Reaching Out for Writing Contacts in Toronto...

I am looking for courses/workshops/jobs/reading and writing groups in Toronto as I plan to be there next year at this time.

Hey Cynthia

Ditto

Not sure about any groups as yet, will keep you posted on any info I gather

Rob

Hey Cynthia,

You may find some of these useful:

http://www.writersunion.ca/index.asp

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/canadacouncil/

http://www.writersunion.ca/index.asp

http://www.canauthors.org/index.html

I don't know the answer to your question.

However, there may be merit in joining the American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI) forum.

I have not yet joined that forum, so I don't know for sure, but I think it's entirely possible that some of their members live in Canada and, indeed, in other countries as well.

I stumbled on that website through my daily readings of Early To Rise, which is an ezine devoted to health, wealth and success. (You can subscribe to ETR's daily emails for free, but be warned that they do promote home study courses, etc., that cost money. Still, if you confine yourself to the free daily email, you can read heaps of useful information at no cost.)

I presently am reading Seven Years to Seven Figures : The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire by Michael Masterson. I highly recommend the book. I did a write up about it on my blog. Masterson is a multi-millionaire who started out as an editor. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to making megabucks from writing. In providing advice to would be copywriters, he recommends the resources available from AWAI.

At the moment I am in the process of starting a home-based business that involves sales. The research I've done on it suggests that it has the potential to make a lot of money. If that turns out to be the case, I may not feel the need to pursue any other kind of work.

If, however, I ever returned to writing again, it wouldn't be to technical writing, which is my current, modestly paid day job. I'd take a leaf out of Masterson's book, and I'd find a sales-orientated or marketing-orientated focus for my work. In short, I would re-train myself as an advertising copywriter. According to Masterson, good copywriters earn high six-figure incomes.

Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know. You didn't say which type of writer you were, so I don't really know whether or not the above information is relevant to you. Actually, come to think of it, the AWAI site may be useful, regardless of your niche. They have sections on travel writing, resume (CV) writing, and other kinds of writing.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a bunch everyone, very useful info indeed. It's creative writing (fiction) that I am most interested in. I have looked at U of T, they offer an MA in English in the field of Creative Writing, a bit hard core. I may keep looking for something less taxing on the brain and pocket first.

Have a look at their schools of continuing education, rather than the post graduate schools. If you look at UofT or Ryerson's Chang School or a couple of others that offer courses and certificates and credits in various areas most have a series of creative writing courses that count as full university credits but also stand alone as further education courses. My wife did a bunch of accounting ones over the last couple of years at Ryerson.

You truely are a wizzard. Many thanks indeed.
Cynthia