Classes starting soon: Welcome to Creative Writing, Writing Kid Lit, Intermediate Creative Writing, and Intensive Creative Writing

Welcome to Creative Writing

Thursday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.

 Sept 29 - Dec 1

St Cuthbert's Anglican Church, 1541 Oakhill Drive,Oakville, Ontario (Map here)

This is your chance to take up writing in a warm, supportive environment. This course will open the door to all kinds of creative writing. We’ll visit short story writing and children’s writing, writing in first person and in third person, and writing just for fun. You’ll get a shot of inspiration every week and an assignment to keep you going till the next class. Best of all, this class will provide a zero-pressure, totally safe setting, where your words will grow and flower.

Note: For a pair of reviews of the "Welcome to Creative Writing" course, see here.

Fee:  $159.29 plus 13% hst = $180

Number of attendees strictly limited.

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Writing Kid Lit ~ Picture Books to YA

The Masked Truth a YA novel
by Kelley Armstrong,
a New York Times #1 bestselling author
and one of Brian's students.

~ New course ~

Tuesday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45

Sept 27 – Nov 22 (no class Oct 11).

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

From picture books to young adult novels, this weekly course is accessible for beginners and meaty enough for advanced writers. Through lectures, in-class assignments, homework, and feedback on your writing, we’ll give you ins and outs of writing for younger readers and set you on course toward writing your own books. 

Plus we’ll have two published authors as guest speakers: Jennifer Mook-Sang, author of the middle grade book Speechless and the forthcoming picture book Captain Monty (see more about Jennifer here) and Kira Vermond, author of four award-winning nonfiction books for young people. Read more about this course here.

Fee:  $159.29 plus 13% hst = $180

Number of attendees strictly limited.

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Intermediate Creative Writing

Offered in two locales:

Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.
Course begins by email Sept 14

Classes run Sept 21 – Nov 30 (though we'll extend the course by a week if it fills up)

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

And

Thursday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.

Course begins by email Sept 22

Classes run Sept 29 – Dec 1 (though we may extend the course by a week if it fills up).

St. Alban's Church, 537 Main Street, Georgetown, Ontario (in the village of Glen Williams (Map here.)

This course is similar to the Intensive course. It isn't for beginners; it's for people who have been writing for a while or who have done a class or two before and are working on their own projects. Over the length of the course, you’ll be asked to bring in five pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand alone pieces. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures at the start of class, addressing the needs of the group, and in addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write. This is a supportive group and a rewarding class.

Number of attendees strictly limited.

Fee: $184.96 plus hst = 209.  

To reserve your spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Intensive Creative Writing

Offered at two times:
Wednesday afternoons, 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

Course begins by email Sept 7

Classes run Sept 14 – Dec 14 (no class Oct 12)

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)
Fee: $193.81 plus hst = 219.  
And

Tuesday mornings, 10 a.m. – 12 noon
Course begins by email Oct 11

Classes run Oct 18 – Dec 6 (though we'll extend the course by a week if it fills up).

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

Fee: $167.26 plus hst = 189.  

The Intensive course isn't for beginners; it's for people who have been writing for a while or who have done a course or two before and are working on their own projects. Over the thirteen weeks of classes, you’ll be asked to bring in six pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand alone pieces. You bring whatever you want to work on.  

In addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

Read a review of the Intensive course here. 

To reserve your spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Number of attendees strictly limited.

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). He teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published. 

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.  

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.