Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Advanced Feature Writing

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
COMM2468	City Campus	Undergraduate	345T Media and Communication	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014, Sem 1 2015, Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019
COMM2468	City Campus	Undergraduate	375T Vocational Design and Social Context	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2020
COMM2468	City Campus	Undergraduate	515T Creative Industries	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2022, Sem 1 2023, Sem 1 2025

Course Coordinator: Dzintra Boyd and Sarah Vincent

Course Coordinator Phone: +61399254269 (Dzintra)

Course Coordinator Email: pwecoordinators@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

This course is designed to develop your skills as journalist and non-fiction writer and give you an opportunity to specialise in an area of interest. By analysing genres such as feature writing, literary journalism and personal columns, you learn to create marketable articles for specific publications. You acquire the knowledge and skills required to work as a freelance writer, including effective communication with editors and developing niche markets.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Program Learning Outcomes

In this course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:

• identify and employ writing and editing techniques; principles and practice of communication and writing for different audiences; emerging digital media and trends and developments in the publishing industry
• acquire and apply the skills to write works of fiction and non-fiction, edit professionally, create digital content, design print and web-based products, develop and manage writing and editing projects
•  identify, analyse and reflect on relevant trends in writing and publishing in both local and international contexts.

Course Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course you will be able to:

• analyse features of different non-fiction genres
• conduct research for a feature article
• develop a concept in the appropriate format for an identified market
• write articles in various non-fiction genres, creating original angles to story ideas appropriate to the target audience
• critically review other writers’ work and provide constructive feedback.

Overview of Learning Activities

The learning activities included in this course are:

• in-class lectures, which provide the framework for exploring different kinds of feature writing and developing your skills as a non-fiction writer
• guest lectures from specialist industry speakers 
• class exercises and activities designed to clarify course content and practise relevant skills
• writing workshops to assist development of writing techniques with feedback from peers and teachers
• independent research and study, working through the course requirements as presented in classes, online and through learning materials.

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.

A list of recommended learning resources will be provided by your lecturer, including books, journal articles and web resources. You will also be expected to seek further resources relevant to the focus of your own learning.

The University Library has extensive resources for Professional Writing and Editing students. The Library has produced a subject guide that includes quality online and print resources for your studies http://rmit.libguides.com/wcprp. 

The Library provides guides on academic referencing https://www.rmit.edu.au/library/study/referencing and subject specialist help via your Liaison Librarian.

Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Immersion journalism feature (35%)

You will write a 1500-word immersion feature for a specific audience and market.

Aligned course learning outcomes: 1, 2, 4

Assessment Task 2: Proposal (15%)

You will write a 350-word proposal for an immersion feature story.

Aligned course learning outcomes: 2, 3

 

Assessment Task 3: Longform feature article (50%)

You will write a 2000-word research-based feature for a specific audience and market.

Aligned course learning outcomes: 2, 4, 5