Heartspace Alumni Association

Time For A Story?

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The newest Heartspace Writing School Anthology.

Hear stories around the fire from 13 Heartspace authors.

CANSTAR PUBLICATIONS
Heartspace Still Beating Strong 10 Years Later

Joanne Klassen

Ten years and 30 published authors later, the Fort Rouge-based Heartspace Writing School is still going strong and it all began with an article in the local community newspapers.

It grew from the seed of an idea that was reported in The Metro, said Heartspace founder and Osborne resident Joanne Klassen.

The original article appeared just as Klassen was opening the writing school. Her vision was to create a positive environment, free from harsh criticism, for beginning writers to get their feet wet and gain confidence in their abilities.

The article went into The Metro on a Thursday and I went to the cottage for the weekend. By the time I got back there were nearly 100 Cheques in my mailbox to register for the class, Klassen said.

It was then that I knew that I hit a pulse for a lot of people and it has continued to do so for the past 10 years.

Klassen's writing school specializes in a technique called Transformative Writing.

In most writing disciplines the focus is on structure, word flow and making the story easy for the reader to understand. But with Transformative Writing, Klassen says the emphasis is on finding a voice as an author, while editing is a task left for further down the road.

Instead of thinking of the audience and what is acceptable to them, it's really writing to find your own authentic voice. It's about finding your story for yourself first, Klassen said.

Klassen said sharing their writing with others can be a daunting task for many beginners.

Writing is risking. Ninety-nine per cent of what we do is fear reduction and creating a supportive environment for creativity to flow in.

Heartspace, based on Grosvenor Avenue, offers a variety of daytime, evening and weekend classes.

As well as a variety of creative writing classes, the organization also offers facilitator classes for those interested in teaching others about Transformative Writing.

Henry Cullihall, one of 30 Heartspace students to have published a book, says the school provided the foundation for his writing career.

I became a published author because Heartspace gave me the confidence to do so, Cullihall said.

The interesting thing is that the emphasis is on sharing and not critiquing. In this particular class you could only give positive critiques.

After some additional classes at the University of Winnipeg, Cullihall published his personal story about living as a quadriplegic, titled After the Fall.

After sending his manuscript to nearly 50 publishers, it was picked up by Novalis, a Christian publishing company based in Ottawa.

Cullihall said that while Heartspace is a great place to start writing, it's also a good place to meet like-minded people.

I think this class is a great place for isolated writers to go and make friendships. You don't want to be by yourself pounding on the typewriter all day, he said.

Roseanne Keyes, another published Heartspace author, was the first person to register for a Heartspace class.

I was talking to Joanne and she told me that she was going to start the school and I said, "Sign me up," because I knew her capability, Keyes said.

Keyes said she expressed interest in the class because she was looking for a hobby, but didn't have much of an interest in writing prior to the class.

I hated writing. I didn't want to write a book. People kept saying I should write a book, but I didn't even like the act of writing, Keyes said.

Since taking the class, Keyes has published her first book, A Place on the Totem Pole. She is currently working on her second book and facilitating writing classes through Heartspace.

What I did was tell my life in story. I call it bathroom reading because the stories are very short, Keyes said of her first published effort.

For more information on Heartspace, visit www.write-away.net.

www.canstarnews.com/page/story/1/3289

Aug. 21, 2008
Aaron Zeghers

Group

Joanne Klassen, Winn Leslie, Jana Ting and Eleanor Chornoboy celebrate with Jana Ting,
Heartspace Faculty member, at her benefit concert at the University of Winnipeg.

J5M (Just 5 Minutes) Writer's Rescue Cookies
From Joanne Klassen

1. Prepare 2 cookie sheets or trays with waxed paper

2. In a large saucepan, heat:
1/2 stick of butter/margarine
½ cup of milk (any kind)
½ cup of peanut butter
½ cup Cocoa Powder
2 cups of sugar

3. Boil for l minute & remove from heat

4. Quickly stir in: 1-2 teaspoons vanilla and 3 cups (scant) quick-cooking or regular oatmeal (not instant).

Drop by soup spoonfuls onto waxed paper to cool.

These cookies fortify writers and keep peace with family members who are looking for a homemade snack. My mother, Peg Hindal, let us take these cookies in our pockets when we didn’t have time for breakfast.

While writing my first book when I was short of time I made double recipes of these cookies for my daughter Tiffany’s basketball team. They called them ‘Basketball Cookies’ and gobbled them up.