Writing a Best-seller

Get the skills you need to write and market a lucrative page-turner.

Got a great story in you that’s ready to explode on to the shelves of bookstores and airport newsagents? You can get it out there – others have. But it does take some background understanding of the market you’re writing for and what prospective publishers require of you.

The Cengage Education Writing a Best-seller course gives aspiring novelists the grounding they need to turn that big idea into lucrative page-turner. You’ll learn how to fill those pages with people in conflict, betrayal, suspense, climax, resolution and redemption.

The course also addresses the business of writing for specific markets and attracting the attention of publishers.

On completion of your course:

Upon completion of this course you will be awarded a Cengage Education Writing a Best-seller Certificate.

* Terms and conditions apply
Course Number 92720
Course Type Correspondence
Course Duration Max 18 months
Study Hours Approx 360 hrs
Qualification Cengage Certificate

Learning periods

This course is divided into 3 learning periods.

Assessment details

  • 9 written assessments

Computer requirements

Access to a computer is not mandatory for the completion of this course but would be highly beneficial.

Entry requirements
Cengage Certificate, Statements of Attainment, Certificate I & Certificate II courses

No entry requirements apply to these courses.

English Language Requirements:

If English is your second language and you did not complete the last two years of secondary education in English you are required to provide evidence of English language competence before enrolling. Examples of appropriate evidence are:

Evidence

Example

IELTS

Overall score of 5.5

TOEFL

530 (paper), 197 (computer) or 71 Internet.

Evidence of employment in an English speaking country.

12 month period of employment: Letters of Appointment, Letters of Reference, Testimonials, Performance Appraisals etc

Not sure if you meet the entry requirements?
Please call 1300 853 033

Subjects You’ll Cover

The technology debate

  • The age of information technology
  • Writing for the Internet
  • Why readers like the Internet
  • Editing by computer
  • Do writers need to work on computers?
  • How do you edit on-line?
  • Electronic publishing
  • About e-books
  • E-book software
  • How can I convert my own documents to e-books
  • Some worthwhile Internet sites for all writers

Promote yourself to success

  • The waiting game
  • Networking with other writers
  • Mentors, workshops and conferences
  • Building a reputation for reliability
  • Using a critique/editorial service
  • Keeping records & backup copies; financial records & taxation
  • Your next book
  • How to make a living while you're waiting to be rich & famous
  • Self-promotion - talking about what you do
  • Dealing with rejection; professional DO's and DON'T's

So you want to write a best-selling novel?

  • Writing best-selling fiction
  • What is a 'best-seller'?
  • The characteristics of genre fiction
  • Mainstream and literary fiction
  • How to decide what type of book you should write
  • Some opinions about writing and getting published
  • An editor's view of what will sell - 'Turn-offs' for an editor; categorise your novel

Plotting your novel

  • The best way to plot your story
  • The beginning; that vital idea
  • Taking an idea and shaking it
  • Your plot at a glance
  • From cluster to outline
  • Your timeline
  • Who is telling the story?
  • Having the end in sight
  • Background, minor characters and subplots
  • Is my idea best suited to a novel or short story?

The characters in your story

  • Starting with a character
  • Character tags
  • Creating a character file
  • Describing your characters
  • Third person narrator
  • Character motivation
  • What comes first, the characters or the plot? Characters in a situation
  • Don't make your characters all good or all bad
  • he difference between major and minor characters
  • The viewpoint character; the first person narrator
  • Bringing your characters on stage; naming your characters

Research, setting and mood

  • Putting your characters on-stage
  • The setting of your novel
  • Some tips on researching
  • Your 'contacts' book
  • Writing historical fiction
  • Do your research
  • Researching for novels with a medical background
  • Mood
  • Police procedure; science fiction, fantasy and futuristic
  • A trick to make your background come alive
  • The physical background; what interests readers?
  • Don’t give your reader a chance to flip pages

The self-publishing option

  • Producing your own book
  • The production process
  • Writing, editing, design and printing
  • Structure of a book
  • Australian books in print
  • Selling your book
  • Terms of trade
  • Using a distributor
  • Glossary of acronyms and terms
  • Useful addresses
  • Your rights and responsibilities Copyright

Structure, pace and suspense

  • The suspense meter
  • How to create suspense right from the start; the difference between suspense and conflict; ways to create suspense
  • How to maintain tension and conflict
  • Checklist for conflict, pace and tension
  • Playing on emotions; anticipation and fear
  • Controlling pace through scenes, writing scenes
  • Four ways to keep your story moving
  • The structure of a scene; tying up loose ends

First page, first chapter

  • What does a first chapter have to do?
  • Using the 'Five Ws'
  • How to describe your characters
  • Your first chapter checklist
  • How to end a chapter
  • The importance of your novel's opening

Editing and polishing your novel

  • Is your novel ready to send away?
  • The novelist's ABC: active voice, beginnings, cut, don't assume, endings, facts and your files, group support, info dumping, judgement, keep it simple, lead, middles, natural style, overview, paragraphing, question technique, rewriting, soapboxes, tenacity, understanding, viewpoint, wordiness, 'x' marks the spot, you and your career, and zeal

Marketing your novel

  • Submitting a manuscript
  • Copyrighting
  • Writing a synopsis
  • A sample query letter
  • Pitfalls in writing for children
  • Writing in an outmoded style
  • Would I make a good children's writer?
  • Writing for teenagers
  • Should I have an agent? Partials v a full manuscript
  • Best-selling fiction for the juvenile market
  • What you should know about writing for children
  • Stories for children can be a variety of lengths
  • General tips for writing children's story books
  • Other ways to make money from being a children's writer

Writing effective dialogue

  • The importance of good dialogue
  • What is 'good dialogue'?
  • How do you write effective dialogue?
  • Different types of speech tags
  • Building tension through dialogue
  • Dialogue and humour
  • How to check that your dialogue works
  • Accents, slang and cliches
  • How to make dialogue and narrative work well together; interior monologue

* Fortnightly payment plans also available –     call our Sales team on 1300 853 033 .

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