Still space in: Enjoying Creative Writing, Writing Personal Stories, and Writing Kid Lit ~ all online starting this month

Enjoying Creative Writing

 ~ Learn about writing and share the joy

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:30, 
Oct 11 – Dec 13

This is your chance to take up writing in a warm, supportive environment. This course will open the door to trying different genres and learning different skills, to writing short stories and writing dialogue, writing in first person and writing in third person, writing just for fun and writing all kinds of things. 

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.

Fee:  $176.11 plus 13% hst = $199

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

Writing Kid Lit

Picture Books to Young Adult Novels

Online: Wednesday evenings, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Oct 12 – Dec 14 
Offered online and accessible from anywhere there's internet 

This course is for adults {or teens} interested in writing picture books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade books, or Young Adult novels. This 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.

Our guest speakers will be children's authors Lana Button and Kira Vermond. Details here.

Fee: $176.11 plus 13% hst = $199

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

Writing Personal Stories 

 ~ Eight weeks of writing and sharing

Online: Monday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:30,
Oct 24 – Dec 12
Offered on Zoom and accessible from anywhere there's internet 

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.

Our guest speaker will be Jennifer M. Smith, author of the memoir Green Ghost, Blue Ocean. Details here.

Fee: $176.11 plus 13% hst = $199

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

Extreme Creative Writing

 ~ For more experienced writers 

At this point, waiting list only for Extreme Creative Writing.

In-person: Thursday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00 p.m
Sept 29 – Dec 1, 2022 {Adding another week or two if the course fills up. No class Oct 13}
St. Elizabeth’s Anglican Church, 5324 Bromley Road, Burlington, Ontario {Map here} 
Note: Given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, it's possible this class could be forced online.

Extreme Creative Writing is for experienced writers who have been writing for a while or who have done courses before and are working on their own projects. You’ll be asked to bring in five pieces of your writing for detailed feedback, including three long pieces. 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, we’ll have discussions on topics of interest to the class. 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 challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $229.20 + hst = $259

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

Intensive Creative Writing

 ~ Grow as a writer

Online ~ 3 different sessions: 
(On Zoom and available wherever there's Internet)

Tuesday evenings, Sept 20 – Dec 13,
Wednesday afternoons, Sept 14 – Dec 14,
and Friday mornings, Sept 23 – Dec 16

At this point, waiting list only for all 3 sessions of Intensive Creative Writing.

Intensive Creative Writing 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. You’ll be asked to bring in five pieces of your writing for detailed feedback, including three long pieces. 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 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 challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $229.20 + hst = $259

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

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 has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reviews of Brian's various courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.