Writing Intensive: Crafting Easy, Breezy Beach Reads

Join us for five days of online learning from July 20 to 24, 2026.

ABOUT

CRAFTING EASY BREEZY BEACH READS is a weeklong online writing intensive focused on the craft, discipline, and deceptive difficulty of writing books that feel effortless to read. Beach reads are often described as “light,” but lightness is not the same as simplicity. Just because something is an easier read does not mean it is an easy write.

While each session is designed to stand alone, the overall writing intensive has been carefully curated to offer a range of practical craft lessons that build toward a cohesive and rewarding learning experience. Participants will explore the invisible engineering behind page-turners.

In a crowded and competitive field, quality matters. Readers may arrive looking for pleasure, escape, humour, romance, reinvention, or emotional release, but they stay because the writing is doing its job with precision. This program will also consider how serious themes—grief, class, power, identity, aging, desire, and transformation—can live inside accessible, pleasurable stories.

Designed for writers at all levels and career stages, CRAFTING EASY BREEZY BEACH READS invites participants to take light reading seriously as a demanding and rewarding craft. Bring your sunny premises, messy protagonists, half-built hooks, unresolved secrets, emotional undertow, and respect for the reader. The book may feel easy in their hands—but on the page, every effortless moment has to earn its place.

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. 

DETAILED SCHEDULE:

~ Eliana West: Serious Themes in Accessible Fiction

How do you write about difficult topics without overwhelming readers or turning your novel into a lesson? Whether you're writing romance, fantasy, mystery, or historical fiction, serious themes can add depth, authenticity, and emotional resonance when they're woven naturally into your characters' journeys. In this workshop, we'll explore how to approach sensitive subjects with intention, empathy, and purpose while keeping story at the center of your novel.

We'll discuss intention versus impact, harmful editing, the power of language, unconscious assumptions, and how to avoid using controversial topics for shock value alone. Through practical examples and interactive discussion, you'll learn how to create characters who navigate complex issues in ways that feel authentic, relatable, and emotionally satisfying. You'll leave with tools to evaluate your own scenes, make intentional storytelling choices, and write fiction that entertains readers while exploring the issues that matter most.

~ Elisa Aisenstat: The Effortless Scene

This presentation uses the novel Beach Read by Emily Henry as an anchor text to explore the hidden engineering behind scenes that feel easy to read. Drawing on a practical scene structure framework built around POV Goal, Entry Hook, Middle, Exit Hook, and Climax, this session gives participants tools to build scenes that carry readers forward without them noticing the work being done.

The session begins with the Skeleton Blurb and Scene Blurb as planning tools, then moves into exploring the structural elements that build a foundation for a great scene. Participants will leave with a reusable framework they can apply to their own work, whether writing from scratch or strengthening scenes already on the page.

~ Gabrielle Prendergast: BC Book Prize Winner on Turning an Idea into an Adventure

This session explores the use of subplot by examining three basic plot types—The Quest, Unrequited Love and Good vs. Evil—and how they can be used together to create fully formed plots and characters. The session will also include a discussion of using fairy tales and archetypal stories such as myths, legends, biblical stories, and even seminal modern works to inspire and frame stories.

Gabrielle will discuss her book Zero Repeat Forever (which bears a Beauty and the Beast theme) as well as her screenplay for the 2001 film Hildegarde (which bears a Wizard of Oz theme). Attendees will leave with several tools they can use in adding depth to their storytelling in screen, novels, memoir, or short fiction

~ Jacqueline Firkins: Where to Fit the Drama: Braiding Tension and Comfort for a Satisfying Commercial Read

Working from large to small, the workshop will cover ways to keep tension and conflict embedded within a "comfort" read. Session will cover overall story structure, chapter composition, character arcs, setting, and dialogue, illustrating ways a writer can keep dramatic tension active within a story marketed for readers of commercial women's fiction.

~ Jody Holford/Sophie Sullivan: Awkward (Meet) Cutes!

There's no better way to stumble into love than awkwardly. Join Sophie Sullivan for a workshop on creating memorable opening moments that make your characters pop off the page.

~ Jonathan Whitelaw: Crime & Mystery

In this session, we will look at the art of crafting mystery and thriller stories fit for the beach. We will examine how to deal with dark and gritty themes and characters in a way that makes them "light" and appealing, enough to not spoil a good vacation!

~ Kalie Holford: Beach Reads and Messy Leads: Sand is Messy, So Why Can’t Characters Be?

People make mistakes, and so do characters! The perfect feel-good read often follows imperfectly human love and people. Let’s talk about creating authentic, messy characters who fall down, get back up, and do it all over again.

~ Melinda Di Lorenzo: Twists, Timelines, and Thriller Tension

Melinda’s session explores the craft of writing a compelling thriller, from building a strong plot foundation to creating suspense through multiple points of view, layered timelines, and carefully earned twists. Using a favourite plotting approach often called the “Star Wars” (or "the Sooz") method, Melinda will show how writers can shape tension, escalation, and payoff while avoiding common thriller pitfalls. She’ll also look at what makes a twist feel surprising but satisfying, and how a strong ending can sometimes become the beginning of the story.

To close, Melinda will share a behind-the-scenes look at how her latest thriller short came to life.

~ Jenn Sommersby: The Almost-There Beach Read: Reader Promise, Payoff, and Revision

Some manuscripts have strong scenes, appealing characters, a compelling premise, and plenty of potential—but still don’t quite deliver the reading experience they seem to promise. So what’s going wrong?

In this practical editorial session, Jennifer Sommersby will explore the larger promises a novel makes to readers through its premise, genre, tone, opening pages, character arc, emotional stakes, and expected payoff. Rather than focusing on scene structure, this workshop looks at how the parts of a manuscript work together to create momentum, satisfaction, and trust.

Participants will learn how to identify common reasons accessible fiction can start to feel uneven, overstuffed, underpowered, or harder to read than intended, and will leave with a reader-focused diagnostic checklist they can use during revision.

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, July 16th 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 July 3rd at 11:59 p.m.

• Refunds for half of registration fees will be be issued until July 17th at 11:59 p.m.

• No refunds are possible after July 17th 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.