Fall creative writing classes start soon!

“Intensive Creative Writing” 

Your choice of three classes to choose from:

Online: Tuesday evenings 6:30 – 9:00
Sept 17 – Dec 10 (no class Oct 22).
First readings emailed Sept 10.

Online: Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00
Sept 18 – Dec 11 (No class Oct 16). First readings emailed Sept 11. (Note: The Wed afternoon class may already be full, but email to be put on the waiting list.)

Online: Friday mornings 10:00 – 12:30
Sept 20 – Dec 13 (No class Oct 18).
First readings emailed Sept 13. 

Intensive Creative Writing isn't for beginners; it's for people who are working on their own writing 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: $292.04 + hst = $330

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

“(Not so) Extreme Creative Writing”

In-person: Thursday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00
Sept 19 – Dec 12 (Or to Dec 19 if the class fills up. No class Oct 3 or Oct 17) 
First readings emailed Sept 12. 

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, such as essays, picture book manuscripts, or short stories. 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: $292.04 + hst = $330

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

“Writing Kid Lit ~ The Next Level”

Online: Monday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m.
September 30 – December 2 (or to Dec 9 if the course fills up).

This course is for adults {or teens} interested in writing picture books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade books, or Young Adult novels. It’s meant for people who have previously taken a kid lit course or who otherwise know the basics of the contemporary market for children’s literature. 

The focus of the class will be on your work – picture book manuscripts or chapters of novels or nonfiction books for young people that you’ll present to the class for feedback as to how to make them even better. We’ll also have discussions, talks from the instructor, and two children’s authors as guest speakers: Lana Button and Erin Silver. For more details, see here.

Fee: $220.35 plus 13% hst = $259

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

“Writing Personal Stories and Other Nonfiction” 

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
October 8 – December 3 (or to Dec 10 if the class fills up. No class Oct 22.) 

If you want to write any kind of true story,  this course is for you. Personal stories will be front and centre – we’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays, family history – but we’ll also look at writing feature articles, creative nonfiction and other more informational writing. 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.

Also, we’ll have a published author as a guest speaker.

Fee: $220.35 plus 13% hst = $259

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

“Writing Personal Stories 101” 

In-person: Thursday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m.
November 7 – December 12 (or to Dec 19 if the class fills up)
Burlington Anglican Lutheran Church
3455 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, 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.

We’ll also have a published author as a guest speaker for this course.

Fee: $194.69 plus 13% hst = $220

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 and other pieces about or inspired by Brian's courses, workshops, and retreats here (and scroll down).

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