Fraser Valley Writers' School Courses for the Late Spring and Summer, 2016

Playschool For Adults:

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

Pablo Picasso

Picasso's right. The hardest thing for an adult in any creative project is to bring a child's creative energy to their artistic pursuits. In this eight part workshop, participants will return to play as they learn new and interesting ideas that will help them find their way to fulfilling artistic and creative lives. Over time, the workshop attendees will learn about:

1. What creativity is and how our brain operates when being creative,
2. The various successful processes to becoming more creative including the nine basic types of creative thought,
3. Ways to maximize your creative potential,
4. Techniques for defeating your inner critic,
5. Methods to maintaining a creative life in the face of the ordinary one,
6. Ways to work collaboratively with other writers and artists, and
7. Creative techniques to find and mine your personal creative gold.

Each workshop will focus on exercises to help the participant develop the skills in the various topics discussed each week. It is interactive and participants will be expected to work as individuals and in groups each week. There will be a weekly play project. Notes of the discussion/lecture will be provided each week as well. This workshop is appropriate for writers and other artists of all levels.

What have attendees said about David Blinkhorn's Creativity workshops:

“Take this workshop. It's creative, thoughtful, encouraging. It'll loosen up your brain, free it from its rut. You'll laugh and learn.”

“Take David Blinkhorn's class: You'll learn handy and thoughtful tips for writing (and living as a writer). The activities are fun and you get some useful handouts to remind you of what you can do- because you laugh so much, you might forget some 'nitty gritty' important detail.”

“This workshop was so much fun! We laughed and there even some tears as we wrote about being certain objects. David Blinkhorn always presents with so much fun and creativity of his own to help us with our own “Creative Pursuits”! It is so helpful to know now that becoming an object or what we see around us can open up our creativity and help us write more openly and freely.”

Dates: Thursday evenings commencing June 16, 2016 ( schedule to be determined after consultation with participants, fee is based on six workshops to give participants flexibility over the course of the workshop but the fee will be the same whether you attend six or all eight)
Times: 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: 331 – 22 East Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BC
Instructor: David Blinkhorn
Cost: $125.00 

Fiction Writers' Bootcamp: 
In two day weekend intensive over the course of two Saturdays, the writer will cover such topics as Story and Idea Generation, Story Structure, the Use of Tension and Conflict, Pacing, Setting, Dialogue, Character Development and Techniques for Revising Your First Draft. The workshop will utilize lecture, discussion and individual and group exercises and is appropriate for the emerging and intermediate writer.
Dates: June 18 and 25, 2016
Times: 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
Location: 618 Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC
Instructor: David Blinkhorn
Cost: $110.00

About the Instructor: David Blinkhorn is the founder and director of the Fraser Valley Writers School and an accomplished instructor in the areas of creativity, avoiding writer's block and fiction writing. He is an award-winning poet and writer who is a graduate of SFU's Writers' Studio (Fiction) in 2011. A former executive director of the Federation of British Columbia Writers, David finds his passion in creating unique and varied stories and helping other writers to find their voice in their chosen genre. In 2014, David organized a successful writers retreat in the Mediterranean and is currently organizing the plans for Euro2017.

To register for these courses, please email us at fvwschool@gmail.com.