The Many Worlds of Fantasy

with Heather M. O’Connor and Anne MacLachlan

Date: Wednesdays, March 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15

Time: 7:00-9:00 pm.

Location: Trent University, Oshawa Campus

Fee: $125 ($110 for members of WCDR, SOH, WCSC, WCYR and other writing organizations)

Explore the worlds of fantasy, both fictional and professional, in this 5-week, hands-on workshop.

Learn how to create convincing fantasy settings. We’ll use world-building techniques and activities to:

discover a brave new world
layer in realistic depth and detail
build your world, week after week
extend your new realm around the corner and across the seas

We’ll also explore the fantasy writer’s world. Discover a treasure trove of:

markets and publishers
conferences, workshops and networks
writing resources

To register:

Select your workshop using the Add to Cart button.
Find Your Shopping Cart on the right.
Click on the yellow Check out with PayPal button to pay securely using a credit card or PayPal account.

$125 – The Many Worlds of Fantasy

$110 – The Many Worlds of Fantasy (members of writing organizations)

Excellent companion to Here Be Dragons! Plot and character in fantasy fiction. Register for both workshops and save $20.

$220 – Register for The Many Worlds of Fantasy and Here Be Dragons

$190 – Register for The Many Worlds of Fantasy and Here Be Dragons (members of writing organizations)

Writing for Children

with Erin Thomas and Gwynn Scheltema

Do you love children’s books? Do you still remember the characters that you cared about as a child? Have you ever wanted to write a picture book or novel that kids will read over and over again?

Writing for Children introduces you to the basics of writing for young readers. Come find out what publishers look for, and what makes writing for children different from writing for adults.

You’ll learn how to write for different age groups and different reading levels within those age groups. You’ll discover the importance of engaging dialogue and find out how to make your characters come alive. You’ll see how plot and scene structure can strengthen your story, and you’ll explore ways of finding inspiration.

This hands-on six-week workshop series is packed with activities, opportunities to practise your new skills, and written and oral feedback on your work from two powerhouse facilitators.

Write to Win: Techniques & Tips for First Place

Learn how to make your entry stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re entering writing contests or submitting to agents and publishers, it’s all a contest. And many entries never make it past the first reader.

When: Saturday, June 17, 2017; 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: Minden Branch of the Haliburton County Public Library, 174 Bobcaygeon Road, Minden, Ontario

Write to Win is all contest, all day, with exercises, surprises and prizes. This hands-on workshop will help you

choose the best contests before you even start writing
learn what eliminates many entries
understand the process of judging
try on various writing forms and approaches
take home a wealth of tips and materials

Dorothea Helms and Ruth E. Walker are prize-winning writers. Between them, they have won:

Barbara Novak Award For Excellence In Humour and/or Personal Essay Writing
Whitchurch-Stouffville Grimm Fairy Tale Short Fiction Contest
Canadian Living short story contest
Ontario Arts Council grants
Geist Literal Postcard Story Contest
Dan Sullivan Memorial Poetry Contest
The Writers’ Circle of Durham Region short story contest
Suburban Newspapers of America Advertising and Promotions Contest

Dorothea and Ruth have also created and administered contests, and are sought-after judges for international, national and regional writing contests.They have seen some wonderful entries get eliminated early on. And they have had to decide first, second and third place with dozens of brilliant entries to choose from. How did they do it?

Register online:

$80.00 +HST

$75.00 +HST Writing organization members discount & discount for library patrons & staff

Writescape’s mission is to inspire, support and engage writers at all levels. From delivering innovative, hands-on workshops to creating all-inclusive retreats, the Writescape Team pays attention to the smallest detail so writers can focus on their work. Escape to write…with Writescape.

Watch Your Language AND From Inspiration to Publication

Gwynn Scheltema and Ruth E. Walker are at the Ontario Writers’ Conference.

Gwynn is offering an advanced class: Watch Your Language. Dialect, foreign languages, accents and other linguistic touches provide diversity and authenticity to dialogue. Gwynn will help participants avoid character stereotypes so that what is being said is not overshadowed by how it’s being said. Gwynn’s popular workshops at the OWC are consistently highly rated and fully booked.

