Learn both the mechanics of feature journalism – from pitching to editing – and the art of writing a great piece
Dates and times: Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June, 10am-5pm
Overview
Learn how to find, pitch and produce eye-catching, insightful and memorable stories worthy of any magazine or newspaper supplement with this intensive two-day masterclass.
Led by Rob Orchard, Publisher of Delayed Gratification magazine, and featuring numerous guest speakers, a series of seminars and workshops will help you discover the tone and style of your individual voice, learn how to structure a piece for maximum impact, and offer tips on improving your writing with ruthless self-editing.
You'll also learn practical ways to get your stories into print, including the secrets of successful pitching. Supported with detailed handouts explaining all the jargon of features journalism, you'll leave with two finished feature pitches, and suggestions of titles to send them to.
Course description
- Making first contact with commissioning editors
- How to pitch (and how not to)
- Analysing publications to work out what they're looking for
- Different feature structures, treatments and formats
- Tone and style
- How to improve your writing and self-edit
Tutor profile
Rob Orchard is the co-founder and editorial director of the Slow Journalism Company, the publisher of Delayed Gratification magazine, which revisits the events of the preceding quarter and makes a virtue of being "Last to Breaking News". He spends his days writing and editing long form features for the publication, which he describes as offering an "antidote to PR-driven stories, knee-jerk reactions and churnalism". Prior to starting the Slow Journalism Company, Rob launched and ran magazines for Virgin Atlantic, created the Middle East's biggest travel magazine and worked as the editor of Time Out Dubai, Time Out Croatia and Time Out Paris.
Speaker profile
Tom Lamont is a writer and commissioning editor at the Observer New Review. He began his career at Time Out magazine in 2004, moving to write for Observer Sport Monthly in 2008 before joining the newspaper's relaunched Review section in 2010. Roughly one in four of his interviews with popstars, actors, writers and sportsmen will involve the subject enquiring politely how old he is.
Testimonials for Rob Orchard
Rob Orchard is not only one of the most amusing and entertaining features writers I've ever come across, he also edits one of the best magazines currently being produced in the UK. Tim Arthur, Editor in Chief, Time Out London
Rob is a fantastic editor to work with due to the combination of his incisive intelligence, impressive knowledge range, and passion for understanding exactly what makes an article come alive. So few editors these days make it feel like your work with them is a collaboration, but with Rob it really is. There's a genuine sense that your writing goes on a journey which ends at a more satisfying destination. Rachel Halliburton is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Spectator, the New Statesman, Prospect, the Independent, Delayed Gratification, the Evening Standard and the FT.
Rob is without exception the best editor I have ever worked with. If it weren't for his guidance, his almost otherworldly ability to sniff out what will work and what will crash and burn and his meticulous nature I would have fallen at the first hurdle. He's also a terrific journalist in his own right. James Montague, author and journalist working for CNN, the New York Times and GQ.
To book
Details
Dates: Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June 2013
Times: 10am-5pm
Location: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, King's Cross, London N1 9GU
Price: £400 (inclusive of VAT, booking fees, lunch and refreshments)
Maximum class size: 16
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