Revise Your Way to Success at Write on Bowen

By Maureen Sawasy

Revision. At some point in our lives we’ve all had to do it. Whether it was cramming for a test or editing that final paper in university, revision is a constant companion to all writers and at some point, revision becomes an absolutely essential element in the steps towards becoming a published writer.

So, what are the steps to creating the perfect piece of published writing? Upon completion of the first draft, we all feel like we’ve just written the Best. Thing. Ever. We see no need to revise and no need to write a second draft because hey, it’s perfect! But, will it get published?

David Stephens, Tradewind Books Senior Editor, is hosting a workshop on preparing your second draft

On July 9 and 10, two workshops at Write on Bowen provide writers with the perfect answer to the question “where do I go from here?”

On Saturday July 9, Tradewind Books Senior Editor, David Stephens presents “Toolbox for Re-approaching Your Manuscript”. Participants learn the ‘art of creating a publication-ready draft’.

Before the workshop, participants receive a set of editing tools that they can use to revise their manuscripts. These tools are then applied during the workshop. Stephens promises that by the end of the workshop, participants will be excited about starting their second draft.

On Sunday, July 10, published poet and writer April Bosshard presents “Beyond the First Draft”. This workshop gives participants a plan to break down their first draft in order to allow for rewriting.

All About Publishing at Write on Bowen 2011

By April Bosshard

To publish or not to publish? That is the question. And sooner or later, all writers ask it.

Writers write first and foremost for themselves, but writers also write to be read by others so if you answered ‘yes, I want to publish,’ you won’t want to miss the 4th annual Write on Bowen Festival running this year from July 8 to 10.

Susan Safyan of Arsenal Pulp Press is hosting a workshop on Pitching Your Book to A Publisher

Susan Safyan, in-house editor at Arsenal Pulp Press, will offer a workshop called “Pitching Your Book to A Publisher” on Saturday, July 9th. She reminds all writers who want to get published: “Expect and aim to learn a lot, to experience both success and disappointment.”

Susan notes that editors look for submissions that are virtually publication ready. She advises writers to “get curious about publishing, to find out its complexities.”

The good news is that editors are always looking for writers who write well, who share an understanding that editing makes the book better, and who can show courtesy, consideration, and ideally a sense of humor during the publishing process.

“Believe it or not,” Susan says, “some writers see editors as adversaries they have to fight,” although she readily admits that “most of the time it’s a happy, productive process.”

New York agent, Noah Lukeman cautions: “When setting out to get published, writers should prepare themselves for a marathon, not a sprint. Quite often, what makes the difference between authors who get published and those who don’t is simply the number of years they are willing to hang in there. Perseverance is everything.”

Julie Ferguson, author of fourteen nonfiction books, is hosting a workshop on E-Publishing

Another option for aspiring writers is self-publishing—an increasingly viable option. At Write on Bowen, author and experienced workshop facilitator Julie Ferguson shares her wisdom about self-publishing in the electronic age in her workshop ”Get Going with E-books, E-readers, and E-publishing.”

Full festival passes and other ticket options are now available for purchase. The festival passes provide the best value.

A Full Festival Pass costs just $199 if purchased before June 1 and includes Opening Night with Annabel Lyon and Timothy Taylor, the Saturday Dinner Event & Gala, four workshops, two lunch sessions, blue-pencil editing, and refreshments. Each workshop is limited to just 15 seats so register early.

Call for facilitators, panelists etc. at Write on Bowen

If you are interested in taking part in Write on Bowen 2011 as a facilitator, panelist, or reader/performer or you know someone who may be interested, please note that the deadline for submissions is February 7.

For more details and to download the application form, go to our main website and email the form to: admin@biac.ca

Annabel Lyon joins Timothy Taylor at Write on Bowen 2011

Author Annabel Lyon is co-opening the Write on Bowen festival in 2011 (Pix: Philip Chin)

Jan. 13, 2011

We’re delighted to say that Annabel Lyon, author of the award-winning novel The Golden Mean, is coming to Bowen.

Lyon joins Stanley Park author Timothy Taylor in co-opening the 2011 Write On Bowen festival on Friday, July 8.

The Golden Mean received rave reviews in 2009 and was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller and the Governor General’s awards as well as winning the 2009 Rogers Writers Trust Award.

A recent review in New Yorker describes The Golden Mean as a “vivid imagining of the encounter between Aristotle and the young Alexander the Great…. Lyon’s evocation of the ancient world is earthy and immediate.”

Lyon is also the author of Oxygen (stories, 2007), The Best Thing for You (novella, 2004), and All-Season Edie (juvenile novel, 2007).

To learn more about her writing and research style, check out these two interviews:Solid Golden in Walrus magazine and a Quill & Quire interview she gave on learning the craft of writing fiction, now on Random House’s website.

