• Are you interested in teaching at Writing NSW? Please review the types of courses we offer, then read the following guidelines and complete the details below.

    • Writing an effective course description 

    • Writing an Effective Course Description


      An effective course description is essential to attracting people’s interest in your course. The best course description is the one that reflects your unique style. However, it can be useful to keep the following points in mind.

      A good course description should:

      1. Set up clear and concise expectations of what the course will cover/achieve.
      2. Have a clear focus, whether that is fiction writing, non-fiction, genre, poetry, etc.
      3. Clearly communicate the intended audience.
      4. Be engaging and enticing.

      It should be obvious what the course is, who it’s for and why they would want to do it. In particular, pay attention to these areas:

      Title

      If the title doesn’t catch interest, no one will read the description. We prefer catchy, unique titles, but the most important factor is to clearly show what the course is about. For example, if you are teaching a poetry course, use the word ‘poetry’ somewhere in your title.

      Introductory paragraph

      This might be catchy or use rhetorical questions. It should lay the foundation for the what, who and why that the rest of the description expands on. For inspiration, have a look at these course descriptions:

      • Writing Romance: Tropes, Chemistry, and Craft
      • The Art of Poetry
      • Online: How to Write Fiction
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    • Planning your course 

    • Planning your course

      Learning Outcomes

      Each course must identify at least three clear learning outcomes to help participants decide whether the workshop is a good fit for their goals and worth their time and investment.

      Learning outcomes should be specific and practical, describing what participants will be able to do, understand, or apply by the end of the course. Wherever possible, outcomes should be observable or measurable (for example, through a piece of writing produced, a skill practised, or a technique applied), rather than broad or aspirational statements.

      We encourage you to use these learning outcomes as a foundation for shaping the structure, activities, and content of your course.

      For example: “Participants will draft the opening chapter of a novel using a clearly defined narrative voice,” rather than “Participants will gain confidence in their writing.”

      Structure

      • When planning a one-day course, consider creating a clear, linear structure to the day.
      • Consider how you will manage the content across the allotted time, particularly in one-day workshops, and how your content will fit and be managed throughout the day is important.
      • Think about including a breakdown or outline of how the day will unfold. This will assist with creating flow and structure, and most importantly, it will help you to work out what is and isn’t achievable in the time allotted.
      • For a long course, you must provide a detailed breakdown of what will be covered in each week of the course.
      • For one-day courses, the maximum class size is 20. For online courses the maximum is 24. Think about what you will be able to realistically achieve were you to have a full class.

      Writing NSW's Audience

      • Participants attending your workshop will likely come from a diverse range of backgrounds, with very different levels of ability and writing experience. Some participants may be completely starting out in writing and still not be sure on the very basics of a topic or genre, others might be published and may be focusing their attention on publishing or refining their work.
      • If your course is pitched at a specific learning level (particularly at a more intermediate or advanced level), make this clear in your outline and reflect this in the content/exercises that you include.
      • Even if you choose a level for your workshop, and focus to a certain skill set, it is still very common for a range of experience levels to enrol in any given workshop.
      • Keep diversity of experience in mind during the planning stages of your workshop and be prepared for a variety of participant abilities.

       Workshopping and In-Class Exercises

      • Have you considered using in-class writing exercises or group workshopping to help demonstrate relevant points?
      • If including these kinds of activities, think about how they will fit in with the structure of the day and the size/makeup of the class.
      • Consider how exercises will feed back into your learning outcomes.
      • If you end up having a class of 20, be very conscious of whether you will ultimately have enough time to do relevant workshopping where everyone will feel that they get a chance to receive feedback on their work
      • Be clear and specific about workshopping in your course outline. If you are only going to get to discuss a few samples of writing from an in-class exercise, make sure that participants are aware of this and explain the time constraints.

      Handouts and Printed Materials

      • Do you have relevant material you’d like to give out during your course?
      • While not required, Writing NSW encourages the use of printed material to accompany a course, such as a recommended reading list.
      • Printing can be done through the Writing NSW office during the week prior to the class. Printed material may be particularly important if your course is very content or fact–heavy, such as a three-hour lecture-style seminar.
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    • Considering participant requirements 

    • Participant Requirements (optional)

      Are you considering having extra participant requirements in your outline, such as having your participants bring an excerpt of their short story or a chapter of their manuscript? This can make a course particularly rewarding for participants, as they have the opportunity to prepare and share their personal work and receive vital feedback and peer review.

      • If you do include extra requirements in your outline, these materials must be addressed prior to and during the course delivery. For writers who have never shared their writing in public, printing and bringing in their work can be a challenging step. If there is no time to draw on the material they have been asked to bring, this can be a frustrating experience for participants.
      • Make requirement instructions clear and specific. This will avoid anxious questions from participants further down the track. For example, a description might ask participants to bring in a “short sample of writing”. But how short is short? One paragraph? One page?
      • Provide a context for your requirements, to avoid setting up unforeseen or unreasonable participant expectations. For example: “Bring in a one-page sample of your writing for use in a class exercise” or, “Bring in a synopsis of your novel, which may be randomly selected for workshopping – time permitting.”
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