Writing With Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer
Bestseller
Join 349,065 other students.
What you'll learn:
- The four ingredients of exceptional writing.
- How to adopt the mindset of an elite writer.
- How to add style to your blogs, books and business writing.
- How to make your writing sing and zing!
- How to write simply, clearly, elegantly and evocatively.
- How to become a more confident writer.
Who this course is for:
- PR/Comms/Marketing execs
- Copywriters
- Journalists
- Bloggers
- Copywriters
- Authors
- College students
This course includes:
7 hours on-demand video
5 articles
3 downloadable resources
Course content:
7 sections • 81 lectures • 7h 15m total length.
Section 1: The World of Elite Writing
- What You Will Learn
- Tool, Not rules
- Proof the Secret Sauce Works (Plus “Workbook”)
Section 2: Mindset of An Elite Writer
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Write With Integrity
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Yearn To Connect
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Know Your Intent
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Aspire For Beauty
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Balance The Ingredients Like An Artist
- MINDSET PRINCIPLE: Don’t Be Obsessed With Perfection
Section 3: Simplicity
- The Beauty Of Simplicity
- Fancy, Flowery & Official Language
- Fancy, Flowery & Official Language (Exercises)
- Economical (“Tight”) Writing
- Economical (“Tight”) Writing (Exercises)
- Redundant Words
- Redundant Words (Exercises)
- More Implied Words
- More Implied Words (Exercises)
- Long Words
- Long Words (Exercises)
- Careless Repetition
- Careless Repetition (Exercises)
- Rambling (Saying Too Much)
- Double Negatives
- Multiplying Entities
- Overstretching Thoughts
- Unnecessary Ceremony
- Unnecessary Ceremony (Exercises)
- Excessive Punctuation
Section 4: Clarity
- The Beauty Of Clarity
- Fuzzy Thinking
- Missing Links
- Out-Of-Focus Ideas
- Misplaced Modifiers
- Ambiguity
- Ambiguity (Exercises)
- Careless Comparisons
- Clumsy Contrasts
- Dubious Distinctions
- Curly Writing
- Jargon & Buzzwords
- Mixing Tenses
- It Versus They
- This, That & The
- Removing Clutter
Section 5: Elegance
- The Beauty Of Elegance
- Presentational Elegance (Or “House Style”)
- Narrative Elegance
- Narrative Elegance (Exercises)
- Stray Thoughts
- Elegant Paragraphs
- Elegant Paragraphs (Exercises)
- Timing, Rhythm & Musicality
- Timing, Rhythm & Musicality (Exercises)
- Elegant Transitions
- Parallel Ideas
- Parallel ideas (Exercises)
- Word Echoes
Section 6: Evocativeness
- The Beauty Of Evocativeness
- Creating Variety
- Creating Variety (Exercises)
- Adding Freshness
- Dramatic & Forceful Writing
- Dramatic & Forceful Writing (Exercises)
- Arousing The Senses
- Reversing Into Sentences
- Reversing Into Sentences II
- Passive Sentences
- Passive Sentences (Exercises)
- Voice, Tone & Character
- Voice, Tone & Character (Exercises)
Section 7: Summary
- Congratulations! You Are An Elite Writer
Discover the Alchemy of Writing
“A compass for those who set out bravely to explore the distant shores that only stories ever spoke of. To the North, Shani will guide you to the austere mountains; simplicity. To the East, Shani will guide you to the crystal forests; clarity. To the South, Shani will guide you to the golden palace; elegance. To the West, Shani will guide you to the hidden alchemists; evocativeness. Do not rush. Shani has charted a course that you may journey for many years to come. Congratulations, you have stumbled upon one of Earth’s rare skeleton keys. Don’t overlook this auspicious opportunity…” — JULIEN MCLAREN, STUDENT
Writing With Flair is one of the world’s most popular writing courses, with hundreds of thousands of students enrolled from 120+ countries.
