Regular chapter meetings alternate between Victoria and Nanaimo, and are held on the second Saturday of the month (unless otherwise noted) in January, March, April, May, June, August, October and November. (February is our annual awards luncheon, July is when we have our summer picnic, and September is the all-day fall workshop.) Chapter meetings include:
- Romance Writing 101, a half-hour Q&A with published authors, beginning at 10:30
- Chapter Business Meeting from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
- Lunch from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (potluck or brown bag, varies by location)
- Workshop from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Visitors are welcome to come to any (or all!) parts of two regular meetings before joining.
March 10, 2012
Speaker: Shelley Bates
Topic: The Four-Layer Method of Revision
Location: St. Aidan’s Church – Victoria
You’ve finished your first draft—whew! Time to send it out, right? Wrong. Even if you’ve been editing as you go, there are things you can do to make your novel not longer, but deeper. This is not so much about polishing the surface, but about getting under it to draw the reader in and keep her turning the pages. In this workshop you’ll learn how to layer in character, emotion, physicality, and the “pretties”—symbol, metaphor, and theme—so that when you send out your book, it’s the best it can be.
Shelley holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, where she teaches as adjunct faculty. Writing as Shelley Bates, she won RWA’s RITA Award for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, was a finalist for that award in 2006, and, writing as Shelley Adina, was a Christy Award finalist in 2009. Three of her books have shortlisted for the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award for book of the year. Writing as Adina Senft, her next release is The Hidden Life, book two in the Amish Quilt trilogy, in June 2012. An ex-pat living in California, Shelley comes home to the Island annually to have her accent calibrated. Between books, she enjoys traveling with her husband, playing the piano and Celtic harp, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens.
April 14, 2012
Speaker: Judy Stewart
Topic: Crafting Dynamic Characters with the Enneagram
Location: Vancouver Island Regional Library – Nanaimo Harbourfront Branch
Different writers use different methods to develop characters. Astrology. Archetypes. Luck. And then there’s the Enneagram. Recent VIC workshops provided a too brief overview about the Enneagram, a system of nine distinct and different personality patterns each with a different set of strengths, weaknesses and core life issues that must be overcome for a person to gain success and happiness. In this workshop learn how a writer can use the Enneagram as a shortcut to craft dynamic characters, build goals and motivations, layer in conflicts and develop a satisfying story from beginning to end.
May 12, 2012
Speaker: Susan Lyons (also writing as Susan Fox)
Topic: Does Size Matter? Writing Novels, Novellas and Short Stories
Location: St. Aidan’s Church – Victoria
During our careers, many of us will write fiction of different lengths. Switching lengths is an adventure and a learning experience, and can be highly rewarding. While you’re working to sell your first novel, you can gain experience and publishing credentials by selling stories. Once you’ve sold a book, you can hone your skill, explore different themes, and acquire a wider readership by writing stories and novellas. And you may find, if you first sold a novel or novella, that your publisher will ask you to write a work of a different length.
Award-winning author Susan Lyons has sold 11 novels, 5 novellas, 3 erotic short stories, and more than 30 sweet short stories. She discusses the pros and cons of writing different lengths, and provides guidelines for succeeding at each.
June 9, 2012 (AGM)
Speaker: Nancy Warren
Topic: TBA
Location: Vancouver Island Regional Library – Nanaimo Harbourfront Branch