How to write an opinion column with Suzanne Moore and Simon Jenkins

Learn how to find your voice as a comment writer

Knowing how to present a strong point of view is an important skill for any writer, or activist. This unmissable event brings together some of the Guardian's biggest personalities to show you how it's done. Speakers include columnists and opinion writers Simon Jenkins, Suzanne Moore, Sophie Heawood, Sali Hughes and Giles Fraser.

During the course, you'll learn how to research the news to find stories, as well as how to express your personality in your writing. You'll also learn essential skills such as how to develop original and engaging angles, hit deadlines and maintain an effective writing routine. With pointers on the ethics and legalities of opinion writing, it's the ultimate primer for anyone who wants to learn how to present a strong argument with confidence.

This course is for you if...

• You're a journalist who wants to establish a stronger editorial voice, or get more interesting commissions
• You write for a website or blog and want to learn how to present your arguments with skill and confidence
• You work for a NGO, lobby group or similar and need to submit advocacy pieces to comment pages and websites
• You're new to writing and want to break into the industry through comment pieces or citizen journalism

Course description

This large-scale event features talks from some of the Guardian's biggest names on writing columns and opinion pieces. It provides an overview of the fundamental skills necessary for writing first-person articles, and advice on how to get them commissioned. Topics covered include:

• How to establish authority of opinion
• How to read the news to find stories
• Finding your way through a complex story
• How to find your voice and express your personality in writing
• Being entertaining without being facetious
• Tips on maintaining a writing routine
• Gathering ideas and pitching them to editors
• Perils of the job – pitfalls to avoid
• Writing and subjectivity
• How to use your life as material and turn the personal into the topical
• Developing a voice that actually sounds like you
• Q&A with each speaker

Tutor profiles

Simon Jenkins is a journalist and author. He writes for the Guardian as well as broadcasting for the BBC. He has edited the Times and the London Evening Standard and chaired the National Trust. His latest book is England's Hundred Best Views.

Suzanne Moore is an award-winning columnist for the Guardian. She has also written for the Mail on Sunday and the Independent, and previously worked as culture editor of Marxism Today and contributing editor of New Statesman.

Sophie Heawood writes a weekly column about life, love, the Labour Party and anything else in Guardian Weekend magazine. She also used to write a column called Milf Teeth for Vice.com, about trying to combine single parenthood with going out a lot. Prior to this she lived in LA interviewing Hollywood celebrities, and also spent many years as a music journalist, going on tour with bands all round the world. She has freelanced extensively for The Times, Independent, NME, Elle and Grazia, among many others.

Giles Fraser writes the Loose Canon column in Saturday's Guardian. Since resigning as canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, he has been a parish priest in south London. Formerly a lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford he is a visiting professor at LSE and can often be heard on BBC Radio 4 doing Thought for the Day or as a panellist on The Moral Maze.

Sali Hughes is a journalist, broadcaster, Guardian columnist and founder of the award-winning website www.salihughesbeauty.com, a large community forum for women. A former magazine editor, she has written extensively for publications including Grazia, the Observer, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Shortlist, and is contributing editor on Red magazine. Since 2004, Sali has specialised in first-person opinion, and has written countless columns for women's glossies and broadsheets on a huge range of subjects. She is also an experienced broadcaster, appearing frequently on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Today Programme. Her first book, Pretty Honest: The Straight Talking Beauty Companion, was published in September 2014 by Fourth Estate, to great critical and commercial acclaim, and became the year's best-selling fashion or beauty book.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website