript according to the five-step plan.

Module Ten - Submitting To A Publisher

In this module you will learn how to:

• choose a title for your story.
• identify the right publisher for your story,
• the etiquette of approaching a publishing company
• how to write a covering letter
• prepare a synopsis of your story.

Exercise:

• Read though your manuscript one last time. Correct any remaining obvious errors
• Choose a title for your story.
• Rewrite your short synopsis
• Write a covering letter to a publisher.

How does the course work?

The course consists of nine modules. Detailed class notes covering the content of each module are e-mailed to students. At the end of each module, students will be required to complete several writing exercises.

Once the writing assignment has been completed, and e-mailed to the tutor, an assessment and feedback will be sent to the student, and the module will be considered complete. The next module will then be e-mailed to the student.

Please note: Assignments should be returned as attachments, not in the body of the e-mail.

Conditions of Certification:

Students will receive an SA Writers' College Certificate upon successful completion of the course, provided they meet the following conditions: 

• Students must have completed all the writing assignments.
• The course must have been completed within one year of registration.
• Students are expected to attain a minimum average of 50% for the course

Minimum Estimated Time Commitment:

The speed at which you work is entirely up to you.  After studying the modules, the exercises at the end of each module should take about two hours to complete. A completed chapter could take much longer, depending on the speed at which you write.