Feature, Opinion & Review Writing with Maeve O’Sullivan
Info
Date: January 20, 2022
Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Duration: 4 Weeks
Cost: €120 (€108 Members)
Course Summary
In this course you will be introduced to three different forms of journalistic writing, which appear mainly in specialist magazines and broadsheet newspapers (outside of the news pages), i.e. feature articles, opinion columns and arts reviews. These are the most literary forms of journalism, online or off. Participants will explore various techniques for researching and crafting readable pieces, which should strike the right balance of information and entertainment. You will be provided with examples of best practice, given guidance on how to tackle writing all three, and feedback on one piece that you will write.
Course Outline
Week 1: Brief introduction to all three genres. Focus on review-writing notes, examples & exercise.
Week 2: Workshopping of reviews. Introduction to feature-writing: notes, examples and exercise.
Week 3: Workshopping of features. Introduction to opinion writing: notes, examples and exercise.
Week 4: Workshopping of opinion pieces. Notes on pitching all three genres to papers & magazines.
Participants will be expected to produce one 500-word piece of journalistic work (choosing from the three genres covered in the workshop). This will be done after the classes in weeks 1, 2 OR 3, and that piece will be workshopped during the following week’s session.
Course Outcomes:
Participants will have a deeper understanding of the techniques needed to research and write features, reviews and opinion columns, and will develop an ability to read, pitch and write all of them with increased confidence and proficiency.
Maeve O’Sullivan has been a tutor of journalism, English and communications in Rathmines College of Further Education for twenty years, and writes reviews & features for various publications. Her poetry and haikai have been widely published, anthologised, awarded and translated. She is the author of five collections from Alba Publishing, the latest of which is Wasp on the Prayer Flag (2021). Maeve is a member of the Irish Writers’ Centre and the British Haiku Society. She also leads haiku workshops. www.maeveosullivan.com
