Creative Writing Classes ~ introductory to advanced ~ starting soon!

Exploring Creative Writing

10 weeks of discovering your creative side

Thursday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m.

 Jan 26 – March 30, 2017

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, 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 Brian’s introductory creative writing classes, see here, and see other reviews here.

Fee:  $167.26 plus 13% hst = 189

Number of attendees strictly limited.

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

Writing Personal Stories

8 weeks of sharing and writing

Thursday mornings, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Feb 9 – March 30, 2017

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

If you've ever considered writing your personal stories, this course is for you. We’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays, family history ~ personal stories of all kinds. Plus, of course, we’ll work on creativity and writing technique and have fun doing it. Whether you want to write a book or just get your thoughts down on paper, this weekly course will get you going. 

We'll reveal the tricks and conventions of telling true stories, and we’ll show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Weekly writing exercises and friendly feedback from the instructor will help you move forward on this writing adventure. Whether you want to write for your family and friends or for a wider public, don't miss this course.

Read reviews of the Writing Personal Stories course here, and see other reviews here.

Fee:  $159.29 plus 13% hst = 180

Number of attendees strictly limited.

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

Intermediate Creative Writing

Ten weeks towards mastering your craft

Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.
Begins by email Jan 11, classes run Jan 18 – March 22

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

This course 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.

Read reviews of Brian’s intermediate courses here, and see other reviews here.

Number of attendees strictly limited.

Fee: $184.96 plus hst = 209.  

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

Intensive Creative Writing

Offered in two locales

Tuesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Course begins by email Jan 24, classes run Jan 31 – March 28 (eight weeks)
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

Fee: $167.26 plus hst = 189.  

And

Thursday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.

Begins by email Jan 12, classes run Jan 19 – March 23 (ten weeks)

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

Fee: $184.96 plus hst = 209.  

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. These classes will be smaller than either the Intermediate of Extreme courses, with a maximum of ten or twelve participants and will require a little more writing from you than the Intermediate course. In the eight-week course on Tuesday afternoons, you’ll be asked to bring in four pieces of your writing for detailed feedback; five pieces for the ten-week Thursday evening course. 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, and see other reviews here. 

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

Extreme Creative Writing

8 special weeks with a group of special writers

Wednesday afternoons, 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

Begins by email Jan 11, classes run Jan 18 – March 15

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)
The Extreme course is for experienced writers; people who have been working on their craft for a while, who have some experience in the art of giving truly helpful critiques, and who are working on their own projects. During course, you’ll be asked to bring in four 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.

Fee:  $167.26 plus 13% hst = 189 
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, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he's helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current 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, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.