Classes A continuing class is a five-hour seminar offered in five parts: one hour Thursday afternoon, two hours on Friday and two hours on Saturday. This provides an in-depth look at one area of writing or publishing. Participants choose one continuing class, and attend the same class for all five sessions.
1. Beginner/Intermediate
What Every Beginning Writer Needs to Know
Moderator: Janice Dick
Instructors: Les Stobbe; Janice Dick; Ethel Rowntree; Elaine Ingalls-Hogg; Carolyn Wilker This is the order of their classes.
The toughest thing about being a beginning writer is not knowing what you don't know. You may have been writing for years; family and friends may all be telling you your work needs to be published; but where do you start? And what do you need to know to jump into the water safely? What's the difference between a first draft and a final version? How do you know if your work is publishable? Will any market do, or is there one that's perfect for you? Is fiction better than non-fiction? Should you start with a book or an article? And what else do you need to know? If you're standing on the dock, or maybe starting to wade in the water, this class is for you! Five experienced instructors from a variety of backgrounds will give you their advice on getting started.
2. Fiction Writing
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Christian Fiction
Instructor: Ron Benrey
In today’s tough marketplace, your manuscript must by "publishable" when you submit it—or an agent or editor will reject it. Ron Benrey, the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Christian Fiction, published by Penguin Group, made a careful study of publishability after he and his wife Janet experienced six years of novel-writing failure. The lessons he learned enabled them to rewrite and sell their first novel to B&H Publishing less than 18 months later. Ron’s five-part class will examine the five key requirements of publishability and give you the skills you need to make your manuscript "ready for prime time." These include a publishable genre, a strong authorial voice, appropriate Christian content, a gripping story, and a compelling "fictional dream."
3. Fiction Writing Intensive -
Romantic fiction - More than just happy ever after
Please note update:
Continuing Class 3 Romance Writing Intensive with Carolyne Aarsen now has several places open. Please register online and send your manuscript immediately.
Instructor: Carolyne Aarsen
After receiving rave reviews for previous intensive classes, we plan to offer an intensive each year as an extra feature to complement our regular six tracks. The annual intensive will alternate between fiction and non-fiction writing. This year’s intensive is fiction writing, with a focus on skills in the romance-writing genre. This class will be conducted in a small group critique format. The instructor will work with 10 to 12 people. Participants will submit an electronic attachment in MS Word of a romance fiction piece they have written, up to 3,000 words (short stories or chapters from books-in-progress). Participants will receive their group's manuscripts in advance by email. They are expected to print, read and prepare comments for each other's manuscript before arriving at the conference. The instructor will lead the way, direct comments and provide instruction. Manuscripts must be emailed to ISmail:je_self%hotmail.com no later than May 15, 2008. Write "Romance Fiction Intensive Manuscript Attached" in the subject line.
*Notes:
- Register early to increase your chances of securing a place. Conference organizers retain the final decision about admission to the class.
- An extra fee of $25 is required for this class due to increased costs of small group instruction.
- All work must be typed in Times New Roman 12 point font, double-spaced, one-inch margins on all sides, with your name at the top of each page and pages numbered sequentially.
- The classroom where the critique group will meet will require climbing one set of stairs, and unfortunately is not wheelchair accessible.
4. Non-fiction Intermediate/Advanced
You love writing? Turn your dream into a life!
Instructor: Denyse O’Leary
Let an experienced writer help you turn your writing into a living. Denyse O’Leary, a fulltime author, journalist and blogger, will coach you on the ways you can earn income from your writing skills—including ways you might not have considered. For example, learn how to make money from a blog. Find out how many paid jobs in publishing enable you to earn while you learn what the market wants. Discover the programs that pay thousands of writers across Canada—and YOU could be one of them. Don’t work to support your writing—let it work to support you for a change.
5. Screenwriting Intensive
The Three-Spoke Screenplay
Please note update:
Continuing Class 5 Screenwriting Intensive with Kevin Miller has been opened to registrants who do not have an excerpt from a completed screenplay to submit. As an alternative, you may submit a one-page outline of a screenplay idea; follow the manuscript submission procedure and send as soon as possible. You will be e-mailed the manuscripts or screenplay outlines of your fellow classmates to read, print and critique in advance.
Instructor: Kevin Miller
For the first time, Write! Canada is offering a screenwriting class in an intensive format, in order to facilitate direct feedback and hands-on improvement of screenwriters’ works-in-progress. This class will be conducted in a small group critique format. The instructor will work with 10 to 12 people.
Screenplays—like all stories—are essentially composed of three main parts: plot, character, and theme. It’s helpful to think of these components as three spokes on a wheel. If all three spokes are balanced, the wheel of your screenplay will spin freely. But if even one spoke is too large or too small, your screenplay will start to shimmy and shake until everything falls apart. This course will begin by introducing writers to the three-spoke story concept. Then we will use it to diagnose problems and craft solutions for each participant’s work-in-progress. All participants must have written at least one short or feature-length screenplay.
Participants will submit an electronic attachment of a screenplay they have written, either a one-act script or the first act of a feature-length (three act) script. Either way, no more than 30 pages. You will need to use the celtx.com program for your manuscript. Participants will receive their group's manuscripts in advance by e-mail. They are expected to print, read and prepare comments for each other's manuscript before arriving at the conference. The instructor will lead the way, direct comments and provide instruction. Manuscripts must be emailed to ISmail:je_self%hotmail.com no later than May 15, 2008. Write "Screenwriting Intensive Manuscript Attached" in the subject line.
*Notes:
- Register early to increase your chances of securing a place. Conference organizers retain the final decision about admission to the class.
- An extra fee of $25 is required for this class due to increased costs of small group instruction.
- Please submit in proper screenplay format. Use celtx.com.
- The classroom where the critique group will meet will require climbing one set of stairs, and unfortunately is not wheelchair accessible.
6. Non-fiction Advanced/Professional
Writing from a Christian Worldview in a Post-Modern World
Instructor: David Haskell
This five-session mini-course begins by orienting Christian journalists to current trends in the secular news environment particularly as those trends impact people of faith. With the ultimate goal of negotiating an industry that tends to be cool toward religiously-informed writing, this course then moves to a process driven model wherein participants focus on the style, content and ultimately the creation of rhetorically complex opinion pieces.
Session 1: Really, how free is our "free speech"? Some boundaries and guidelines.
Session 2: The market for freelance commentary—secular and religious options.
Session 3: What makes a good written argument? The opinion piece formula.
Session 4: Catching the Editor's eye: How to choose topical, timely, topics.
Session 5: Which evidence, examples and anecdotes work best? Writing as a Christian but appealing to people who aren't.
7. Author Development
Making Yourself Marketable: Insights from a National Publicist
Instructor: Teresa Evenson
Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, today, more than ever before, a strong platform is critical to the acceptance of your manuscript and its success once it is published. Learn how you will be evaluated behind closed doors—you may be surprised at the importance of editorial content verses the marketability of the author and book. Find out the impact of a good press kit and what should be in one. Discover the best pitch or "media hook" for your book and how to grab the attention of agents, publishers, and producers. Practice the hook and five basic points of your book in crisp, sound-bite sentences in three minutes or less. These interactive sessions will equip you with new skills and give you confidence for media interviews and pitching your book to editors.
*Note: This class is reserved for advanced writers who have a published or contracted book, or who have a manuscript that has been perfected and is ready to market.
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