I'm running a writing retreat in June
In a big old riverside house in Suffolk – you should come!
Hello!
Yes, two newsletters in as many days, but I wanted to let you know about the retreats I’m hosting because I think you might be interested, and booking for next month June retreat closes tomorrow, 21st May.
One fun development in my life of late is that I’ve started running writing retreats. I’m so glad I decided to just do it; I’ve essentially created my dream writing retreat, with: gentle structure, fantastic cooking, a beautiful peaceful location, connection with other writers, comfortable beds and plenty of spaces to work.
The next one takes place 23-26 June in Bungay, Suffolk. Tomorrow is the last chance to book, and there are still spaces.
You can read about the retreats here
Last week I managed to grab some desks for the writing retreats through Facebook Marketplace. Yesterday I set them up before may retreat guests arrived (have a nose at the rooms, etc here) Preparing a bedroom is one of the great pleasures of hosting. It’s one of the best things about being a guest too, especially if you’re staying with somebody that takes this pleasure. I’m always touched, when visiting my parents in summer, to see the flowers my Mum has placed flowers on my bedside table. It makes me think of the beautiful opening in Helen Garner’s The Spare Room. An excerpt:
I pulled up the wooden venetian and threw open the window. Air drifted in, smelling leafy, though you couldn't see a leaf unless you forced open the flywire screen and leaned right out…
On the bedside table I fanned out some chord charts to have a crack at on our ukuleles – 'Pretty Baby', 'Don't Fence Me In', 'King of the Road'. I arranged the reading lamp on a gracious angle, and placed beside it a mug full of nameless greenery that I'd found near the back shed.
I received this kind of hospitality on previous (hosted) writing retreats and I think it’s a kind of magic. When I arrived at Nicola and John’s place last summer with rucksack of books and head full of ideas she gave me such a warm hug… and then tea and a warm slice of cake, not long out of the oven.
Having somebody cook, clean and do all the planning and thinking bestows a deep respect on you and your writing. It says: I believe that your work is important. I am here to help you bring it into the world.
Of course you don’t need to be looked after in this way to make progress with your writing – DIY writing retreats, housesitting or booking a cheap no-frills hotel can all be wonderful too.
But I do think that attending a hosted retreats is transformative. You get to deeply inhabit the world you’re creating… then come downstairs to dinner.
You get to overcome that puritanical internal monologue, still clinging on through the generations, that’s like: life is meant to be hard! You’re not meant to want nice things!
You get to show that voice that going away to get the thing done isn’t luxurious, but a deeply caring act for yourself and your writing.
It’s amazing what the gentle structure of doing this – for three or four days – makes possible. Both on an emotional level, and for our ideas and word count.
This is what these retreats will do for you. The next writing retreat is June 23-26 in Bungay, Suffolk. Booking closes this Weds (21st May).
This June writing retreat will be especially fruitful for you if:
*Writing for hours & days in total solitude tends to make you spiral (same)
*Skipping the organisational parts of a DIY retreat will free up headspace to write
*You don’t want to think about supermarket shops, putting out the bin or what’s for dinner.
*You’d love gentle structure in the form of optional 90 minute blocks bookended with coffee and cake.
*You relish peace & quiet while working, whilst knowing other people are around.
*Creative headspace is exactly what your project needs right now
*A change of scene in a light-filled former mill, with plenty of space, on a river in the countryside is really speaking to you.
Come and write as part of a small & supportive group of writers. I speak to everybody before they sign up, to make sure we’re a harmonious bunch suited to spending the retreat together.
The chance to meet new people to chat & bounce ideas with at mealtimes is one of the most special aspects of these hosted retreats, imo.
If you’d like to join, click here and drop me a message