Join us for “Writing Personal Stories”

Writing Personal Stories

 ~ A weekly class dedicated to the pleasures of getting down your stories & thoughts

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
Sept 29 – Nov 17 (or to Nov 24 if the class fills up). No class Oct 20
Offered on Zoom and accessible from anywhere there's internet 

Note:  We also have a in-person “Intensive Creative Writing” class on Thursday afternoons in Burlington, online Intensive classes on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday afternoons, “Welcome to Creative Writing” on Monday evenings. See everything coming up here.

If you've ever considered writing your personal stories, this course is for you. We’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays – 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.

Guest speaker Sue Williams lives in Guelph, Ontario, with her husband. She worked as an occupational therapist and never dreamt of being a writer. But, after a life-altering experience, she found herself with a story she felt needed telling and set about learning how to tell it.

Sue’s memoir, Ready to Come About (Dundurn Press, 2019) is endorsed by Miriam Toews, New York Times best-selling author of Women Talking, and Cate Cochran, CBC Radio producer of The Sunday Edition. It has been promoted by The Globe and Mail, Canadian Yachting, Good Old Boat, and her professional magazine, Occupational Therapy Now. It has also been chosen for discussion in at least 45 book clubs to date.

Ready to Come About was made into an English audiobook narrated by Dina Pearlman, of Sex in the City fame. More recently, it was translated into Portuguese and narrated by professional voice actor, Eliana Silva, Lisbon, to create the Portuguese audio version, De Vela Ao Vento.

Sue has just completed a novel set in the largely invisible world of home care for which she is looking for a publishing home.

You can read more about Ready to Come About at Dundurn Press here.

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 Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John.  But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reflections on Brian's writing courses, workshops, and retreats – or pieces inspired by them – here (and scroll down).

Fee: $257.52 plus 13% hst = $291

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

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