“Raising the Stakes: How to tighten your story's tension”

“Raising the Stakes: How to tighten your story's tension”

With guest speaker: author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn 

Saturday, November 9, 2024
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and raise the tension in each scene they write.

Guest speaker Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is the author of five novels. Her adult fiction debut,  The Girls Are All So Nice Here, was named a USA Today Best Book of 2021, sold in 11 territories worldwide, and became an instant bestseller in Canada. 

Her second novel for adults, Till Death Do Us Part, was an instant USA Today and national Canadian bestseller, and a Good Morning America Buzz Pick.

Laurie is also the author of three young adult novels:  Firsts, Last Girl Lied To, and All Eyes On Her, under the name L.E. Flynn. 

Laurie is a former model who lives in London, Ontario, with her husband and their four children. When she’s not writing or taking care of her kids, you can likely find Laurie hiking in the woods, perusing thrift stores for vintage dresses, or bingeing on reality TV.

Note: Till Death Do Us Part, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, All Eyes on Her, and Firsts are available from Chapters here, and Last Girl Lied To is available from Amazon here. Visit Laurie’s website 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, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now known as Toronto Metropolitan University), and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

Read pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's one-day workshops, weekly classes, or four-day retreats here {and scroll down}.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brain.henry123@gmail.com (if you have messaged my sympatico account and did not get a response please message on my gmail...I cannot pick up sympatico emails right now...)

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

Online workshop: Raising the Stakes – How to increase your story's tension, Sunday, Feb 27

Raising the Stakes

How to increase your story's tension 

Sunday, February 27, 2022
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Online and accessible wherever there’s Internet.

Ever stayed up all night reading a book?  In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and raise the tension in each scene they write.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $37.17 + hst = $42 paid in advance 

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

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

Now online: Raising the Stakes, Saturday, Sept 26, in Burlington

Raising the Stakes

How to increase your story's tension 

Saturday, September 26, 2020
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.

St. Elizabeth Anglican Church, 5324 Bromley Rd, Burlington, Ontario (Map here)

With the resurgence of Covid and the new rules limiting gatherings to 10 people, we've moved this online – but now it's accessible from wherever there's Internet.

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and raise the tension in each scene they write.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

This workshop will be offered on Zoom. Orientation provided, but you will need a computer, tablet or smartphone with a mic and, preferably, a camera {i.e. a webcam}. 

Fee: $40.71+ hst = $46 paid in advance 

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

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

Raising the Stakes – How to tighten the tension in your story, Saturday, February 22, in Kitchener

Raising the Stakes

How to increase your story's tension 

Saturday, February 22, 2020
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Forest Heights Public Library, 251 Fischer-Hallman Road, Kitchener, Ontario (Map here)

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and raise the tension in each scene they write.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $37.17 + hst = $42 paid in advance 

or $39.82 + hst = $45 if you wait to pay at the door

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

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

Raising the Stakes – How to tighten the tension in your story, Saturday, Jan 25, in Toronto

Raising the Stakes

How to increase your story's tension 

Saturday, January 25
1o:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Glenview Church, Parlour, 1 Glenview Ave,  Toronto, Ontario (Map here.)

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and raise the tension in each scene they write.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $37.17 + hst = $42 paid in advance 

or $39.82 + hst = $45 if you wait to pay at the door

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

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

Secrets of Writing a Page-turner, Sunday, Dec 1, in Windsor

Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner

Sunday, December 1, 2019

10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Includes lunch!)

Arrive at 9:30 to check in and for coffee and snacks

Sho – Art Spirit & Performance Centre, 628 Monmouth Road, Windsor, Ontario. (Map here)

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and tension.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $65 in advance or $75 at the door (Registration includes lunch)

Register online here.

Or reserve a spot now by emailing brianhenry@sympatico.ca

And mail a cheque to:

Windsor International Writers

c/o Sho

628 Monmouth Road, Windsor, ON  N8Y 3L1

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

Secrets of Writing a Page-turner workshop, Saturday, Aug 10, in Mississauga

Secrets of Writing a Page-turner

Techniques for making any story more compelling

Saturday, August 10, 2019
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Unity Church, Unit 8, 3075 Ridgeway Drive, Mississauga, Ontario (Map here.)

