• Saturday, March 6th, 2010
• 10 am to 4 pm
• Location: TBA
• Fee: $100($90 WCDR, WEN, HHWEN, PWAC Member)
• To Register: See below
• Maximum Participants: TBA

Write to Win is a one-day immersion in the art of entering writing contests…and increasing your chances for winning. Two of WCDR’s ‘seasoned winners’ — Dorothea Helms and Ruth E. Walker — will share tips that will help you develop your own winning strategy.

Discover how even an honourable mention in a writing competition can give weight to your writing bio. And bonus! Dorothea and Ruth have not only won writing competitions, they have also judged and even administered writing competitions, so they really know what can knock your entry out of the running — sometimes even before it is actually read.

Participants are asked to bring the first page of their fiction, non-fiction or poetry they hope to submit to an upcoming competition. In this workshop, through a combination of lecture, demonstration and exercises, you will put your own work to the “writing contest” test and see if it will make it past the first reading.

Prepare for a day of inspiration and fun!

Dorothea Helms

is an award-winning, internationally published writer who is also a popular writing instructor. She is the author of the highly successful book The Writing Fairy™ Guide to Calling Yourself a Writer, and she offers courses, workshops and keynote speeches that inspire adults to write and publish their work. Dorothea has also served as a fiction judge for regional and international writing contests. She has been a finalist in fiction competitions, and her humorous fiction has appeared in an anthology in southern Ontario.
In 2006, she held the first-ever Writing Fairy Humour Writing contest, which drew entries from across North America. In 2005, Dorothea was presented with the first-ever Barbara Novak Award For Excellence in Humour and/or Personal Essay Writing from the Periodical Writers Association of Canada. Also in 2005, she tied for first place in the non-fiction category of the Haliburton Highlands Writers’ and Editors’ Network and The Agnes Jamieson Gallery 3rd Annual Writing Contest. In 2003, she placed third in The Writers’ Circle of Durham Region Dan Sullivan Memorial Poetry Contest.

Ruth E. Walker

knows a thing or two about writing competitions. Not only has she organized and administered a range of writing competitions, she has served as a final judge and a tier-judge for a number of national and international competitions including WCDR’s 2008 Chapbook contest, the annual Serial Poet competition at LICHEN Arts & Letters Preview, the Canadian Authors Association Toronto short story contest, and the Oval Victory poetry contest at Hidden Brook Press.
And she knows a bit about winning writing competition too. In 1996, her very first fiction submission won the Canadian Living Short Story prize. She went on to win the 1998 & 2005 Dan Sullivan Memorial Poetry Contest, was a 1999 semi-finalist Chapters-Robertson Davies Competition; 2001 winner Ghost Story Contest, Trent University Writers and Readers Fair; 2003 2nd place Larry Turner Award for Non-fiction; 2007 two entries tied for 2nd place in The Writers’ Circle of Durham Region Short Story Contest; and in 2008, she won 3rd place in the prestigious Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award. Along the way, she gathered a couple of honourable mentions as well.

Together, Ruth and Dorothea bring a wealth of experience as creative writing instructors along with a fun, interactive tag-team style to all their workshops. Join them on Saturday, March 6 for Write to Win!

$90.00 WCDR, WEN, HHWEN, PWAC Member
$100.00 Non-Member Workshop

For information, contact: fairy@thewritingfairy.com

AND – if you are looking for someone to write a speech for you, consider The Writing Fairy! I’ve written everything from Bar Mitzvah talks to eulogies, wedding addresses and corporate business speeches. Let me put the right words in your mouth.

Join Dorothea Helms, a.k.a. The Writing Fairy, for an enlightening day that provides an overview of starting and running a successful freelance writing business. Dorothea will cover the basics of what it means to be in business, what files to keep, everyday business practices, how to make your writing more appealing to editors and most importantly, how to market your work.

Expect a day that is jam packed with information. Expect Dorothea to present a positive yet honest look at what freelancing is all about. Expect to laugh. Wherever this Fairy goes, fun follows.

Dorothea has earned six-digit revenues for the past several years. When she established her business in the early 1990s, she made every mistake a freelancer can make – and learned her lessons the hard way. Dorothea launched this workshop several years ago in order to help participants avoid those obstacles to success. If you have making money from writing on your mind, whether on a part- or full-time basis, this workshop is for you.

Cost per person: $115 + G.S.T. = $116.90 (SPECIAL PRICE FOR WCDR MEMBERS $100 + G.S.T. = $106.00)

ATTENDANCE BY PRE-REGISTRATION ONLY. CUTOFF FOR REGISTRATIONS IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2007.

To register, mail a cheque for $116.90 ($106.00 if you are a WCDR member) made out to “The Writing Fairy” to:

Dorothea Helms
S10895 Sideroad 17 RR #1
Sunderland, ON L0C 1H0

or

Tel: 905-852-9294
E-mail: fairy@thewritingfairy.com

During this six-hour workshop, each student will sign up for a free WordPress.com website and create a basic site. The course includes a copy of my Learning WordPress Workbook. This workbook will walk you through the steps of creating the site as well as designing your site based on your site goal. Your workbook serves as a reference as well as your worksheet for your site design and implementation.

