Two great workshops this month: How to Build Your Story and Writing and Revising

Her Secret Son, Hannah Mary McKinnon's
third novel, is due out in May

The Oakville Public Library presents…

How to Build Your Story

Plotting novels & Writing short stories

Saturday, January 19, 2019

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Oakville Central Library, Auditorium, 120 Navy Street Oakville, Ontario (Map here)

This workshop will show you how writers plot a novel and will give you the best tips on writing short stories. We’ll also look at where to get your stories published and how to win contests. Best yet, you’ll see how to apply the story-building techniques you’ve learned to your own writing.

Guest speaker Hannah Mary McKinnon is the author of The Neighbors, a dark, suspenseful  woman’s fiction novel published in March 2018 by MIRA (HarperCollins USA) and Time After Time, published in June 2016 by AVON (HarperCollins UK), a novel about love, loss and second chances that’s full of humour. Hannah’s third book, Her Secret Son(MIRA), launches May 28, and her fourth book, The Other Sister (MIRA),will come out in 2020.

At the workshop, Hannah will speak about the different approaches she’s used to plot her novels and short stories. She’ll also be sharing her story of her writing career so far.

Visit Hannah’s website here.

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

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

Writing and Revising

Saturday, January 26, 2019

12:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Albion-Bolton Branch, Caledon Public Library, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, 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.

Fee: $37.17 + 13% hst = $42 paid in advance or $39.82 + 13% hst = $45 at the door

To pay in advance, make your cheque out to the Caledon Public Library and mail it to:

Attention:  Megan Renkema , Caledon Public Library, Albion Bolton Branch, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, ON, L7E 1E3

Or you can pay in advance in person at any Caledon Library branch. 

To reserve a spot now, sign up online here.

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 St. John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published, including guest speaker Hannah Mary McKinnon.

Read reviews of Brian’s workshops, retreats and classes here (and scroll down).

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.