For the first time I have planned my classes for almost a year ahead. I know this is what most educational institutions do, however for me it is a first and I’m delighted with myself. In November I will be celebrating my fourth anniversary of teaching creative writing; I’m so grateful to be still in business, doing a job that I love.
In this blog I have posted about what is coming up and I hope you find something to tempt you! The winter months are an excellent time for writing and I have some workshops scheduled that I hope you, or your child, might be interested in attending. There are also competitions and writing events taking place all over Dublin, that are worth checking out.
In other news, my students are working hard on stories to submit for the Christmas booklet, and I am working hard on finding a printing company to produce it. The launch date is Thursday 15th December at 5.15p.m. in Skerries Mills. Please put that in your diary as everyone is welcome. Last year we had a great crowd and we hope to top our sales for charity this Christmas.
WORKSHOPS
In October/November, I am running two One Day Writing Workshops:
HALLOWEEN SPOOKY STORY WRITING WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS
I will be running a SPOOKY STORY writing workshop during the Halloween break for children and teenagers (8 – 16 year olds) in Skerries MIlls on Friday 4th November from 10.30a.m. – 3p.m. It will be a special price of €35 (the usual price is €45). This is my third year to run a Spooky Writing Course and it is always a lot of fun, involving vampires, dragons and witchtes etc. Students will learn how to plot and create a story to scare themselves, friends and family!
ADULT ONE DAY WRITING WORKSHOP – THE SHORT STORY
I am running a one day workshop for adults in Skerries Mills on Sunday 6th November from 10.30a.m. – 3p.m. The topic for the day is the short story. We will study its structure, examples of the genre and how best to write one. The cost of the course is €45. It is suitable for beginners and improvers.
WRITING COURSES IN 2012
ADULT ONE DAY WRITING WORKSHOP – GRAMMAR AND EDITING
The writing year begins on Saturday 14th January 2012, with an ADULT WRITING WORKSHOP focusing on grammar, syntax and editing text. This course will suit anyone who feels rusty on English grammar or that they never fully got to grips with it in school. It is a follow on workshop to the one day workshop I ran on punctuation last May (however it is not necessary to have attended the previous course). The workshop takes place in Skerries Mills from 10.30a.m.-3p.m. and costs €45.
TERM COURSES
Term courses for 2012 begin on 16th January and I am now accepting bookings. The children’s classes, in particular, fill quickly so the sooner you book the better. You will find my class schedules on the Writing Courses page.
And, I know that the summer of 2012 is far away, but last summer I had to turn away many children who wanted to attend camps on certain dates, so this year I am giving plenty of notice in advance. You will find the schedule for adult, children’s and teenage summer courses on the Summer Camps page.
As always, I am offering early booking deals for term and weeklong courses – you will find details on the relevant pages on my website – and Paddy, in the Skerries bookshop is kindly collecting fees for me (or you can post me the amount if that suits you better).
WRITING EVENTS
There is lots going on for writers this autumn:
Firstly, Fingal Libraries’ annual writers’ festival is taking place from 15th – 22nd October. There are many interesting workshops from comedy to screen writing, and places are free. Find out more here: http://www.fingalcoco.ie/writing3.0/index-35099.html
Irish Pen is holding an information evening on Writing For Children on Thursday 13th October at 8p.m. Tickets are only €5 and there will be a top agent and publisher telling keen writers what they are looking for. Find out more here: http://www.irishpen.com/wordpress/
This month and next there are writing events taking place all over Dublin in the Great Writers in Great Places festival. There will be Spooky Stories for Children in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, Crime writers speaking in The Four Courts and Women’s commercial fiction authors talking to readers in Powerscourt Shopping centre. To find out how to book a place go to: http://writing.ie/com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=348&Itemid=214
If you want help with writing a novel this November, a great way to get motivated is to sign up for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write 50,000 words in one month and there are numerous tips to help you achieve this. To find out more go to: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano
Finally, the Irish Writers’ Centre are running an interesting competition for unpublished writers. You must post the first 10,000 words of your novel to them by 12th November, and you need to have the remainder of the novel complete by 13th January 2012. The entry fee is €35 and the prize is to attend a writers’ fare on 10th March 2012, where you will have a chance to pitch your novel to leading Irish editors and agents. You will find out more information here:
http://www.writerscentre.ie/novelfairtermsconditions.html
So that’s it from me. Thank you very much for reading this. If you would like to keep up to date with ongoing writing events and competitions, please like my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/meganwynnecreativewriting
I hope to see you soon!
