Writescape’s Write to Win! in Aurora with Ruth Walker and Dorothea Helms

Saturday, January 21, 2012 - 10:00am

Aurora Public Library
15145 Yonge Street,
Aurora, ON
L4G 1M1

Want to win that writing contest? Wish you could land that publishing contract? Sign up for Write to Win!, a one-day boot camp to improve your fiction or creative non-fiction contest entry. Writescape’s Ruth E. Walker and Dorothea Helms (aka The Writing Fairy) share their tried-and-true tips and techniques for boosting your submission’s chances.

And these experienced facilitators know what they’re talking about. Canadian Living awarded Ruth’s first fiction submission first prize in their 1996 short story contest. Since then, her fiction, poetry and non-fiction has been published in Canada, the UK and the US. The Professional Writers’ Association of Canada named Dorothea the inaugural winner of the Barbara Novak Award for Excellence in Humour and/or Personal Essay Writing in 2005, just one of many awards and accolades she’s gathered.

And, bonus! — these seasoned contest-winners have not only won writing competitions, they have also judged and even administered contests. They’ll show you how to avoid the common mistakes that can knock your entry out of the running — sometimes before it’s even read.

Bring the first page of work you hope to submit to an upcoming competition. Through a combination of lecture, demonstration and exercises, tune up your entry. Then put it to the Write to Win! test—will it make it past the first reading?

This fun, one-day workshop takes place Saturday, January 21 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Aurora Public Library, 15145 Yonge Street, Aurora. The fee is $110, with a discounted rate of $95 for members of recognized writing organizations such as the Writers’ Community of York Region. Preregistration is required.

For full workshop details and online registration, visit www.writescape.ca, email info@writescape.ca, or phone 905-728-7823.