What This Course is About

This foundation writing course focuses on helping you learn how to write better. It puts you in charge of creating your emails, memos, reports, and school essays since strong writing skills are essential to today’s workplace success. Further, the work from anywhere trend requires us to be capable online communicators. You’ll learn actionable steps that guide you from starting documents to completing them. You’ll build more skill and confidence in your written work, whether you’re a novice or just looking to brush up on your techniques. You will quickly and easily master the writing process with all types of documents.

The course teaches a simplified writing process of learning how to “CODE” in words, using a 4-step system with a repeatable process for creating outstanding documents. In the course, each of the four steps explains the key lessons and shows how to execute them.

Based on the concepts of the book Teach Me to Write: Four Steps to Great Documents, a flowchart of the CODE process looks like this (See example of flowchart in the Resources Introduction):

The CODE Model for this course:

Step 1 of 4—Create Content (the “C” of CODE)

Step 2 of 4—Organize Content (the “O” of CODE)

Step 3 of 4—Draft Content (the “D” of CODE)

Step 4 of 4—Edit Content (the “E” of CODE

In Step 1: Create Content, you’ll learn how to gather the raw material necessary to produce an outstanding document that defines and frames your intended message. The critical elements of content include understanding your intended audience (Who will receive my email? My team members, my boss?). You’ll determine your topic, if it hasn’t been preassigned (I’m supposed to write a proposal on flexible scheduling for the division.). You’ll learn how to research your topic (Which departments have the stats on this issue?). You’ll also learn how to apply creative and critical insights (How do other companies approach the matter?). Most important, you’ll learn how to write a thesis statement if you haven’t been assigned one for your project. The heart of any document, the thesis is your core message and purpose for communicating. (I have to write a persuasive essay with a thesis statement defending free college education.)

I’ll guide you through explanatory videos plus worksheets, flowcharts, and checklists provided in the course resources section to help you complete your content gathering. When you’ve finished this step, you’ll move on to the second step, organizing your content.

In Step 2: Organize Content, you’ll learn how various techniques for organizing documents of different lengths can best serve your purpose. Work documents don’t often have a prescribed length. However, if you’re also attending school as an adult learner, most of your assignments will likely have length requirements (I have to write a 1,500-word essay on promoting teamwork in a virtual work environment.). Think of the organization as your document’s structure, housing a logical order and flow (Should I start this email to our customer with any background detail?). The best design helps your readers understand your document’s purpose (I have to write a proposal for our division on this project.). Whether your written work is a few paragraphs or many pages, it still needs organizational flow to be successful.

Again, you’ll have explanatory videos plus worksheets, flowcharts, and checklists provided in the course resources section to help you organize. When you’ve mastered this step, you’ll move on to the third step, drafting your content.

In Step 3: Draft Content, you’ll learn how to take your document content, which you organized in your outline, and merge it into a working paper. In writing your draft, you’ll make decisions about composing your document’s paragraphs. Each paragraph should focus on only one point written to support the claims of your thesis. (Where should I put the main point of this paragraph?) Other Step 3 decisions you’ll learn about include introductions, conclusions, and the sometimes-necessary executive summary (What’s the best way to introduce this proposal?).

As with the first two steps in the course, you’ll have explanatory videos plus worksheets, flowcharts, and checklists in the resources section to help you draft your document. When you’ve finished, you’ll move on to the fourth and last step, editing your content.

In Step 4: Edit Content, you’ll learn how to examine your document through a big picture lens (Who can I use to review my work before I submit it?). As well, you’ll also learn specific editing elements such as grammar (What grammar checkers will be most helpful?), word choice, sentence structure, and syntax (Are there some handy sources I should have in my toolbox?). You’ll also need to consider any formatting requirements (Do our school papers have to be written in APA or MLA format?)

Finally, I’ll help you edit by providing explanatory videos plus worksheets, flowcharts, and checklists in the course resources section. When you’ve mastered this final step, you will have learned an efficient, time-saving process to apply to all of your written work, which you can then submit with confidence!

Why Great Workplace Writing Matters—a Lot

What does great writing mean to you? Maybe you haven’t given it much thought. But we’re writing more, especially online and even remotely. We may not know our online teammates, but what they think of us is based in part on our written work. Our employers and our peers often judge us by our writing. Our documents, correctly or not, reflect us. Therefore, our work must meet high standards.

Further, employers emphasize that written communication is an essential job skill. As companies downsize and eliminate positions, and as industries change radically, companies will seek out outstanding new hires and assess them, in part, by their written work. As employees are tasked with increased productivity, excellent written communication can pay off handsomely.

Finally, continuous learning is part of many career paths. We improve our workplace skills to move into higher positions; to achieve that goal, we need to create better quality work. If we’re also attending school to upgrade our degrees or refresh our education skills, we have to master essay writing.

Some Roadblocks to Writing Excellence

But the truth is that writing is hard. Writing with excellence is a challenge for many reasons:

· You may have learned basic writing skills a while back—but maybe not so well...I found writing and grammar boring then, and I still do.

· Maybe you don’t like to write...I never liked to write but my new job demands it.

· You’ve been writing all your life...I’m crazy busy now, and have no time or patience for learning new skills.

· You’re unsure of your writing ability...I’ve been writing for a long time, but I’m not sure how my writing is judged because I tend to write like I talk.

· You procrastinate...I try to pull it off at the last minute.

· You don’t know where to start, to think through, and plan a written document, let alone execute it because you lack a system...No one ever taught me how to write.

· You multitask during the writing process...I write while working on other rush projects.

· Deep down, you fear writing documents because of what others might think of your work, and by extension, yourself...Maybe I have graphophobia, the fear of writing.

· Written communication eliminates the body language present in a face-to-face contact that helps us explain our message...My supervisor completely misinterpreted the purpose of my latest memo, and now I’m in trouble.

No matter the roadblocks, you can overcome them with the CODE process.

The solution: Crack the CODE

You can achieve writing success with work or school documents and make your written communication a strength that opens personal opportunities. Be confident that you can use this vitally important skill to eliminate any negative feelings about the quality of your work. Be the outstanding written communicator that you aspire to be.

The 4-step CODE process takes you through a repeatable, orderly, and thoughtful process that is key to meaningful messaging. By the end of the course, you will have learned how to apply the CODE process to all your writing and emerged as a more skillful, valued communicator.

Take charge of your writing and never again feel hostage to your own words. Eliminate writing anxiety. CODE your way to writing excellence:

· Trust the process.

· Follow the process.

· Succeed with confidence!