You’ve asked for, and now you are going to get, e-courses in writing and editing on an individual basis. Courses  have five to eight lessons, which can be tailored to each participant’s needs or taken as set up. Work on the course at your own pace (within reason).. Check out specific course details below.

Crafting the Short Story – six-part course

Expanded from Sharon’s Crafting a Short Story workshop taught at Toronto Public Library branches.

What makes a good short story? Plot? Character? Or both? Whose point of view do you use? Do you need dialogue or will narrative only work? What about setting? Style? Voice? Length? Beginning? And where do you market your completed short story? In this six-part course you will learn how to blend these ingredients to write a short story that sparkles as well as getting marketing tips and leads. Course will explore some published short story collections, for example, by Alice Munro (for literary short stories) and Sharon A. Crawford’s Beyond the Tripping Point (for mainstream mystery) as well as your own short story. The goal is for you to complete one short story either from suggested topics or one you are currently writing. Feedback will be given by e-mail to stories in progress.

Course Fee (not including any short story books you wish to purchase) is $250. For more information (including a course outline) and to sign up for this e-course, e-mail Sharon at words@samcraw.com

Copy Editing 101

Based on the Copy Editing Course Sharon taught for George Brown College, Toronto.

Does your job require you to edit newsletters, reports or articles? Maybe you are considering switching careers? Or maybe you want to cross the editorial fence from writer to editor? Whatever your reason, you need to get beyond the “something’s wrong with this” point to editing professionally. Through examples, exercises, assignments submitted for feedback, and online websites, you will master the basics of copy editing. We will touch on print copy editing, but focus on the online version. This eight-lesson course will cover the mechanics of grammar, punctuation, spelling, redundancy, citations, references, lists, statistics, shortening long-winded prose, recognizing common errors, tips in editor-client negotiations, and a step-by-step guide to approaching a copy editing job. You will also learn the importance of accuracy and consistency and how to wade through the plethora of style guides. Some text books are required – either the online or print version.

Course Fee (not including text books) is $350. For more information (including a course outline) and to sign up for this e-course, e-mail Sharon at words@samcraw.com

Payment for courses is by cheque, bank draft or Interac debit (Canada only, not all bank supported), PayPal (to words@samcraw.com) is required when registering. Please note: there is a $15 surcharge for PayPal payments to cover the PayPal processing charge to me unless your PayPal account withdraws directly from your bank account instead of a credit card account.