Timothy Taylor to co-open 2011 Write on Bowen

Vancouver author Timothy Taylor will co-open the 2011 Write on Bowen festival and help other writers in a two-hour workshop

Award-winning and bestselling writer Timothy Taylor is the first author out of the starting gate for the next annual Write on Bowen festival.

Taylor, author of Stanley Park, Silent Cruise and Story House, will open the Write On Bowen festival on Friday, July 8 along with another key presenter. He will also host a two-hour workshop on Saturday, July 9.

Taylor’s new novel The Blue Light Project tracks three days in the life of a North American city gripped by a hostage taking in a television studio. It’s due to published in the spring of 2011.

To read more about Taylor, visit Quill & Quire’s piece Habits of a Highly Effective Writer. More details about the festival to come.

Write on Bowen 2010 – The Word is Success!

By Carol M. Cram, festival coordinator

The third annual Write on Bowen festival packed a literary punch chock full of enough inspiration to keep participants going until the fourth annual Write on Bowen!

Twelve workshops, three plenary sessions, a smashing opening night, a gala celebration, and lots of chances to meet and mingle with other writers and the presenters wowed locals and off-islanders alike.

On Opening Night, a packed audience at the Gallery @ Artisan Square listened in rapt silence punctuated frequently by laughter (and even a few bittersweet tears) to renowned Canadian storyteller Ivan E. Coyote.

Her funny, poignant, human stories enthralled the audience and left them wanting more. One word sums up her performance – amazing!

Ivan E. Coyote wows Bowen audience

By Alison Bate

Ivan.E. Coyote at the Write on Bowen festival on Bowen Island

What a great show by Ivan E. Coyote on Friday night. After entertaining us all flat out, she stuck around to sign books and chat with people. A real pro.

Before launching into some moving, reflective stories, she recalled visiting her uncle and aunt as a kid in 1979 on Bowen Island for three glorious weeks.

“I first decided I wanted to be an artist when I was on Bowen Island,” she quipped. The Caravan Theatre was visiting at the time, and she recalled: ” I remember deciding at that moment I wanted to do something where you have to live out of your truck.”

Not sure if she came by truck, but she was definitely moving around Friday night. After a full entertaining evening, she caught the last ferry off The Rock, heading for another show in Victoria.

Some neat reaction to her show on the Bowen forum

Festival goers might also enjoy reading Ivan’s recent column in Xtra! called A word’s worth. It starts out this way: ” I have never cared too much about what you call me.

I’ve never been too hung up on labels, mostly because there are so few that stick properly to me, not to mention the fact that most adhesives give me a nasty rash. I can’t even tolerate a cheap band-aid….” See Xtra!

Elee Kraljii Gardiner on fighting fear

By Carol M. Cram

Poet, editor and publisher Elee Kraljii Gardiner

In her workshop at Write on Bowen this weekend, Elee Kraljii Gardiner will help participants identify that “nagging, negative voice designed to stop you in your tracks.”

As Gardiner says: “Everyone has a unique interior script, but we all have one that gets stuck on repeat when we’re vulnerable. ‘I don’t have time, I don’t deserve to, I’m not clever, can’t spell, it’s been done before and done better, no one cares, etc.’

“These are all tricks our Inner Critics use to makes us fearful of creating new work, in any discipline.”

The A-Z of Bowen Island writers: a detailed list

Bowen Island has always attracted writers.

Malcolm Lowry, Earle Birney, Margaret Lawrence, Jane Rule and many other famous writers all came here to write and relax at Lieben – an unofficial writers’ colony hosted by the Neilsons off Eaglecliff Road. More recently, Nick Bantock, of Griffin and Sabine fame, lived on Bowen for a decade. Science fiction writer Spider Robinson currently lives here, as well as the multi-talented Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas, author of the bestselling Flight of the Hummingbird.

Bowen Island is also home to an impressive number of other published writers. The list below demonstrates the breadth of talent here on The Rock:

Q. and A. with non-fiction writer Daniel Wood

By Carol M. Cram

Writer and teacher Daniel Wood

Daniel Wood has taught non-fiction writing at Simon Fraser University for 20 years, and is the author of 15 books (fiction and non-fiction), and hundreds of magazine articles for many of the world’s major periodicals.

Wood is giving a workshop on Writing Narrative-Based Non Fiction at the Write on Bowen Festival on Sunday, July 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Q. Can you define what you mean by narrative-based non fiction?

Wood: Modern non-fiction is rooted in story. In documentary film, in TV “news magazine”-type shows, in most good magazines, in feature newspaper articles, the information is packaged to appeal to a reader’s willingness to succumb to a story.

So, in this way, today’s non-fiction employs – without making anything up! – all the elements of fiction: scenes, characters, dialogue, drama, story structure, which combined, drive the flow of information and ideas. That’s narrative non-fiction.