Archive for the ‘Breakfast Mini Workshops’ Category

Sensational! Mindboggling! Incredible! Many writers dismiss the supermarket tabloids as inferior writing not worthy of attention. But tabloids rake in millions in money and circulations. In this mini-workshop, let Gwynn Scheltema show you what a mainstream journalist or magazine article writer can learn from tabloids.

October’s After-Breakfast Mini-Workshop

Do you hesitate to call yourself a writer? Or stammer when asked “What exactly do you write?”

It’s time to self promote, shamelessly!

The 30-Seconds of Shameless Self-Promotion (30SP) approach comes from a direct sales model where selling yourself in one sentence will make or break your sale. The same approach can be used in self promotion with writers, critical for success, especially when approaching agents and publishers.

This workshop is suited for less-seasoned writers looking for a great starting point to feel confident about their writing. It will also benefit writers who have written for years – talented, seasoned writers who haven’t taken the time to ready themselves for self-promotion.

Attendees walk through a plan to promote by developing your 30SP, and get basic information about creating a writing platform. Agents and publishers expect you to have established a platform before they represent you. Are you ready?

Participants should come prepared with a short description in mind or in hand of what they are currently working on.

Facilitated by Noelle Bickle

After Breakfast Mini Workshop:

Helping people put into words what they want to say in public can be a fun and lucrative source of revenue for freelance writers. Dorothea Helms, a successful speaker and freelancer, brings in a substantial portion of her revenue through speech writing, and she can show you how to do the same. Learn the craft and the business, such as:

• the difference between a speech and remarks,
• understanding your audience and clients,
• writing in your subject’s voice,
• timing the parts of a speech,
• inserting humour,
• finding clients,
• pricing, and more.

Feature Facilitator: Dorothea Helms, writer, instructor and author

The April 2010 (after breakfast) one hour Mini-Workshop

SECRETS OF SLAM! with James Dewar

The July 10th WCDR breakfast will feature its first ever SLAM Contest. Open only to WCDR members, this fabulous competition will encourage entries that fit the internationally recognized SLAM format, but will not limit entrants to just poetry.

Auditions will start at 7:00 p.m. at JP Fitzpatrick’s on Monday, June 28th to identify the LUCKY SEVEN who will compete on July 10th for the SLAMTASTIC CHEESY SLAM TROPHY (and the $100 prize).

So what is a SLAM piece?

SLAM is anything written specifically to be memorized and performed in a competition in front of a LIVE audience. The maximum performance length is 3 minutes and performers are heavily penalized for going over limit.

Normally a panel of judges votes, Olympic style, after each performance. At the end of the contest the scores are tallied and the winner announced. The WCDR will have a 3-person SLAM panel. American Idol style, just for fun, but the audience will vote by secret ballot at the end of the contest to determine the winner.

Do you want to know what the best SLAMMERS do to keep the attention and win the approval of listeners?

Are there any techniques for performing in front of a crazed audience that will insight the best response?

Take the SECRETS OF SLAM! workshop and find out what makes this form of art the fastest growing and most popular literary performance showcase in North America.

And win the SLAMTASTIC CHEESY SLAM TROPHY!

(oh, and the $100 winner-take-all prize)

James Dewar is a popular and skilled event host and featured reader. His monthly poetry performance show, Hot-Sauced Words (www.hotsaucedwords.ca) enjoys a unique place in the vibrant Toronto poetry scene due to its emphasis on good poetry, audience interaction and on-the-spot writing challenges. He teaches workshops on performance techniques and collaborated with Toronto Spoken Word gurus David Silverberg and Yehuda Fisher in last year’s Spoken Word Slamtastic farewell to George Bush: The BYE BYE BUSH BASH.

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The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, April 8th.

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.

The workshop is FULL
Gwynn Scheltema is a full-time writer and editor, and has sold articles to magazines and newspapers across Canada. Her poetry and short stories have made it through the slush pile and been published in literary magazines, and as a fiction editor for nine years, she’s seen things from the other side of the desk as well.

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The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, March 12th, 2010.

with David Drane

It’s happened to most of us. We remember something very clearly and yet someone else denies that it ever happened. What do we do with those stories?

These tales are a part of our own history whether others endorse them or not. This session explores how we claim our own stories in the face of passive or active opposition. It explores what forces are at work when others deny our memories and explores the options available to keep these stories for ourselves. It will also examine how to handle the negative reactions of those who deny our stories.

You will receive hands-on help to get one of your stories started.

David Drane calls himself a storyteller although his articles have been published in national trade journals for over 30 years. His fiction has been published by Jesperson Publishing and his writing about writing now appears in LocalBiz magazine.