In this newly extended version of his flagship program, Shani reveals the “superpower” writing tactics of the world’s best news writers and editors. Learning these closely-held trade secrets will help you stand out in almost any field of writing.
Learn the Secret Sauce of Flair
Imagine you could write with the style and flair of journalists on top newspapers, who are skilled at producing punchy and potent articles for millions of readers. What could having such a rare talent do for your career, your business, or your dreams of becoming a successful author or blogger?
In this program, Shani introduces you to a range of exquisite writing tricks and tactics that most people outside the journalism profession are ignorant of, but which can make the difference between dull, flat, dry copy and prose that’s lively and captivating.
In this acclaimed, 7-hour intensive writing training, Shani reveals how such accomplished editors do their magic. It boils down to mastering just four basic ingredients: simplicity, clarity, elegance and evocativeness.
Shani shows how a proper understanding of this “secret sauce” is all you need in order to become exceptional in virtually any field of writing.
You won’t get the usual “writing tips” that you can find all over the internet and in other similar online programs. The four ingredients form the basis of a complete writing system designed to drive you to the summit of slick writing—very fast.
The training may turn you into a confident author of blogs, books and business writing in as little as a few weeks. At the very least, you will understand how to infuse power and beauty into the soul of your writing to make it stand out dramatically.
Whatever your writing ability now, you’ll find yourself quickly transformed into an artistic composer of prose, whose copy sparkles with a rare sort of quality few people will understand, let alone be capable of emulating.
The “secret sauce” of flair
In the course you will learn how to optimise each of the four ingredients so that, just like the world’s finest editors, you can turn humdrum writing into something extraordinary every time. As a result, your copy will always be punchy, sharp, graceful and stimulating—the hallmarks of pretty much all exceptional prose.
In the SIMPLICITY section, you’ll discover how to…
Write in plain, upbeat language
Steer clear of official words that weigh your writing down
Shun redundant words that make your sentences move slowly
Discard filler and hedging language that produce “hot air”
Avoid needlessly complex sentences that bog readers down
Stop yourself rambling and repeating yourself unnecessarily
Eliminate pointless distractions that obstruct comprehension
Clear away “sentence clutter” that can throw readers off
In the CLARITY section, how to…
Recognise fuzzy and out-of-focus ideas that blur your message
Prevent readers from getting confused or going blank
Steer clear of imprecise jargon
Make clear distinctions between contrasting ideas
Avoid randomly mixing up time elements (past, present, future)
Eradicate ambiguity and double-meanings
Place modifying words carefully
Avoid tangled and curly writing that may baffle readers
Use potentially confusing words like “this” and “that” more carefully
In the ELEGANCE section, how to…
Maintain an elegant consistency throughout your writing
Keep sentences neat and parallel
Craft graceful, flowing narratives
Create delightful sentence rhythms
Avoid inelegant “word echoes”
Smoothly transition between ideas
Construct pretty paragraphs
Present your copy ultra-professionally
And in the EVOCATIVENESS section, how to…
Avoid soul-killing clichés
Add variety to sentence structures
Bring a fresh scent to your prose
Avoid the boring passive voice
Stop tiresomely reversing into sentences
Make your writing more dramatic
Create spectacular imagery
Master the tone of your writing
Give life and character to your copy
Welcome to the World of Elite Writing
Good writing isn’t just another nice-to-have skill. It’s one of the most important ones you need for conveying a professional image at work, landing a high-profile job, and getting your online content noticed.
But while plenty of people can write, few can do so with style and flair of top journalists, who are familiar with heaps of fancy tricks and tactics that lift their writing above the ordinary.
After taking this course, you’ll be able to do the same. Imagine having the power to leave readers spellbound by your writing, the same as one might feel after reading a gripping story in a newspaper like The Economist.
In this course, Shani teaches you how to craft such impossibly beautiful prose by revealing not just the key ingredients of good nonfiction writing, but also by sharing the mindset of the elite writers he has worked with and also trained.
