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Mid-Week Mugging: Silverleaf Writers Guild founder Jessica Trudel

She hones the skills and dreams of local writers

Timmins, a city built on mining, now lists the Silverleaf Writers Guild, an association which helps to develop the mind and the imagination through writing, as a prominent service organization on the 'Welcome to Timmins' sign on Highway 101.

For her dedication to writing and helping others discover the joys and rewards of writing, this week's Mid-Week Mug goes to Jessica Trudel and the Silverleaf Writers Guild for honing the writing skills and dreams of local writers.

Jessica Trudel is the founder of the Silverleaf Writers Guild, an association of Timmins writers, that provides mutual support, and encouragement for those who wish to write that novel or those short stories.

“The Silverleaf Writers Guild started off as an event,” said Trudel. “We hosted a series of workshops, and a lot of writers were eager to come out, and learn about the writing process, and how to improve their craft.”

“That amount of interest, is what led to the Silverleaf Writers’ Guild getting started,” Trudel added. “The regulars wanted to formalize things, and continue once the series of workshops were over.”

“We get together Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Timmins Public Library,” explained Jessica.

“We chit-chat a little bit to get everyone warmed up, and then we do a bit of a round table where everyone gets a chance to talk about how their week went with writing; any challenges they faced, and then share what they wrote."

One of the focuses during the year is November, which is National Novel Writing Month in Canada and the United States.

“I had participated in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, many times on my own,” said Trudel. “In 2015, I organized a workshop to help interested writers achieve their novel month goal of writing 50,000 words by Nov. 30.

“It was the last piece of the puzzle towards forming the Silverleaf Writers Guild,” she said. “We had so many coming out, and really enjoyed the experience of having to be disciplined, and organize their writing schedule to meet the goal of reaching 50,000 words."

In Timmins, Jessica Trudel and the Silverleaf Writers Guild now serve as a resource and support group helping writers reach their goal of 50,000 words.

“You write your first draft in November and then you need to edit it, and that is where writers struggle,” Trudel said.

A valuable writing tool that was created by Jessica and the Silverleaf Writers Guild is a book called Thinking Toque.

“It’s called Thinking Toque, a book of writing prompts all inspired by Northern related topics,” Jessica explained. “It helps to get the juices flowing.”

“The feedback I get is, that when they are working on their novel or story, and they get stuck or get writers block, they follow the exercises in the book and it helps them to get unstuck.”

For those who want to join the Silverleaf Writers’ Guild, or get a copy of The Thinking Toque visit here.

You can also visit the Silverleaf writers on Facebook.

As for Jessica, writing has been a part of her life from childhood.  

“I have been writing as long as I can remember,” said Jessica. “I started off writing poems and short stories.”

“I also participated in writing contests held by the local newspaper,” Jessica recalled.

That is one area that Silverleaf wants to pursue.

“We are working towards hosting a writing contest,” said Trudel. “We haven’t announced it yet, but will do so soon.”

If you read this article, Jessica has two words of advice for aspiring writers of all age.

“Do it!” Jessica said. “Sit down and write, set aside time.”

“Everyone asks, when do you find time to write?” Jessica added. “Find the time by making the time to write and work it into your schedule; whether that means getting up early to write, or staying up late or writing on your lunch hour or after school; just sit down and write.”

“The Silverleaf Writers Guild is a motivational tool. If you write on your own you set your own goals but no one keeps you accountable and so you can slide in your writing schedule,” said Trudel.

“If you have a group of writers that you meet every week, then you don’t want to come in every week without haven written something and have to say I didn't do any writing this week,” she said.

“You want to say, I wrote a chapter, or a page or a paragraph,” Jessica stated. “You want to show your moving ahead.

If you are interested in joining the Silverleaf Writers Guild, go to the website and if you are interested sign up. It is only $75 per year.

Jessica, also organized the Art Plus Heart artists and writers gathering on the last Saturday of the month at Christopher’s Coffee House – another venue for sharing your writing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the cost of an annual membership to Silverleaf Writers Guild. The cost is $75. 


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Frank Giorno

About the Author: Frank Giorno

Frank Giorno worked as a city hall reporter for the Brandon Sun; freelanced for the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He is the past editor of www.mininglifeonline.com and the newsletter of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers.
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