Last year, we held our first editing-focused Writing Intensive and you told us it was a hit! We are excited to share that it is coming back for a second pass, with new workshops. While this event does not require any prior knowledge or attendance, we are excited to share that we will be sending out highlights from last year's recordings as a bonus to everyone who signs up.
Join us for five days of online learning from June 22 to 26, 2026.
ABOUT
EDIT TREK: THE NEXT ITERATION is a weeklong online editing intensive focused on the messy, necessary, deeply transformative work of revision.
Running via Zoom from June 22 to 26, this editing- and revision-focused intensive will help writers look beyond the first draft and into the real craft of shaping, strengthening, and polishing a manuscript. With sessions offered at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Pacific, participants can choose from a range of workshops, talks, and discussions led by editors, authors, and publishing professionals with different areas of expertise.
Revision is not one single pass through a manuscript. It is a process of discovery, diagnosis, decision-making, and refinement. Whether a writer is revising their first short story, preparing a novel for submission, reworking a memoir, polishing poems, strengthening nonfiction, or returning to a long-abandoned project, this intensive will offer practical tools and thoughtful guidance for every stage of the journey.
Sessions will explore the full arc of revision, from big-picture structural work to scene-level refinement, character development, pacing, clarity, language, self-editing strategies, working with feedback, choosing beta readers, participating in critique groups, and understanding when a manuscript may be ready for professional editing or submission.
Designed for writers at all levels and career stages, EDIT TREK: THE NEXT ITERATION invites participants to approach revision not as punishment for an imperfect first draft, but as the creative process that turns raw material into a stronger, clearer, more compelling piece of writing.
Bring your questions, your courage, your problem chapters, your half-solved endings, your overstuffed middles, your comma anxieties, and your willingness to see the work anew. The next draft is where the real adventure begins.
EVENT SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
All times are in Pacific (Vancouver) time.
Presentations will be recorded and available to registrants for 45 days after the intensive. The recordings will all be emailed at once, within a week of the end of the intensive. Socials and writing sprints will not be recorded.
SESSIONS INCLUDE:
GAIL ANDERSON DARGATZ: Big Picture Revision: Turn Your Good Book into a Great One
Okay, let’s face it: writers don’t like conflict. Who does? But when we allow our characters to avoid their conflicts, we run into real problems, such as unclear story goals, passive protagonists and wandering storylines. These issues stem from a lack of thorough development, which can stand in the way of a book’s potential for success or even prevent it from being published. In this workshop, award-winning novelist and developmental editor Gail Anderson-Dargatz will point out where you’re likely avoiding conflict on the page and explore ways to build more active characters and a strong narrative drive.
CINDI JACKSON: Practical Editing Tools: More Than Find & Replace
Let’s explore some revision toolkit steps that can start your process off to a positive and visibly-rewarding start. Revisions get a bad rap, but they are where writing comes alive. In this workshop, we will ensure your writing project and you, the author, are warmed up and ready to revise. To revise where no one has gone before, in this Revision Trek workshop.
MICHELLE BARKER & DAVID BROWN of the Darling Axe: That's What She Said is a workshop about revising dialogue. We'll look at some badly written dialogue and discuss why it's not working and what to do about it. We'll also look at things like beats, spacing, dialect, and how to write effective dialogue
CHRISTINA MYERS: Perfect Match: The Writer and Editor Relationship
Join editor and author Christina Myers for a session on working with professional editors, including how to find the right editor for you, when to think about hiring a professional, best practices in the writer/editor relationship, and more. The session will include time for a Q&A.
CADENCE MANDYBURA: 5-Stage Story Refinery
Are you stuck between drafts? The story refinery is a guided process for examining your manuscript, rekindling your passion for your story, and making decisions that will help you move forward with confidence and commitment. Bring some pages of your manuscript—hard copy if possible!—to mark up as part of this session, as well as a notebook and several colours of pen. This session is appropriate for writers of all genres and experience levels.
ALLISON FINLEY: Revision Plan: Build an Editing Road Map
You finished a draft, congratulations! ...Only, now you need to turn this mess of scenes and characters into something coherent—where do you even start? Fear not! With a Revision Plan as your guide, you'll be able to wade into the chaos of your manuscript and chart a path to the next, clearer draft. Learn how to create a Revision Plan that will help you organize your edits big and small without getting overwhelmed. This living document will keep track of where you are and where you want to go using a chapter outline and sections for general notes, one-off additions, continuity tracking, characters, and anything else you need. By using this guide, you’ll discover which areas are on the right track and which you need to focus on. Knowledge of structure, character arcs, and pacing will allow you to get more out of this document.
TARA AVERY: To Boldly Go: Editing Beyond the Rules
Resistance isn’t as futile as one might think! Not every rule deserves unquestioning obedience. In this session, we’ll explore some of the most persistent myths about the rules of writing, from split infinitives and sentence-ending prepositions to passive voice, fragments, and other so-called errors. We’ll examine where these rules came from, which ones still matter (and when!), and which we can approach with phasers set to kill (or at least to stun).
LAURA FARINA: Revising Your Poetry
A hospital for sick metaphors. A shelter for line breaks in search of a good home. This hands-on workshop will introduce you to a variety of ways to play with a completed poem in order to see it with fresh eyes. Bring a poem that isn't working and together we'll experiment with ways to uncover its hidden potential!
