How we teach, how you learn

Your instructor will be the most important person in your writing life in the coming months. He or she is carefully selected from a group of published writers and professional editors—then thoroughly trained by our staff in home study teaching techniques, using our one-on-one method of personal instruction tailored to your goals.
 

1. When you enroll, your instructor welcomes you with a personal autobiographical letter, your first two textbooks, and materials for the first three assignments. You’ve already provided some personal background information in your Aptitude Test for Children’s Writing, so your instructor already knows quite a bit about you.

2. The course manual outlines the assignments in step-by-step detail. You complete the first assignment and send it to your instructor, by email or by regular mail, depending on your preference. Each assignment builds on the skills you acquired in the previous assignments; you begin at a level well within your reach and gradually progress to professional-level assignments.

3. Your instructor reads your assignment and reviews your personal folder containing your Writing Aptitude Test and copies of all previous assignments and correspondence. These regular reviews enable him or her to focus on your background, personal interests, and goals in relation to your progress at each stage of the course.

4. Your instructor makes editorial comments directly on your manuscript; you see exactly what needs to be revised, strengthened, or rewritten—and why. In addition to these specific comments, your instructor’s margin notes address your style, choice of words, setting, and other basic aspects of your work.

5. Each edited assignment is returned to you with a personal, detailed letter from your instructor explaining the edits, and recommending steps you can take to build your skills and strengthen any aspects of your writing that need attention. Included will be tips and ideas to get you started on your next assignment.

6. When you receive your first edited manuscript and personal letter of instruction, you’ll experience and understand the real meaning of a “one-on-one” relationship: a working professional teamed with you in pursuit of your personal writing goals.

He or she sticks with you, through thick and thin, until you complete the course and have at least one manuscript suitable to submit to an editor or publisher.

Additional course materials are sent to you as you work your way through the assignments. You learn and progress at your own individual pace. First you learn how to write fiction and nonfiction for children; then you learn how to market your writing. Your instructor knows the children’s book and magazine markets through personal experience as a published author or as a professional editor.

As you complete your manuscripts, your instructor’s guidance will be invaluable in helping you learn how to tailor your work to meet the specific requirements of a prospective editor or publisher.

The Institute cannot promise you success, of course; that’s up to you. But we can promise you the best, most effective instruction available in the creative development and preparation of your writing for publication.

Your instructor is your personal, private tutor

Your instruction is tailored to your individual needs and goals by your personal instructor. He or she is your private tutor, guiding you from your first assignment to one or more finished manuscripts you’ll send to a publisher. Your weaknesses are pointed out in editorial comments made directly on your assignments—along with suggestions for improvement.

You learn what “needs fixing,” and you are shown how to fix it. Your instructor’s continuous attention to your steadily growing strengths and capabilities gives you a clear picture of your progress.

Your instructor’s personal letter discusses your assignment in greater detail and gives you an overall evaluation. It discusses problems in your manuscript and gives you instructions for solving them. It also recognizes your successes and the steps you can take to strengthen your writing even more.

You are not simply told how to write; your instructor uses course materials and texts as teaching examples and shows you how to master new techniques to shape and strengthen your writing, how to give it tension and immediacy, and make it “come alive” to the reader.

Continued