Ruth’s beginner workshop From Inspiration to Publication invites new writers to play with words through hands-on exercises and fun activities. Participants will risk a little and try on different forms of creative writing. Useful handouts offer tips on submitting material to the right market. Ruth will also serve as a Blue Pencil Mentor, offering helpful feedback in one-on-one discussions with writers about their manuscripts.

Gwynn and Ruth have been at the OWC since it launched, facilitating workshops, mentoring writers and enjoying the many speakers and learning opportunities that a comprehensive conference like this has to offer.

To register, visit the Ontario Writers’ Conference.

Fall Workshops

This fall, Writescape’s Ruth E. Walker will be offering a workshop series in Haliburton

Three Steps to Creative Writing

Thursdays, September 8, 15 & 22

A free workshop series, in partnership with the Haliburton County Public Library in celebration of Bookapalooza, the Haliburton Highlands’ one-day celebration of readers and writers.

Three sessions:

Finding Your Muse: inspiration is everywhere – seeing, touching, reflecting, Sept 8
Five-Sense Skill Builder: deepening connections using the 5 senses, Sept 15
Make a Scene: beginnings, middles & endings explores scene ingredients and their purpose, Sept 22

Attend one, two or all three sessions. Each is designed to focus on one approach to creative writing, with all three complimenting each other in skill development. No experience necessary. Will suit adults and young adults.

Presenter: Author and editor, Ruth E. Walker offers practical, hands-on exercises and a warm and welcoming atmosphere for writers at all levels. A partner in Writescape, Ruth has presented workshops at conferences, colleges and in communities such as Moose Factory, Muskoka, Haliburton, Ottawa, Peterborough, the GTA, London, and the Niagara Region.

September 8, 15 & 22, 2022
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Haliburton County Public Library, Dysart Branch, 78 Maple Avenue, Haliburton Village

NOTE: The library plans to hold this workshop series in person. Any necessary COVID protocols per local heath authorities will be followed.

No charge to register or attend, thanks to Bookapalooza, a one-day celebration of readers and writers with author presentations, trade show and Children’s Book Nook. Free books. Giveaways. Surprises. Special guest author Terry Fallis at the evening Big Book Club. September 24 10 to 4 p.m // Big Book Club 7 to 9 p.m.

Register now through the library website. Questions? Email Ruth at info@writescape.ca or Hillary Montgomery at Haliburton Library hmontgomery@haliburtonlibrary.ca

One-on-one Feedback

September 10. Gwynn Scheltema and Ruth E. Walker are offering the Canadian Authors’ Association, Niagara Branch, a special extra on September 10, 2016. After the 2-hour morning workshop, Finding the Muse and Kindling Your Creative Fire, this dynamic team of creative writing instructors will conduct half-hour one-on-one feedback sessions.

Sessions include:

written feedback from both Gwynn and from Ruth on up to 10 manuscript pages [**see below]
a one-on-one session with either Gwynn or Ruth to discuss the feedback
an opportunity to ask questions, discuss writing plans and potential markets

Interested participants must:

email up to 10 manuscript pages in advance to info@writescape.ca
provide material and payment no later than September 5

Gwynn’s and Ruth’s feedback sessions are a featured cornerstone of their annual writers’ retreat, Spring Thaw. Skilled editors, they excel at finding a writer’s strengths and offering insights to specific areas that can benefit from further development. Because they are also writers, they understand that the best feedback needs to be specific and constructive.

Maximum of 12 participants.

Fee: $30 + HST includes written feedback from both Gwynn and Ruth

$30.00 CAA Niagara Feedback

Once you select Add To Cart, your shopping cart appears in the right-hand column of this page. You don’t need a PayPal account to use this secure payment method. You will need a credit card.

$3.90 HST will be added by PayPal at the checkout.

