Great writing starts with an inspired plan—and some tricks of the trade.
Join writers/instructors Jeanette Taylor and Annette Yourk and learn some of those tricks of the trade in a weekend workshop on beautiful Cortes Island on April 5 & 6. Participants plunge into a nonfiction writing project, whether it be family history, memoir or biography, and take home a wealth of ideas and tools to maintain their momentum.
Your hosts, Literacy Now and the Cortes Island Museum, have structured the program so you can stay at one of the island’s many B & Bs or commute from Campbell River. The workshop runs from 12:30-5 p.m. both days.
Instructors Jeanette Taylor and Annette Yourk have a keen following for their courses and workshops. They offer a diversity of experience and a collaborative style that makes their program a rich feast.
Yourk is a graduate from SFU’s Writing and Publishing program, and holds an instructors’ diploma in adult education. She has many years of experience writing and editing, and has created and taught coursework to a range of learners.
Taylor is an historian who has four nonfiction books in print, including Tidal Passages, A History of the Discovery Islands. Her current project is a history of the Victorian era on Vancouver Island, told through one man’s experience.
Both instructors belong to a collective called The Scribes, Comprehensive Writing Services, where you’ll find their blog: The Writers’ Study.
“I want to tell you how much I am enjoying this writing class,” wrote Joan Taylor during a recent course. “I feel like a sponge just soaking it all up and loving it. Thanks for sharing your expertise with our community. Great fun, expertise and advice.”
Yourk and Taylor’s course structure takes participants through a writing project from start to finish, from organization to story structure, writing craft and publishing options. It’s geared to nonfiction writers but also works for fiction.
Participants delve into these subjects through discussion, class exercises and an overnight assignment. They’re invited to come with a short project in process, as the focus for these activities.
“At the end of the workshop,” says Taylor, “our students are well launched into their writing.”
The fee is $86, which includes a binder of materials to guide continuing work. Register through Susanna Bonner of Cortes Literacy Now at 250-935-0347, in person at the Cortes Island Museum on Friday and Saturday afternoons, or at the Campbell River Art Gallery Tuesday to Saturday 12-5 p.m. You can register through the latter with Visa or MasterCard at 250-287-2261. Contact Jeanette Taylor at 250-285-3651 or scribeswritingservice@gmail.com for more details.
For information about food, lodging and ferry schedules on Cortes Island see: www.cortesisland.com.