“If Shani Raja was a baseball player, he hit the ball out of the park. The curriculum, into which he obviously poured years of successful writing and editing know-how, is comprehensive, engaging and experiential…” — JEAN, STUDENT
Once your mindset has been appropriately shaped, Shani will reveal the four ingredients of exceptional writing in all their glory — proving that simplicity, clarity, elegance and evocativeness are the only qualities needed to create standout writing.
Shani has used this powerful formula to train journalists in top news organisations, as well as to boost the writing skills of his hundreds of thousands of online students.
Soon, you too will know how to magically enhance your blogs, essays, books, business writing, or indeed any other type of nonfiction prose.
The course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means there is no risk in enrolling.
So, join the hundreds of thousands of students who’ve already invested in discovering these and many more powerful writing secrets from an accomplished news editor.
“Better than any course I took in college…” — ANNA TIERNEY, STUDENT
“There are twenty courses in my Udemy folder, of which seventeen are in some genre of writing. Eight of those courses are Shani’s, and I’ve learned more from those than from all the others combined…” — SCOTT RALSTON, STUDENT
“The caliber of instruction one might receive from a traditional university…” — DAVID NICHOLAS TAYLOR, STUDENT
“If you are looking for a writing course that is outstanding look no further…” — MATT SPRENGER, STUDENT
“Worth more than the months I slaved over books and other online writing courses…” — CONOR WELLMAN, STUDENT
“Stunning course… delivered masterfully…” — PEDRO CARROGGIO ZOIO, STUDENT
“I learned more from Shani about the art of writing than I ever did at school... was hooked right until the end.”
NIC JONES, STUDENT
The Best Editors on the Planet
To make a mark in any field, you need to be able to do what most people can’t do: write with punchiness, precision and poise.
On the flip side, lacklustre writing can hold back your career, dent your company’s image, and prevent your books or blogs from getting attention online.
What’s more, brilliant writing can mark you out as a smart thinker with the ability to succeed as an employee, a business owner, or a “thought leader” in your field.
A well-composed cover letter, for instance, can say everything about the type of person you are and your long-term potential.
Strong business writing, in everything from reports to emails, can bolster your reputation at work and help you impress clients.
Beautifully written blogs have a better chance of being heard amid the cacophony of content on the internet.
In that case, how might your prospects for success improve if everything you wrote came out as beautiful as something you might read in, say, The Economist or The Wall Street Journal?
Few people are able to write with the style and finesse of top journalists, who are trained to weed out fluff from their writing and make it consistently sharp and stimulating.
This is a unique chance for you to discover how such journalists perform this sorcery, and to make your own writing sizzle by incorporating their tactics.
The result will be a more refined style of writing that will leave your readers awestruck.
The best part is that after completing this newly expanded edition of Writing With Flair, you won’t just be aware of the ingredients that go into making your copy stand out. You’ll know how to apply the “secret sauce” with the flamboyance of a master chef.
“Most great teachers can’t write, and most great writers can’t teach. Shani Raja is one of the few who excels at both. I managed dozens of reporters and editors during my 12-year career at Bloomberg. Now he’s the person I go to when I want help with my writing…” — NICOLAS JOHNSON, A FORMER EDITOR AT BLOOMBERG NEWS
“As a young reporter my prose might have been robotic and jargon-laden if not for Shani’s watchful eye. Beyond the standard reporting skills — like accuracy, clarity and integrity — I also learned refinement. Shani teaches you how to write well, and with grace…” — HAWA ALLAN, JOURNALIST, POET & AUTHOR
Knowing these elite writing skills will help you to…
Make your business correspondence shine
Make sales prospects instantly “get” your product
Make your marketing copy captivating
Attract more readers to your blogs and books
Get more clicks and conversions on your website
Get your resumes to the top of the “must see” pile
Make your essays the most stylishly written in your class