Students will:

• Sign up for a WordPress free blog
• Learn categories, posts, pages and links
• Select a template
• Add images
• Manage comments
• Post-date a post
• Set up a personal URL (RichHelms.com as an example)

On a design level:

• When to use Pages vs. Posts
• Site philosophy and purpose
• Free WordPress.com vs. running WordPress on your website
• Promoting your site

Visit www.RichHelms.com to see websites I created with WordPress.

Date: Saturday March 3, 2007
Instructor: Rich Helms
Location: Uxbridge Durham College
2 Campbell Dr, Uxbridge, ON Click for map
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Cost: $110 ($100 for WCDR and UAA members)+GST. Cost includes a copy of my Learning WordPress Workbook.
Maximum Class Size: 18 students

Lunch: There are numerous restaurants within a minute or two drive of the college. No food or drink is permitted in the computer room. Students are welcome to bring a lunch with them.

PayPal can be used with a PayPal account or just with Visa, MasterCard and AMEX.

Click for latest details

A business workshop presented by a self-proclaimed “fairy”? Far from oogie-woogie new age incense-saturated fluff, The Business of Writing offers a condensed overview of starting and running a freelance writing business. Do you believe that it’s impossible for writers to make a good living in Canada today? Did you work a tremendous number of hours last year writing for little money? Have you ever heard, “Oh, you’re a writer, but what’s your REAL job?” If you answered “Yes” to any or all of the above, you need The Writing Fairy’s guidance. A natural choice for a home-based business, writing can be a fulfilling and lucrative career, IF approached as an entrepreneurial venture. The demand for freelance writing and editing services stems from a wide variety of clients. This workshop provides an overview of what is involved in starting up a writing business – from motivation, to targeting markets, approaching editors and keeping pertinent receipts and records. Learn how to avoid the common mistakes writers make and how to charge for various jobs. A day of empowerment, this workshop introduces the left brain practices most writers fear and avoid, and places them in perspective by tackling topics such as pricing, setting up basic books, marketing, etc. It doesn’t hurt. Honest.

Do you believe that it’s impossible for writers to make a good living in Canada today? Did you work a tremendous number of hours last year writing for little money? Have you ever heard, “Oh, you’re a writer, but what’s your REAL job?”

If you answered “Yes” to any or all of the above, you need this workshop. A natural choice for a home-based business, writing can be a fulfilling and lucrative career, IF approached as an entrepreneurial venture. The demand for freelance writing and editing services stems from a wide variety of clients. This workshop provides an overview of what is involved in starting up a writing business – from motivation, to targeting markets, approaching editors and keeping pertinent receipts and records. Learn how to avoid the common mistakes writers make and how to charge for various jobs.

Workshop leader Dorothea Helms is owner of both The Writing Fairy and Write Stuff Writing Services, thriving home-based writing/editing businesses. She has also worked as a business trainer, and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs start their own businesses. Since 2000, her freelance business has pulled in more than $100,000 in revenue per year, and in 2000 Dorothea was nominated for a prestigious Rotman Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Cost: To be determined Register through the Haliburton Highlands Writers’ and Editors’ Network (details to come).

This course is for adults who aren’t quite sure they’re ready to call themselves writers, but who are compelled to arrange letters and words on print surfaces or computer screens to tell stories and share opinions. In other words, closet writers. During the day, participants will share their feelings about writing and explore a number of possibilities for realizing their passion more fully. A series of interactive exercises will help them recognize the uniqueness of their voices, and unleash the magic that only they can conjure up through their use of words. Oh, and with Dorothea at the helm, there will be way too much laughter during this inspiring day!

A popular overview of fiction and non-fiction writing, this is the course that Dorothea took in 1992 that launched her writing career. Visit Durham College Website to register. Remember, this is the course offered at the North Campus in Uxbridge.

The Thomas Foster Memorial is 70 years old. Inspired by the Taj Mahal in India, the Memorial was built in 1936 for $250,000, and is made of solid imported marble and 22k gold mosaics. To commemorate this historic landmark, the Town of Uxbridge is holding a series of “Friday at the Foster” events. On September 22nd, local writing instructor Dorothea Helms, a.k.a. The Writing Fairy, will introduce four of her former creative writing students.

Lana Cutrara has been published in “The Globe and Mail,” “There’s No Place Like Home,” “Today’s Homes,” “Career Choices,” and “The Mom Project.” She enjoys her role as the Membership Co-ordinator for the Writer’s Circle of Durham Region (WCDR).

Bette Hodgins is a freelance writer and health care consultant who lives by the motto, “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” An award-winner in two national writing contests, Bette has a writer’s enthusiasm for challenge and adventure.

Barbara E. Hunt has been published with CBC Radio One, “The Globe and Mail,” “The M.O.M. Project” and “Homemakers.” She is on the board of WCDR, teaches poetry, and is a finalist in LICHEN Arts & Letters Preview “One Hundred and One Words Non-Poetry Challenge.”

Connie Jamieson has enjoyed success in healthcare, outdoor recreation and other freelance writing. Her short fiction piece was a finalist in the Writers’ Union of Canada 2003 Postcard Story Competition; her “Opinion Shaper” articles appeared in Metroland newspapers in 2003; and her memoir won the Fall 2004 WCDR 24-hour non-fiction contest.

Come and enjoy a medley of literary voices as each writer shares her unique style!

4 km north of Uxbridge on Durham Road 1
Google Map to Thomas Foster Memorial

No advance ticket sales – Donations at the door