Fitness and  Health Features - what editors are looking for 

Tutor: Lucy Bulmer

Duration: 6 weeks

Suitable for:  unpublished writers wishing to learn how to write health features and sell them to newspapers, magazines or websites, journalists wishing to specialise in health and health, fitness and nutrition professionals wishing to write about their specialist subject.   

Course syllabus

Week 1 -What the editors want 
Taking the pulse of the market, analyzing what’s out there and the differing requirements of the various sectors of the media. How to pick your subject; Zoning in on your market; Looking behind the news; Turning an idea into a saleable opportunity; The celebrity phenomenon.

Week 2 – Where it all comes from
Managing health journals, press releases and PRs. Health scares and news in briefs;  Sourcing health, fitness, diet and wellbeing trend pieces, reports and real-life.

Week 3 – Writing your feature
Developing your idea; Structuring the story the commissioning editor wants; different techniques for different sorts of health feature;  Tone and content; Finding the right experts; Bringing facts and figures to life; Sticking to your brief;  Managing your research; Differing roles of case studies; The authoritative voice

Week 4 – Specialising
i) Mainstream Health
Reports and real-life; Getting the balance between human interest, statistics and research. Maximizing expert comment.
ii) Alternative Health and Wellbeing
Maintaining the authoritative voice; What editors are looking for; Sorting the grain from the chaff; Adding value for the reader

Week 5 - Specialising
iii) Diet and Fitness
The skills involved in writing dieting real life, nutritional reports and investigating new diets. What editors will ask about diet case studies; Celebrity diet features; ‘Warming up’ fitness features for the mainstream market; Writing about exercise; Boiling a book down to a feature.

Week 6 - Presenting your pitch
Looking for the hook; Making it timely; Exclusivity; Keeping it real; What the piece is offering the reader; Working with case studies.

Course includes: I lesson per week plus assignment, weekly online discussion group with input and comment from tutor.

For more information and start dates email