Summer Writing Challenge

The Summer Writing Challenge has been designed in partnership between the Federation of BC Writers, Pulp Literature, and The Writer's Studio at SFU to support long-format writing projects and ongoing writing habits. Join us for a summer of digital learning, support, and community from July 15th to September 6th.

There is no wrong way to take part and no wrong project to tackle. The idea is simple; We want to help you to start or keep writing this summer. Short story collections, poetry collections, novels, memoirs, works of creative nonfiction, establishing ongoing writing habits, and all other long-form projects are a great fit for this program.

Price:

• $99 for Federation of BC Writers Members
• $120 for Guests
• A limited number of scholarships are available thanks to the support of The Writer's Studio at SFU for folks where cost or other factors are a barrier to participation. Please e-mail us at hello@bcwriters.ca to get your pass.

Included with Your Registration:

• 5x Workshops/Sessions to help you design your project, track goals, and stay motivated
• 5x Accountability Check-ins
• Weekly Hour Stories (description below)
• 4x e-mails a week with writing exercises
• 2x Writers Socials to connect and chat with other writers
• a 1 year subscription to the digital edition of Pulp Literature Magazine (valued at $20, print edition available)
• a digital copy of The Writer’s Friend & Confidante by Mel Anastasiou (which is the basis for many of our activities)

All events will be held on zoom and workshops will be recorded and available to participants for up to 1 month after the challenge ends.

The Schedule:

• July 15th Kick-off

9:00am welcome and Info Session
11:00am Goal Setting and Time Management with Mel Anastasiou
2:00pm Session on Brainstorming with Christina Meyers

• July 31 at 11am: Research (title to come) with Chris (CC) Humphreys

• August 14 at 11am: Getting Unstuck with Frances Peck

  Writers often hit a wall partway into a project. Suddenly they’re out of energy, inspiration, or confidence—or all three. Getting stuck is a common, almost unavoidable stage in the creative process. Drawing on her experience as both an author and an editor/instructor/writing coach, Frances Peck will share tips and encourage discussion on how to pull your WIP from the quagmire and get it flowing again.

  Ongoing Sessions
• Fridays at 10:00 am: Hour Stories Sessions (Starting July 19th)
• Mondays at 9:00 am: Writing Accountability (Starting July 29th)
  
• 1 Additional workshops/session (to be announced)
• A Wrap Up event in September with a focus on "What Next"

Hour Stories Description

A writing circle can be one of the most positive and powerful sources of feedback and encouragement in the otherwise solitary occupation of writing.  We invite you to join our circle for a morning of writing and reader response, using the The Hour Stories created by Dale Adams Segal.  In this two-hour workshop you will generate approximately 1000 words of either a new story or a section of your work-in-progress. The Hour Story cards are excellent tools to promote deeper insight, unstick a writing block, or take your story in a new and exciting direction.  (For more about this process, read the review by FBCW President, KT Wagner on page 19 of Wordworks Magazine.)