How to be an Outdoor Writer

How to be an Outdoor Writer

Check it out: How to be an Outdoor Writer

Learn how to become an outdoor writer and finally get your work published. How to be an Outdoor Writer is a 6-week comprehensive online course taught by the editors of SNEWS, BACKPACKER, Climbing, and SKI magazines. We’ll give you insider knowledge on what skills you need to hone, how to craft the perfect story pitch, techniques for building out your network, tips for creating your portfolio and more.

In this course, you’ll learn how to be an outdoor writer from the editors who determine which stories make it and which don’t. We’ll share our secrets on how to break into the outdoor journalism field and what editors like us look for when assigning stories. If you have a way with words and a taste for adventure, we’ll help you turn your skills and passion into something you can get paid for. Stop guessing what magazines want from writers and learn from the ones who make the decisions.

How This Course Works

We’ve designed this course to teach you the most important skills you need to break into the adventure writing industry. We’ve broken the course into digestible chunks that directly focus on the information you need to know to start seeing your byline in print or online. Plus, once you purchase the course, it’s yours forever. You can take and retake each lesson as often as you’d like.

Syllabus:

Section 1: Getting Started

• Lay of the land
  • Mediums explained
  • Pros and cons of different mediums
  • Expectations of each
  • Requirements of each
• Typical pathways
  • How current editors found success

Section 2: Building Your Skills

• How to find the writing skills and voice that match your target publication
• Choosing the most powerful lede
• Finding edit errors
• Developing a category expertise
• Managing time
• Multimedia skills you need

Section 3: Build Your Portfolio

• Why is a portfolio important?
  • Where to start
  • Different mediums
• Self-publishing
  • How to start a blog
  • Find your own voice/style
  • Get followers
  • Find a niche
  • Write about topics other than yourself
• All about internships
  • Why internships are gold and how to score one
  • Are unpaid internships worth it?
  • How to convince an editor to give you an internship
  • Leaving with assignments

Section 4: Build Your Network

• Marketing yourself and how to stand out
• Where and how to network
• Social media do’s and don’ts
• Creating a “resumé”

Section 5: Perfect Your Pitch

• How to break into print magazines
• How to land a web assignment
• How to get a book deal
• The ins and outs of writing for a brand
• Communicating with (and winning over) editors
• How to write a query letter
• What skills make you more attractive
• Do’s and Don’ts of getting assignments

Section 6: What’s next?

• You got the assignment: Now what?
  • Post-pitch follow-up
  • Getting clear direction
  • Hitting your word count
  • Hitting your deadline
  • Self editing
• Getting your next assignment
• Locking in regular gigs
• Carving out your niche
• The freelance hustle
• So you want to make this a career?