3 great workshops this month: Writing & Revising, You Can Write Great Dialogue, and How to Get Published with literary agent Martha Webb

Writing and Revising

Saturday, February 10, 2018

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Harcourt United Church,  87 Dean Ave, Guelph, Ontario (Map here.)

If you want to refine your story-telling skills and cut the time you will need to spend editing, this workshop is for you. You'll learn how to step back from a manuscript in order to find – and fix – flaws in your plot, structure, characterization and style. You'll learn how to rethink, rework and rewrite so that your manuscript will live up to your vision.

Special Option: You’re invited to bring the first 500 – 1,000 words of one of your pieces of writing. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

You can read reviews of Brian's courses and workshops here. 

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53  at the door

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

How to Write Great Dialogue

Sunday, February 11, 2018

10 a.m. – 3 p.m. (Includes lunch!)

Sho – Art Spirit & Performance Centre, 628 Monmouth Road, Windsor, Ontario. (Map here)

Accessible to beginners and meaty enough for experienced writers, this workshop will show you how to use dialogue to make your stories more dynamic and dramatic. Whether you’re writing fiction or memoir, you need to be able to write great dialogue that both sounds natural and packs dramatic punch, and you need to know how to mix your dialogue and narrative so that your characters come alive. Come to this workshop and learn both the basics and the best tricks of the trade.

Fee: $65 in advance or $75 at the door (Registration includes lunch)

Register on the Windsor International Writers website here.  

Or reserve a spot now by emailing: pamelajeangoldstein@gmail.com

Next Year for Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson,
represented by CookeMcDermid

How to Get Published

An editor & a literary agent tell all

Saturday, February 24, 2018

10:00 a.m. – 4:00

Oakville Central Library, 120 Navy Street, Oakville, Ontario (Map here.)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

And be sure to bring your elevator pitch! Following the end of the formal workshop at about 3:45, Brian Henry will be staying for at least half an hour and helping interested attendees, who didn’t have their queries critiqued earlier, write query letters that will get a yes, while literary agent Martha Webb will be listening to your pitches. Agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

Guest speaker, Martha Webb, is a literary agent and part owner of the CookeMcDermid agency, a new company formed through the amalgamation of the Cooke Agency and the McDermid agency.

CookeMcDermid represents more than 300 writers, among them Man Booker nominees, Giller and Governor General’s award–winning authors, prize-winning journalists, New York Times bestsellers and some of the literary world’s most notable names, including: Jen Agg, Omar el Akkad, Deborah Campbell, Michael Crummey, Robyn Doolittle, John Irving, Rupi Kaur, Scaachi Koul, Karen Le Billon, Geddy Lee, Robert Munsch, Jordan B. Peterson, Alison Pick, Andrew Pyper, Bob Rae, Nino Ricci, David Adams Richards, Amy Stuart, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Jeff VanderMeer, Sarah Waters, and Jesse Wente.

Martha was with the McDermid Agency for twelve years, and with CookeMcDermid, she continues to represent a wide range of books. Primarily, though, her list focuses on literary fiction, narrative nonfiction (including memoir and true crime) and ideas-driven nonfiction. She is especially drawn to approaches that are thought-provoking, controversial, change the conversation on a given subject or have a positive impact on people’s lives.

For more about the CookeMcDermid agency, see here.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53  at the door

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

Workshop leader 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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here,  including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats 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.