Master the essentials of writing, and become the stellar wordsmith you always wanted to be! In this course, you’ll develop the skills you need to excel at business communications, express yourself clearly online, and take your creative literary talents to a new level. 

Whether you’re hoping to get a better job, write for a blog, or publish your short story, this course will give you the writing tools you need for success. It’s also a perfect choice for students who speak English as a second language.

You’ll gain confidence right away as you practice free writing and discover how to create solid drafts. You’ll improve your writing skills by learning to select strong and persuasive words, spell correctly, and choose the right punctuation. Then you’ll find out how to put it all together by crafting well-written sentences, building effective paragraphs, and organizing your material logically. And finally, you’ll explore ways to make the most of e-mails and other forms of electronic communication.

With the knowledge and hands-on practice you gain from this course, you’ll be able to express yourself clearly and persuasively in writing—both in your personal life and in the business world.

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads  by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Ann Linquist.

Ann Linquist is a popular continuing education instructor on college campuses, at corporations, and with non-profit organizations. She has helped thousands of adults learn to tackle their writing tasks with enthusiasm. Having written everything from novels to newsletters, articles to ad copy, and poetry to proposals, Linquist is able to address the writing needs of each individual. The breadth of her background ensures a powerful, involving learning experience that builds on the strengths of each participant.

“ I have been taking writing courses for the past two years and I just want to say that I found your course to be nothing short of excellent. The lessons from this course will be placed in the top drawer of my writer's toolbox. Thank you. ”

“ Thank you! This course is fabulous. I feel competent and with some practice and my resource materials have confidence I will only improve. Again, thanks! ”

“ Excellent instructor--teaches on many levels. I appreciate that the material offered allows students to go deeper and further into their studies, if they wish. ”

“ I thoroughly enjoyed the course and the enormous amount of material offered for skill exercises and development. I learned so much more than I remembered learning in school and I will refer back to the material as I continue to write meeting minutes for my admin position. The instructor provided sufficient information and was great! ”

“ This instructor has once again exceeded my expectations in designing a course in a manner that encouraged me to enjoy learning. I feel that, more than in other courses I've taken, the design of this course and the attitude of the instructor has resulted in my maximum retention and practical application of the material. Thanks so much. ”

“ I thoroughly enjoyed this class and have already seen an improvement in my writing skills. I am a copywriter at a advertising firm and before taking this class was experiencing a lot of frustration with my writing. Your approach to free writing along with proofing has helped me not only express myself better but also improved my organizational and proofing skills. Thank you! ”

“ This course was challenging, but I enjoyed every minute of it! Now I know my grammatical weaknesses and I can work on improving them. ”

“ Thank you, Ann! This course was very well put together and easy to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to brush up on punctuation and writing skills. Thanks again! ”

“ This course was amazing. There were numerous examples and the learning material was the equivalent of a college textbook (knowledge-wise). I just can't say enough about this class. It was great! ”

“ I'm in grad school for nursing. I've been a RN for six years and was told I need to sharpen up on my writing skills for the remainder of my schooling. I was not thrilled about taking any writing course, but I will say this class has helped me a lot. I'm glad I took this course! Thank you for making this course easy to understand! ”