Free Commercial and Creative Writing course

Chapters 1 to 3 in a single PDF, with a worksheet and cheat sheet.

• 0.-

  Introduction

  How this free course is structured and what you learn in the four chapters.

• 1.-

  Persuading with ethos, pathos and logos

  The three sources of persuasive power, Cialdini's six principles, the ladder from feature to meaning and five kinds of evidence.

• 2.-

  The blueprint of a persuasive text

  The four steps of AIDA, an opening that makes a promise, the balance between opening, middle and close, and a close that asks for action.

• 3.-

  The headline as a door

  The attention curve, the three requirements for a headline, six types of headline, what a lead should do and four hooks to counter the dip in the middle.

• 4.-

  Creative techniques for new ideas

  Diverging and converging, the double diamond, the seven thinking moves of SCAMPER and four ways to shake up a safe, bland text.

• 5.-

  The reader in view

  The reader profile, creating personas, your reader's pain points and the question of what is in it for them.

• 6.-

  From objective to desired action

  Getting your writing objective clear, the action you want to prompt, the call to action and your core message in one sentence.

• 7.-

  Choosing a channel for your message

  Mapping the channels, the channel that suits your objective, the customer journey and one message in several wrappings.

• 8.-

  Digital versus paper

  The F-pattern on screen, writing for scanning, being findable in search engines and what paper still does better.

• 9.-

  Storytelling in commercial texts

  Why stories work, the customer as the hero of your story and showing instead of telling.

• 10.-

  Blogging as a commercial form

  What makes a commercial blog different, working with an editorial calendar and blogs that actually get read.

• 11.-

  Writing so it reads well

  Active phrasing, sentence structure that flows, addressing the reader directly and measuring your readability.

• 12.-

  Playing with language

  Tone of voice, bold wordplay, rhythm in your sentences and the nerve to surprise your reader.

• 13.-

  Fine-tuning until the text works

  Cutting twenty per cent, the editing checklist and asking for feedback that actually helps.

• 14.-

  Working on your own texts

  From writing task to approach, the writing session, feedback with the group and your own writing routine.