Manuscript Consults

For the first time, Fraser Valley Writers' School is offering manuscript consults. Your manuscript will be reviewed for issues of plot, character development and setting features. This is not a copy editing service but it is a substantive edit, one that will help your story sparkle as you get it ready to send it out into the world.

How does this work?

1. You provide your manuscript in Times Roman 12 point font double spaced via an attachment along with a one page or less synopsis of your story which will clearly identify your protagonist and antagonist.

2. Once your submission is received, you will receive an email from us as to the cost of your review. The cost shall be based on $0.75 per page as this fee reflects the double spacing and font size. You'll be required to pay in advance the cost of the review as invoiced by either an e-transfer or cheque payable to the school.

3. The review will take approximately two weeks ( plus or minus 2 days on either side) once the fee has been received by the school.

4. As part of the review, you will be provided written notes of suggestions to improve the story and for those participants within the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley, you will meet in person with the instructor who reviewed your submission for anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on the time necessary to properly discuss the work. For those outside this geographic area, there will be an attempt to arrange a Skype meeting or telephone call generated from the school (No long distance charges for you)

5. It is preferable that you submit a completed transcript but for those with a work in progress, please have a detailed outline along with your synopsis. Your work should have been self-revised regardless of its state of completion before submitting the work so as to enable you to get the best value from the service.

If you are interested in this service, please contact us at fvwschool@gmail.com

2016 Fall Classes

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: October 29 and November 5, 2016
Times: 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
Location: 618 Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC

Instructor: David Blinkhorn and other guest presenters to be announced

Cost: $110.00 (lunch included each day)

Creative Pursuits: A Playschool in Creativity:

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 thirteen week 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 project which focuses on that week's creative technique. Notes of the discussion/lecture will be provided each week as well. This workshop is appropriate for writers and other artists of all levels.

Here's what attendees have 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 September 22, 2016 and running to December 15, 2016 
Times: 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: 331 – 22 East Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BC
Instructor: David Blinkhorn

Cost: $25 per session or you can purchase a card for classes in the following denominations: 4 workshops: $95, 6 workshops; $135, 8 workshops: $170, all thirteen workshops: $225 (cards are non-transferable)

Introduction to Creative Writing: Scene Creation

To be an effective fiction or creative non-fiction writer today, you need to write effective scenes. The vehicle for a writer to advance their plot and reveal character, the scene is cinematic writing and is defined by its continuous action regardless of that action's size, shape or intensity. Without the "Walk" of the scene, the reader is left with the "Talk" and the writer risks losing their reader.

During this sixteen hour course, you'll examine:

1. story and scene structure;
2. techniques for bringing conflict and tension into the scene;
3. the purposes of a scene;
4. methods for beginning and ending a scene;
5. transitions between scenes; and
6. various writing tools that help advance your scene including but not limited to setting, dialogue, and character development

This course is a unique way of starting your writing education as it focuses on story-telling from day one. Students can expect to learn many techniques in a fluid fashion that are normally compartmentalized in most introductory courses. The course is presented as a series of talks, discussions, exercises and critiqued writing assignments.

Dates: Monday evenings commencing October 17, 2016 and running to November 28, 2016
Times: 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: 331 – 22 East Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BC

Cost: $125
Instructor: David Blinkhorn


Email fvwschool@gmail.com with your interest. For workshops to proceed, a minimum of four participants will be required to register one week ahead of the scheduled start date.