Photo courtesy of www.lsj.com

Having been around for almost a century, The London School of Journalism (LSJ), best known for its journalism programs, offers a variety of courses which are not only fun and educative but can be accessed from any part of the world! Divided into Attendance and Distance Learning, the latter is ideal for those who are already working, or have other commitments.

The Distance Learning courses, conducted over email, involve an interactive relationship between the faculty (of a well established network of journalists and writers) and the students, who have to submit assignments at the end of every module. Perhaps the best aspect of these courses is that they have no set start dates and can be taken at any time. Enrolment can be done via the LSJ  official website which has all the relevant information regarding fees and course structure. A diploma (for all Journalism courses) and a Certificate (for all Creative Writing and General courses) is awarded to the student at the end of two years, on successful completion of the course.

Here is a round-up of five Distance Learning courses (falling under two broad heads of Journalism and Creative Writing) LSJ offers:

Be the Captain of your own Ship

The Freelance and Feature Writing course is an excellent choice for those who want to foray into freelance journalism and feature writing. Apart from foundation modules on journalistic ethics and responsibilities, there are also adaptive modules based on specific interests of individual students such as Travel Writing,Sports Writing and Music and the Arts Writing. So write, and write about what you love!

Lines of Laughter

Whether taken to hone your favourite pastime or in search of a potential career, the LSJ Cartooning course is undoubtedly the most fun course on their Distance Learning Curriculum. You can brush up on the technique, learn how to ideate and come up with strips, caricatures and maybe even your own cartoon character.

Add a Shade of Grey

With lessons on character and plot building to erotic tension and sex scenes, LSJ’s Erotic Novel Writing course primarily deals with the subject of sex in fiction. This course helps writers identify the thin line between erotica and pornography and trains them in the technique of writing an intelligent and exciting erotic novel.

No Child’s Play

A wonderful course which takes you through the basic tenets of writing for kids, LSJ’s Writing for Children program is taught by established YA & children’s authors. You are free to choose your own genre – whether it is teenage fiction, full length fiction, picture books or activity books– and develop a story around it. The “happily-ever-after” sees you as a proud author of a completed manuscript.

If you think it’s time to back your self-styled poetry with some credibility, try the Writing Poetry course at LSJ. Though there aren’t any strict rules about poetry, learning about rhyme, rhythm, imagery and metaphor goes a long way in developing your own distinct style. The last module of the course, as do all the writing courses at LSJ, focuses on getting your poems published through an agent or publisher.

Tora Agarwala  is a freelance writer who has previously worked with The Indian Express and Dorling Kindersley.