Freelance Features Essentials: Successful pitching
How to build a compelling pitch and land your dream commission
This four-hour feature writing course for freelancers will help you refine your features ideas and pitch them effectively.
What you’ll learn: Generating and developing ideas, mock features conference, how to pitch
What makes a great feature? How do you come up with ideas and successfully pitch them to editors? We’ll discuss how the best in the business conjure concepts that keep you reading to the end, equip you to think critically while assessing the current features landscape, and help you build a toolkit for developing winning ideas.
Pitching ideas whether in-person or via email can be daunting – especially as a freelancer who often relies on cold pitching. We’ll work on building your confidence in speaking up in-person and conveying your thoughts clearly and succinctly via email, leaving you feeling ready to hit send on that email pitch you’ve been drafting for weeks.
With insights from experienced journalists, you’ll learn what editors want (and don’t want), take part in a mock features conference where you’ll receive immediate feedback, and put your new knowledge into action with a hands-on pitch writing exercise.
How you’ll learn
This two-module feature writing course for freelancers will be led by an experienced editor and trainer who will share their practical expertise through presentations, discussion and practical exercises – ensuring you have opportunity to reinforce your learning and test your understanding.
Who the course is for
This course is for you if you’re a freelance feature writer – or are considering going freelance – and want to build a toolkit of skills and knowledge that will help you bag a commission and deliver on it. You should have professional writing experience.
We also offer a full-day version of this course, Freelance Journalism: Secrets of Successful Features, which includes an additional module focussing on the key principles of great feature writing.
We offer this course as bespoke training for teams and can deliver it remotely or in your offices. Get in touch using the button below to discuss times and dates, as well as how we can tailor it to your needs.
Course Modules
Generating Brilliant Ideas
- Exploring feature formats
- Generating features ideas
- Developing your idea
- Regular and returning features
- Build your own ideas – practical
Landing Features Commissions
- Mock features conference
- Pitching basics
- What to include in a pitch (and leave out)
- What editors really want from writers
- Practical pitch-writing
Freelance Features Essentials: Successful pitching
How to build a compelling pitch and land your dream commission