{pp}This course is for anyone who has ever wanted to earn their living through writing or wants to simply improve their skills. This course will give you the tools to write newspaper and magazine articles, press releases and edit copy.

{pp}Marion Scher has been one of South Africa's top freelance journalists for the last 21 years, with years of experience in the field of media and the written word.

{pp}I spend a lot of time rewriting other people’s work or worse trying to decipher press releases and editing reams of paper which make up reports. And then I meet up with other freelancers who complain of how quiet it is right now and I wonder?

{pp}As early as 1945 people started to realise that in order to write effectively and get their message across they needed to write in language that everyone could understand.

{pp}You get all dressed up for a great night out with your workmates and arrive at the event to welcome cocktails – the evening’s looking good, even though it’s a company anniversary bash or something similar. They’ve hired good music and the party’s getting better by the minute. Even the food at this huge hotel is surprisingly good.

{pp}So much work goes into producing documents, which is why they’re so long, but so little work goes into editing them.