Laura Farina is the author of two books of poetry, This Woman Alphabetical and Some Talk of Being Human, as well as the picture book This is the Path the Wolf Took. Her third poetry collection, Behold!, is forthcoming from Coach House Books. Laura is the recipient of the Archibald Lampman Award, and has been long-listed for both the Relit Award and the CBC Poetry Prize. She’s very temporarily the associate director of the Writer's Studio at SFU.
Friday, June 26 will include the 2 p.m. session, followed at 4 p.m. by a Q&A panel discussion and then a social hour with breakout rooms so you can network and connect with fellow attendees!
ZOOM LINK
- The Zoom link will be included in your registration confirmation and in follow-up reminders.
- We will be using the same zoom link for the duration of the event.
- Please watch your email for a confirmation of registration email.
- If you do not receive your confirmation within 24 hours of registration, please check your spam folders.
- Contact us at hello@bcwriters.ca if you have not received your confirmation by Thursday, June 18th to ensure we can get you the needed information.
RECORDINGS
- Sessions (except social/discussion-based events) will be recorded and made available for 45 days after the last session.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- Sessions will be a combination of talks, activities, and workshops.
- The FBCW's statement of participant expectations applies in all settings. Please help us make this intensive a fun, safe experience for our presenters and community members by being respectful and considerate in your participation.
- Most sessions will be 1 hour in length. Q&A may extend the session, but participants are not required to stay.
- Participants are encouraged to have a pen and paper handy for all sessions.
RATES
- FBCW MEMBERS: $69.50
- GUEST: $89
- SCHOLARSHIP: Limited scholarship-based discounts are available for those experiencing financial difficulties. Please email us at hello@bcwriters.ca to inquire.
POLICIES
RECORDINGS
- Our presenters are provided with contracts that stipulate the length of time that recordings are available. We are obligated to respect these contracts. No extensions are possible.
- Reach out if you have any tech challenges related to access of the recordings so that we can help you in the timeframe available.
REFUND POLICY
- Full refunds will be issued up to June 12th at 11:59 p.m.
- Refunds for half of registration fees will be be issued until June 19th at 11:59 p.m.
- No refunds are possible after June 19 at 11:59 p.m. except in the case of severe illness, death, or other urgent situations determined on a case-by-case basis.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- We are an organization that cherishes the work of writers and artists. To that end, we ask that all participants respect the intellectual property of our presenters, recordings, and material shared. Do not reproduce or distribute Writing Intensive materials without written permission.
- Similarly, if other participants share information or excerpts from their projects, please respect their intellectual property.
LIABILITY
- In registering, participants understand and agree that the Federation of BC Writers (FBCW), its board, staff, presenters, and members are not liable for any damages or losses arising and waive any of the above from any and all liability.
- The FBCW provides a space for presenters to share their experiences and insights with participants. The writing industry is a complex and ever-changing environment. As such, the FBCW does not endorse any specific information shared in our programming as being complete or accurate in all scenarios. Participants have a responsibility to research and make informed decisions on any information given or implied.
- Difficult and triggering topics can arise as part of artistic practices that are unforeseeable for staff, volunteers, and other participants. The FBCW is not liable for any damages or harms caused by participating in our programming.
PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS
- The FBCW is an organisation that celebrates diversity and inclusion; taking part in the program means that participants are expected to be respectful, inclusive, and support the dignity of all people regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, language, ability, nationality, ability, health status, religion, and socioeconomic status. All people have identities that intersect the categories above. Examples of behaviour that undermine the above are: crude jokes, unwanted communication, statements minimising others’ experiences/histories, and threats.
- Participants are expected to arrive a few minutes before sessions start. This allows for any technical issues to be resolved without the group being disrupted.
- If a participant is late, we ask that they refrain from asking “what did I miss” type questions so that the event can proceed smoothly. Staff and facilitators will do the best they can to assist if vital information has been shared, but the recording should be able to resolve any questions of this nature.
- We ask that participants be mindful of the amount of time they speak at events. All participants should have the ability to join in. Participants are expected to keep comments on topic and under a minute so that as many people as possible can participate.
- Participants understand that if they are muted, it is not an intentional slight to them, but is needed to keep the session moving forward. Participants can be muted at the discretion of the FBCW facilitators.
- Difficult topics can arise, and participants understand that we cannot always know or understand other people’s histories. To help make the space as welcoming and safe as possible, if a participant’s is to share information or read excerpts from works that contain certain themes (outlined below), they will identify this prior to reading it to the group. (e.g. sexual assault, extreme violence, self-harm/eating disorders/suicide ideation, abortion/miscarriage, mental illness, graphic adult content).
- Participants are expected to understand, be sensitive to, and respect the fact that the work of writers, and their opportunity to read their work may be triggering and/or therapeutic to them. Artistic works require vulnerability and the safety to be vulnerable, especially with sensitive topics. Participants agree to do their best to maintain a safe and supportive space for the sharing of the work, regardless of its nature.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND ACCESSIBILITY
- The Federation of BC Writers strives to make our events accessible to folks across ability and neurodivergence. We will do what we can to make our programming available to all people.
- Our programming is based on zoom which means there are some limitations on what can be accomplished, but also advantages such as closed captioning and the ability to join from anywhere.
- Accommodations are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
- Accommodations that would significantly hinder the ability of other participants to be involved or participate are not possible.
- Some accommodations may be beyond our financial and administrative capabilities. In such cases, we will seek funding or alternatives if possible.
- Sessions normally last for an hour. Participants are welcome to step way from their computers if they need to while turning off their camera and microphone, but we will not be able to fill people in on what they missed. Participants are asked to return to the recording in such instances.
