writing retreats Archives

Why join our creative writing retreat in Costa Rica? Here’s six reasons!

Serenity in Nature… While you Write Costa Rica is the perfect place to unwind and get creative, inspired by the wonders of nature. At our boutique hotel just outside Quepos, you’ll be greeted by toucans in the morning and squirrel monkeys in the evening. You’ll breathe in the lush rainforest air one moment, and the soft ocean breeze the next. Work on your novel, memoir, poetry, short story or writing fragments at one of the hotel’s lookout points, on the beach, in a café at the marina, or in the little coffee shop overlooking the pool. Writing Retreats Are Great for Solo Travellers! If you hope to travel alone, and you love writing (or want to try it) then a creative writing retreat is the [...]

April 10th, 2024|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

Join us for our Next Creative Writing Retreat to Costa Rica!

Our next Costa Rica Writing Retreat (Saturday 19th to Saturday 26th January 2025) is held in partnership with a boutique hotel in Quepos, just 2.5 hours south of the international airport at San Jose. Like all our retreat, it’s suitable for beginner and experienced writers of fiction, poetry and memoir! About Our Hotel Our base for this trip is Las Cascadas Boutique Hotel - https://www.lascascadasthefalls.com/. Located in rainforest, Las Cascadas is just a 5 minute walk from the new marina at Quepos, which has a wealth of restaurants and cafes overlooking the ocean. Our writers stay in private rooms within gorgeously-decorated cottages. Toucans and squirrel monkeys are frequent visitors, and there is even a scarlet macaw nest on site! Morning writing workshops take place on [...]

March 25th, 2024|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

Our Creative Writing Retreats – The Delights of Merida!

Our next Mexico Creative Writing Retreat in 2024 will once again be held in the beautiful Yucatecan city of Merida. In addition to the morning creative writing workshops (which are appropriate to writers of poetry, memoir, short fiction and novels), participants will have the opportunity to sightsee in and around this glorious city. Sightseeing in Merida This vibrant city is full of great sights: museums, plazas, gorgeous colonial mansions and art galleries. There are also weekly festivals held in the evenings that include dancing, craft stalls, live music and even a traditional Mayan ball game played with a ball of fire! Check out this blog for additional informatio on the sights of Merida: https://www.roamingaroundtheworld.com/top-5-things-to-do-in-merida-mexico/ Another terrific resource for travellers is the online magazine, Yucatan [...]

December 21st, 2023|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

Creative Writing Retreats: Magical Moments in Merida!

Just about every day on our creative writing retreats is special – after all, retreats are not only a chance to learn, they are also full of new experiences and great memories. Writing retreats are holidays, too! But there are some days so magnificent that they take your breath away and feed your soul. Yesterday on our Mexico Creative Writing Retreat was one of those days. Writing Workshop We began in the morning with a workshop on five act structure. I hadn’t expected this to be quite so meaningful to so many of our writers, but we have several people here with ideas for novels and memoirs, or with books-in-progress that have stalled on the way. We ended with two terrific writers sharing their [...]

December 6th, 2023|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

An MFA in Creative Writing: Is It Worth It?

Read the bios of a dozen new fiction writers, and the chances are good that at least half will list among their credentials an MFA in Creative Writing. I completed my own MFA in Creative Writing through the University of British Columbia, and I’m often asked by my writing students: is a Masters in Creative Writing essential, if you want to see your work in print? Arguments Against an MFA in Creative Writing A Masters Degree is expensive and some writers might argue it would eat into the limited time they have available for writing. Many MFAs also require you to diversify in ways you may not wish to. Why take a course in poetry, screenwriting or memoir, if what you want to do is [...]

January 23rd, 2023|Retreats, Writing Advice, writing retreats|

Historical Fiction Prompts for Writers

In our last blog, we looked at how online resources have transformed a writer's research process. So let's explore this idea with a creative writing prompt. Writing Prompt: Historical Fiction Write down a daily task or hobby that interests you. Now, choose a specific historic period and location. Come up with a close approximation of your interest that may fit with the period and location. Write down what you already think you know about that activity. Now, set a timer. Give yourself 15 minutes to research that specific activity online. Read everything you can about it. Look at illustrations. Become an expert in something very precise. An example for this writing prompt: Present day interest: racing cars Historic period/location: Roman Empire Approximation: Chariot racing; how [...]

January 23rd, 2023|Resources, Retreats, Writing Advice, Writing Prompts, Writing Resources, writing retreats|

Researching a Novel – How Things Have Changed!

Research for writers in the twenty-first century is not what it used to be. Decades ago, researching a novel might take months, and the entire process had to be completed before the creative writing process could begin. Researching a historical novel – any kind of novel, really - required a well-stocked library, and the more specific the research your novel required, the more specialized the library had to be. Writers might find themselves making long trips to distant libraries in order to seek out the material they needed to give their novel authenticity. Researching a Novel in the Twenty-First Century Writers of historical fiction still need to do their research, of course, but these days the process is quite different. Often, writers need only a [...]

January 23rd, 2023|Writing Advice, writing retreats|

The Benefits of a Creative Writing Retreat

I've attended many Creative Writing retreats over the years. A writing retreat in a fishing village in Mexico. Another on the wind-swept moors in Devon, England. Retreats in Scotland and Wales. I've also run dozens of retreats myself. Our creative writing retreat centre in Canada hosted more than 100 writers, and these days, we run creative writing retreats in Costa Rica: and a new writing retreat in Mexico. Why Attend a Creative Writing Retreat? Writers rarely have the opportunity to focus exclusively on writing. We're spouses, parents, sons, daughters, home owners, and whatever it is we do for a living. We may want to write a novel, complete a memoir, write poetry or finish a screenplay, but life pulls us in other directions. Attending [...]

January 6th, 2023|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

Mexico Creative Writing Retreat, 2022

Yesterday I returned from teaching our second annual Creative Writing Retreat in Merida, Mexico – and what a studendous week it was. Great writers, wonderful scenery, memorable experiences, daily writing workshops and so much great food! Creative Writing Retreat: Merida! Such a special city. Street festivals, wandering the Plaza Granda and people-watching along the Paseo de Montejo. Visiting the Mayan World Museum. Exploring the art. Wandering the parks. Live music and dancing most evenings. Our Creative Writing Workshops in Merida Each morning, we met for 3 hours, deepening our writing experience as the week went on. Sometimes we met on a terrace with flowers and sunshine, and at other times inside, around a large table in our beautiful hotel. We explored poetry, memoir, character [...]

December 20th, 2022|Retreats, writing holiday, writing retreats|

A Creative Writing Prompt!

Welcome to the fifth in my series of creative writing tips, techniques and prompts! Today, I’m sharing a creative writing prompt you can use at any time. Creative Writing: Tell the Story of a Life On a trip to Spain a few years ago, I saw in Grenada a traveller with a typewriter and a sign reading, “I tell your life story in 10 minutes”. Tourists lined up before his desk on the street corner, eager to share their stories. While they spoke, he typed furiously. Each customer dropped coins into his hat, and took away their ‘life story’ as a souvenir. I heard the street writer tell someone that he turned down no job. He wrote declarations of love or hate, official letters, dream [...]

July 1st, 2022|Retreats, Writing Prompts, writing retreats|