Beginners Welcome

If you’re a beginning or aspiring writer and you’ve been looking at this Web site but you haven’t registered for the conference yet because you’re feeling intimidated — don’t worry!  Everybody you meet at Write! Canada was a first time attendee once — and a beginning writer once.

Yes, we offer classes for advanced writers with many years of experience and many publishing credits. We want to provide professional development opportunities to keep raising the bar of excellence for Canada’s writers who are Christian. But we also offer a wide range of classes especially designed for beginners. We guarantee that you will go home having learned a whole lot more about your own writing potential, and about the business of writing and publishing. 

As a two-time conference attendee mentioned to me this week, Write! Canada provides a safe haven, where you will find a friendly and supportive community of writers and editors who want to help each other to succeed. A safe haven doesn’t mean that we all are told that our writing is perfect just the way it is, that we don’t need to revise or edit a word we wrote, and that we are guaranteed we will see our names on the front pages of magazines and newspapers, or on bestselling books, in six months. A safe haven is a place where we can talk honestly about our writing skills and ideas, about what the market is looking for, about the challenges currently facing the industry, about what it takes to be a truly good writer, and about finding God’s will for our lives. 

Yes, you’ll be nervous at first. But you won’t be alone. You will soon feel as if you’re with kindred spirits who share your interests.

You’ll get your bearings, meet new friends, and have a head swimming with new information and new ideas. Some of us have attended 20 or more conferences, we always find new things to learn and new people to meet!

Take a look through all the sections on this Web site to get a general feel for the conference and how it operates. We’ve provided pretty much everything you need to know right here. Check the blog postings on the home page to see any news and updates. If you’re a beginner and overwhelmed with all the choices, follow these steps:

Step 1. Your most important choice is the continuing class, listed under Learning Opportunities, which is 6 hours of teaching. Decide which topic best fits your interests and experience level. Look at the faculty pages under the Who’s Coming section to see who will be teaching the class. Write down your choice so you remember the code number when you fill out the online registration form.

Step 2. Don’t look at all 18 workshops at once listed under Learning Opportunities, or you will get confused. You will attend three different workshops at three different times, so decide one at a time. First look at the 6 choices in time slot A. Decide which topic best fits your interests and best complements what you’re going to be learning in your continuing class. Look at the faculty pages under the Who’s Coming section to see who will be teaching the class. Make your decision based on a combination of the topic and the instructor. Once you’ve decided A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 or A6, follow the same steps to pick Workshop B 1 to 6, then Workshop C 1 to 6. Write down the code numbers of your choices.

Step 3. Decide if you need overnight accommodation. If you have a car, you can choose to stay at a Bed and Breakfast or hotel off -site. Or you can choose to stay on-site, which we recommend because you feel part of the community more. Pick which accommodation category you can afford. If you don’t know anyone to request for a roommate, we will try to assign you compatible roommates.

Step 4. Fill out the online registration form. After you register, you will be emailed a registration package which gives you lots of information about the conference. You also will be sent an appointments package, which gives you instructions on how to request 15 minute appointments with up to three faculty members during the conference. Read both of these packages carefully, and you will be well-prepared when you arrive on the grounds to register on June 18. We also provide a half-hour orientation session for first-timers before the classes start, so that will help you to feel welcome.

That’s it! See you there!

–Wendy E. Nelles