Starting in January: Writing Kid Lit, Writing Personal Stories, Enjoying Creative Writing, Intensive Creative Writing, and Extreme Creative Writing

Writing Kid Lit

Picture Books to Young Adult Novels

Online: Monday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.,
January 15 – March 4 {or to March 11 if it fills up}
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. If you want to write for kids, this is the course you need to make sure you’re on the right track. 

We'll also have children's author Jennifer Mook-Sang as a guest speaker. Details here. 

Fee: $220.35 plus 13% hst = $259

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

Writing Personal Stories 

 ~ A wealth of writing and sharing

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
January 16 – March 5, 2024 (Or to March 12 if the course fills up)
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 Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Peacekeeper’s Daughter. For more details, see here.

Fee: $220.35 plus 13% hst = $259

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

Enjoying Creative Writing

  ~ Develop your creative side

Online: Wednesday evenings 6:30 – 8:30

January 17 – March 6, 2024 {or to March 13 if it fills up} No class Feb 14

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

Intensive Creative Writing

Offered at 3 different times:

Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00
Jan 10 – Feb 28 {or to March 6 if it fills up}. First readings emailed Jan 3

Friday mornings 10:00 – 12:30
January 12 – March 8. First readings emailed Jan 5

Tuesday evenings 6:30 – 9:00
Jan 16 – Feb 27 {or to March 5 if it fills up}. First readings emailed Jan 9

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 several 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 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: $238.05 + hst = $269

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

“(Not so) Extreme Creative Writing”

 ~ For more experienced writers 

Onlin: Thursday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
January 11 – February 29, 2024 {or to March 7 if it fills up}

Extreme Creative Writing isn't like an extreme sport – it doesn't demand something crazy – but it is meant for writers 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 a few pieces of your writing for detailed feedback, including a couple longish 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: $255.75 + hst = $289

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, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. Brian is the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he 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.