**Standard manuscript page:

double spaced
12 point font – Calibri, Arial or TNR
1 inch margins all round
paginated
name and title in header on each page

Deciphering the Magazine Masthead

with Gwynn Scheltema

Do you have a finished article, short story or a good query idea, but no clue where to send it? Editor in chief, editorial assistant, managing editor – who is the right person to hunt down? What do all those different editors do, and how does knowing that extend your freelance opportunities?

Magazine mastheads and tables of content can hide a gold mine of information. Learning to decipher the masthead is a first step to selling more articles or getting your short story read.

In this one-hour workshop, you’ll hone your detective skills with quick hands-on exercises. You’ll learn how to successfully sniff out the right editor, and avoid submission red herrings, so your article, story or query escapes the slush pile and gets the attention it deserves.

Literary Landscapes: Perspective and Place

with Gwynn Scheltema

Who Has Seen the Wind, The Kite Runner or Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone would all be very different narratives if they had been set elsewhere.The literary landscape defines what is possible and what is impossible.

But place is much more than location. How you design and deliver landscape details in your fiction can affect plot, mood, tension, reader involvement, and character. The landscape can even become a character itself.

In this one-day workshop, explore these concepts and put them into practice in this hands-on workshop.

Learn how to create believable and workable settings.

Learn when, what and how much to describe without slowing the story.

What past participants said…

I’ll admit, I was a skeptic when it came to taking writing workshops. My trouble with writing settings convinced me that I should give this one a shot. Let me tell you, the money I paid for Gwynn Scheltema’s Literary Landscape Workshop was one of the greatest investments I could have made in my writing. Some budding writers may think, “I can get tips like that all over the internet for free”. It’s not quite that simple. Having an accomplished writer guide you through those concepts, and be there to answer any questions you have, raises your level of comprehension exponentially. Workshops like these are definitely worth the investment.

SETH GUMBS – The Fresh Pen Blog

I head into Literary Landscapes: Perspective and Place, with instructor Gwynn Scheltema,the first event for me at the Ontario Writers’ Conference. I’m buzzed and keen. My memoir about Washburn Island needs an injection of “perspective and place,” and Gwynn explains the techniques. By analyzing examples, and free-writing under Gwynn’s direction, it’s not long before I see how story settings are opportunities to advance stories, and to keep readers curious to know what will happen next.

MARY MCINTYRE – Washburn Island: Memoir Blog

From Query to Byline: Get Published and Paid

From Query to Byline: Get Published and Paid introduces you to the basics of writing non-fiction for magazines, newspapers and the web. Learn the tricks of the trade that helped Heather M. O’Connor and Gwynn Scheltema make a successful living as freelance writers. Find out where to start and how to navigate through the process.

How do you find topics that interest publications? And how do you write query letters that get results? Where do you learn the right protocols to connect with editors and find source markets? What makes a winning article that grabs the reader?

Learn all this so that you get published and paid!

This hands-on workshop series is packed with activities, opportunities to practise your new skills, and written and oral feedback on your work from two experienced freelancers.

On-demand Workshops

Gather your group. Pick your topic and your date. And we’ll bring Writescape to you.

From beginning writer to seasoned professional, we’ll customize sessions to suit your programming themes and audience needs. Choose from Writescape’s Workshop Catalogue 2016 to help you and your colleagues hone writing craft and develop new skills and techniques.

“I came away with an understanding that will stick with me … great handouts and examples.”

From two-hour evening sessions to week-long programming, you tell us what you need and when you need it. Writescape will supply professional workshop leaders, hands-on exercises and practical handouts, and a creative, supportive atmosphere for an excellent learning experience.

“…a safe place to be vulnerable with my writing and to risk trying something new.”

Writescape facilitators have delivered workshops and presentations across the Greater Toronto Area, as well as Ottawa Region, Durham Region, and Northumberland, Kawartha, Haliburton, Muskoka, Simcoe and Niagara regions, Southwestern Ontario and into the U.S.

Step 1: talk to your group or colleagues about what you need

Step 2: choose your program from our Workshop Catalogue 2016

Step 3: contact:
info@writescape.ca
905-728-7823
leave a comment

We focus on your needs and deliver inspiration, expertise and support. We make it happen.