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To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, February 11th.

The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

Editing for Writers: Second-Draft Writing

with Sherry Hinman

Does your idea of second-draft writing consist of a mad search for typos and running SpellCheck?

Writers don’t need to learn to do the work of an editor — that’s best left to editors. But all writers — hopefully! — write a second draft prior to submitting their work for editing.

This one-hour mini-workshop will cover the key steps to follow during second-draft writing, to make your work more engaging and “readable.” Lessons learned can be applied to short or long prose.

Sherry Hinman has eight years’ experience as a full-time editor/writer/teacher. She is a trained editor, with her editing certificate from George Brown College, and is working toward her Certified Professional Editor designation through the Editors’ Association of Canada. Her editing experience ranges from technical manuals to novels; from how-to books to short stories; and from theses to websites. She has been a part-time professor at Durham College since 2002 and a creative writing instructor at the Oshawa Seniors Centre since 2005. You can reach Sherry at info@thewriteangle.ca.

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The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, January 7th, 2010.

Please Note: This workshop is FULL as of April 27th.

with Heather O’Connor

What’s the difference between writing for print and writing for the Internet? Plenty! If you want your website to capture visitors instead of sending them clicking, you’d better figure it out. After all, your competition is only a mouse-click away.

Heather M. O’Connor knows all the tricks. Sign up for her crash course in effective web-writing. In this one-hour workshop, you’ll discover:
• How people “read” web pages
• How to make space work for you
• Words that carry their weight
• Why less is more

Participants learn how to “tune up” a weak webpage, giving them a hands-on chance to implement the lessons they learned right away. They’ll leave with a handout that outlines the do’s and don’ts and the confidence to spin a web of their own.

Heather M. O’Connor has several years of experience with web writing and search engine optimization. She frequently spins her web for A Web That Works, a prominent Durham website design and web marketing company. Heather has given a number of seminars on promotional and web writing. Visit her website at www.merlinwrites.com.

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The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, May 6th.

It’s a Mystery To Me: How to Structure a Mystery Novel

In this workshop, you’ll learn the basics of mystery writing. We’ll discuss the different kinds of mysteries—cozy, hardboiled, police procedural, professional vs. amateur sleuth, and who is the most important character in a mystery. With some fun and interactive exercises, we’ll explore how to create clues and red herrings, plots and subplots, heroes and villains. You’ll return home ready to write your own mystery!

Valerie Mutton is a lawyer and freelance writer whose articles have appeared in major publications. She has completed her first mystery novel, which is currently under consideration with an agent, and is busy working on the second in the series.

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Cost of this 1 hour workshop: $10

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION PAGE by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, December 10th.

Mini-workshops have limited space and have proven to be very popular. Space is allocated on a first come, first served basis, and those who have registered and paid to guarantee their space are given top priority. Pay by PayPal through the link above and guarantee your spot in the workshop!

A Recipe for Character Development: Cook Up a Character That Sticks to the Ribs
with Ruth E. Walker

WORKSHOP IS FULL

In this one-hour mini workshop, you will learn some of the secret ingredients that turn underdone characters in your stories into full-flavoured human beings. With quick, hands-on exercises, you’ll soon be whipping up emotions and eliminating any half-baked stereotypical people in your fiction.

The pace will be fast but this is no empty-calorie fast-food method. Every exercise will help you build up your own store of character-building recipes that you can take home, expand and try on your own. Odds are you’ll find yourself dipping into this cookbook any time you need inspiration and creativity.

Bio: Ruth E. Walker is a professional writer and editor, and an award-winning creative writer and poet. Ruth’s very first submission won the Canadian Living magazine’s short story contest and she has gone on to win or place in national and international writing competitions. For the past two years, she has been an Artist in Residence for the Durham District School Board helping at-risk students discover their creative voices. A partner in Writescape Writing Retreats, she facilitates workshops and writing escapes for Canadian and international writers. Ruth loves to teach almost as much as she loves to write.

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The WCDR monthly breakfast meetings are where experienced and aspiring writers gather, learn and connect. Join us throughout the year to hear authors and industry speakers, to enjoy a special event, and to broaden your networking circle. Everyone is welcome. Meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son restaurant in the Whitby Entertainment Centrum at 75 Consumers Rd. (west of Thickson Rd. S.). The cost, which includes an excellent and hearty breakfast, is $15 for members; $20 for guests. (Ask us how, by becoming a member, you can save!) Cost with the mini-workshop included is $25 for members and $30 for guests.

To attend, please click here to register on our REGISTRATION by phone message at 905-686-0211 or by e-mail at breakfast@wcdr.org no later than noon on Thursday, November 12th.