Vancouver Writers Workshop

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We’re starting the Vancouver Writers Workshop to fill a need. It’s becoming harder to get a response when you submit poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction for publication, or a script for consideration, so we’re organizing this workshop to provide writers with constructive feedback on their work. Some of us publish regularly, some not, and some people aspire to publication or the production of their scripts.
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Every fourth Sunday at 1pm PST, we are going to meet on Zoom so that even though we are the Vancouver Writers Workshop (VWW), people from other cities, even other countries, can take part. The workshop organizers, Dave Jones who writes screenplays, novels and short stories, and Greg Strong, an educational writer, journalist, and story writer, have been attending writing workshops for many years.
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Here is our process:
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One week before the meeting, we each post our work to a Google Drive folder (that is, if we have something we want read that week), and the tacit agreement is that we read all the other manuscripts submitted prior to the meeting. At the meeting, we will each briefly introduce ourselves, then discuss the works one by one, in the order that they were posted to the Google Drive folder, with a limit of 12 pieces to keep the meeting to four-and-a-half hours duration.
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Writers should look at the workshop as a chance to try out new pieces rather than to solicit praise for something that they are satisfied with or have already published or has been produced. A good rule of thumb for readers participating in a discussion, and a very constructive approach, is to start with what you like about a piece and what you feel is working well. It’s also important for people commenting on a piece to look at its genre and where the writer wishes to go, regardless of your interest in a genre or the writer’s approach. Then you can move on to suggestions or questions for the writer. Sometimes, a writer may include some questions at the end of a piece to direct the response.
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We allow 20 minutes for discussion of each piece. During the discussion, the contributor remains quiet, but following the discussion, may ask a question or two for clarification. The discussion is not supposed to be a debate about the merits of a work. It’s a chance for the writer to hear readers’ responses to his or her work. You don’t have to bring any work to join the discussion. You are welcome to come and just listen or comment, but we ask you to read ALL the works posted before you attend. And of course, there’s nothing to prevent a writer and reader from continuing a discussion privately after the meeting as long as both parties are willing to do so. We take a 10-minute break halfway through the workshop.
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Membership Costs and Technical Requirements
If you want your work discussed, please check this website for the date you will attend and for links to the Google Drive folder. Submission deadlines will be announced here, too. The word limit is 7,500 words, and poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, as well as play and film scripts will all be accepted. As long as you stick to the word limit, you are welcome to submit part of a larger work and to bring successive chapters or acts over a period of months.
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We are just starting now (January 2025) so after people attend two meetings, we will ask for a small monthly fee to cover Meet-up expenses ($20.88 monthly) and a Zoom subscription ($17.91 monthly). For convenience, and to allow people to participate from far and wide, our meetings will be held online. However, in future, we may organize a few live social events in Vancouver.
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Participation in the meetings will require a quiet place to work from as well as a computer or tablet with a working camera and microphone. Work may be submitted as either Microsoft Word files (.doc or .docx) or PDF files (.pdf). You will also need to register for each meeting through a Meet-up link that will be provide once you register on the website. You may create a profile for yourself on Meet-up if you wish people to know more about you and your work. It will also help if you familiarize yourself with the basic operation of Zoom.