Good with Words: Writing and Editing

Syllabus

Courses

• Writing and Editing: Revising

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  4 weeks long, 14 hours worth of material

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  This fourth and final course in the “Good with Words: Writing and Editing” series will help you master perhaps the most important step in the writing process: revising. You’ll learn about the difference between editing and proofreading. You’ll practice “un-numbing the numbers” so that data and statistics you use are clear and compelling. And you’ll be introduced to a framework for giving and receiving feedback that helpfully systematizes what should be cut and what should be kept from each draft.
  
  As with the other three courses in this series, you will also get access to a wide range of books and other resources you can use even after you finish the course. These include:
  
  (1)the readings and exercises provided to the students who have taken the in-person version of this course at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago;
  
  (2)two digital libraries of excellent writing from a diverse collection of journalists, scientists, novelists, poets, historians, and entrepreneurs;
  
  (3)a monthly “Good Sentences” email.

• Writing and Editing: Drafting

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  4 weeks long, 14 hours worth of material

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  This third course in the “Good with Words: Writing and Editing” series will give you a number of strategies to help with what is often the most intimidating, even paralyzing part of the writing process: getting started.
  
  You’ll learn about the “planning fallacy” and “temptation bundling.” You’ll get a chance to experiment with “freewriting” and “writing before you are ready.” And you’ll continue to benefit, through our ongoing “Good Sentences” and “Takeaways” segments, from the models and advice of a diverse set of writers.
  
  As with the other three courses in this series, you will also get access to a wide range of books and other resources you can use even after you finish the course. These include:
  
  (1)the readings and exercises provided to the students who have taken the in-person version of this course at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago;
  
  (2)two digital libraries of excellent writing from a diverse collection of journalists, scientists, novelists, poets, historians, and entrepreneurs;
  
  (3)a monthly “Good Sentences” email.

• Writing and Editing: Structure and Organization

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  4 weeks long, 15 hours worth of material

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  This second course in the Good with Words: Writing and Editing series will help you become an effective architect of information, both with your sentences and with your paragraphs. You’ll learn that the traditional advice to “Show, don’t tell” is incomplete and that skilled writers actually switch back and forth between showing and telling.
  
  You’ll also learn more about the menu of time management techniques introduced in the first course of the series, including “deep work,” “studio time,” and “the Animal Farm Principle.” And as with the other three courses in this series, you will get access to a wide range of books and other resources you can use even after you finish the course. These include:
  
  (1)the readings and exercises provided to the students who have taken the in-person version of this course at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago;
  
  (2)two digital libraries of excellent writing from a diverse collection of journalists, scientists, novelists, poets, historians, and entrepreneurs;
  
  (3)a monthly “Good Sentences” email.

• Writing and Editing: Word Choice and Word Order

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  4 weeks long, 19 hours worth of material

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  This course will teach you how to use your written words to become more persuasive. You’ll learn creative ways to use syntax, effective techniques for telling stories, and a clever method for arranging a complex series of information. You’ll also get a chance to both professionalize your use of punctuation and add a bit of style and sophistication to how you craft everything from sentences to slogans.
  
  In addition, you’ll get access to a wide range of books and other resources you can use even after you finish the course. These include (1) the readings and exercises provided to the students who have taken the in-person version of this course at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago; (2) two digital libraries of excellent writing from a diverse collection of journalists, scientists, novelists, poets, historians, and entrepreneurs; and (3) a monthly “Good Sentences” email. Social media has only accelerated the ways in which we all must learn to use our writing to connect, compete, and create—sometimes all at once. So join us for this first course in a four-part series and experience the many benefits, both personal and professional, of becoming “good with words.”