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and tension.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $37.17 + hst = $42 paid in advance 

or $39.82 + hst = $45 if you wait to pay at the door

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

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

Great workshops in April and May: Writing a Page-turner, Writing Your Life and Writing Kid Lit

Secrets of Writing a Page-turner

Techniques for making any story more compelling

Saturday, April 6, 2019
10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
New Tecumseth Public Library, Memorial Branch

17 Victoria St. E, Alliston, Ontario  (Map here.)

Note: “Secrets of Writing a Page-turner” is also offered Saturday, Aug 10, in Mississauga. Details here.

Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and tension.

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 your life and other true stories

With guest author Ross Pennie

Saturday, April 13, 2019

10: a.m. – 4 p.m.

Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, Guelph, Ontario (Map here.)

Have you ever considered writing your memoirs or family history? This workshop will introduce you to the tricks and conventions of telling true stories and will show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Whether you want to write for your family or for a wider public, don't miss this workshop.

Guest speaker Ross Pennie is the author of The Unforgiving Tides, a doctor’s memoir of Papua New Guinea (Manor House Publishing). Ross also writes medical mystery novels, published by ECW Press. The first of these, Tainted, came out in 2010 and won Arts Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction. He’s followed up with three more medical mysteries: Tampered, Up In Smoke and Beneath the Wake. At the workshop, Ross will speak on how to turn ordinary life into dramatic material and will answer questions about how he wrote his memoir and got it published.

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

Sea of Shadows a YA novel 

by Kelley Armstrong, 

a New York Times #1 bestselling author 

and one of Brian's students

Writing for Children and for Young Adults

  ~ The world’s hottest market

With Scholastic Books senior editor

   ~ Erin O’Connor

Offered in two locales:

Sunday, May 5, 2019

10 a.m – 4 p.m.

The Carrot Common, 348 Danforth Ave, Room 212

Toronto, Ontario (Map here)

And

Saturday, May 11, 2019

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

210 Steeles Apartments, Party Room

210 Steeles Avenue West, Brampton, Ontario (Map here)

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book. We'll be quite a small group, so be sure to bring all your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: You may, but don't have to, bring 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 750 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!

Note: Following the formal end of the workshop at about 3:45, Erin will stay around to chat with you one-on-one and Brian will stay till 4:45 to help with your opening pages.

Guest speaker Erin O’Connor has worked in children's publishing for 25 years. She is senior editor at Scholastic Canada, focusing on picture books and on nonfiction and book-plus projects. Erin began her career as assistant art director at Owl and Chickadee magazines, and at Scholastice spent many years with the school book clubs division acquiring everything from board books to YA novels. 

Erin understands children’s literature from both sides of the desk, as she’s also the author of 101 Math Jokes, 101 Cool Canadian Jokes, Canadian Cartooning and Laugh Out Loud Canadian Jokes – in spite of her kids, who don’t think she’s very funny at all.

In Toronto, on May 5, the second guest speaker will be Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. Laurie is the author of Firsts (Thomas Dunne Books/St Martin’s Press) and the psychological thriller Last Girl Lied To, to be released April 16, 2019 fromImprint/Macmillan, along with an untitled thriller to follow in 2020.
She is also the author of Wattpad featured series The Boys Tell All. Her other short fiction has been named a finalist for the John Kenneth Gailbraith Literary Award.

Laurie is a former model who worked in Tokyo, Athens, and Paris. She now lives in London, Ontario, with her husband, daughter, new-born son, and the world’s most spoiled Chihuahua. When she’s not writing about unlikable girls, you can likely find her hiking in the woods with her family, perusing thrift stores for vintage dresses, or binging reality TV.

At the workshop, Laurie will speak about writing young adult fiction and her career to date.

In Brampton, on May 11, the second guest speaker will be Tanaz Bhathena. Tanaz was born in India and raised in Saudi Arabia and Canada. Her critically acclaimed novel A Girl Like That (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018) was nominated for the 2019 Ontario Library Association White Pine Award and named a Best Book of 2018 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Quill & Quire, Seventeen, PopSugar, and The Times of India, among others. 

Tanaz is also the author of The Beauty of the Moment, published Feb 26, 2019, (FSG and Penguin Canada), and a fantasy duology called Hunted by the Sky, with the first book coming out in spring 2020 (FSG and Penguin Canada). Her short stories have appeared in various journals, including Blackbird, Witness, Room, and of course on Quick Brown Fox. 

Fee: $49.56 + 13% hst = $55  in advance or $53.10 + 13% hst = $60 at the door

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published. 

Read reviews of Brian’s classes and workshops here.

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