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| WritingSpace Class of March 2012 |
Kat Lewis, one of our guests on last week's retreat on Anglesey, writes below about how she found the experience ...
I have a lot of classic writer worries that clash with the
idea of a writers retreat. Things like, will I be the rubbishest at writing?
I sent Juliette an email asking to please be excused from reading my work during the retreat. She wrote back saying, ‘if you don’t feel like it then that’s cool – the weekend’s meant to be nurturing and productive, not an ordeal!’ And that's exactly how it was.
Every promise was honoured. Juliette and Des cultivate a calm, unpressurised environment. The house was just spectacular with views over a valley which I know they specifically chose it for. Food was fab; cooking together was fun, dinner conversation flowed and within the very first hour everyone felt comfortable enough to help themselves to bits and pieces in the kitchen as they would do at home. The evening’s readings were a wonderful way to get to know each other better (and practice reading!). Some of us had some wonderful walks while others wrote on. There's no pressure to write - many seemed to use the opportunity to use the vast piles of resource books on writing to read and think. It's very much your space to use in a way to benefit your writing.
On my weekend we were lucky enough to be tutored by Richard Skinner who gave us a stimulating workshop and saw us all for personal tutorials. For me, his presence added a welcome professional/academic element to the experience. I left feeling refocused on my writing and I hugely benefited from his thoughts.
My only regret about WritingSpace is that I didn't go to the others.
I sent Juliette an email asking to please be excused from reading my work during the retreat. She wrote back saying, ‘if you don’t feel like it then that’s cool – the weekend’s meant to be nurturing and productive, not an ordeal!’ And that's exactly how it was.
Every promise was honoured. Juliette and Des cultivate a calm, unpressurised environment. The house was just spectacular with views over a valley which I know they specifically chose it for. Food was fab; cooking together was fun, dinner conversation flowed and within the very first hour everyone felt comfortable enough to help themselves to bits and pieces in the kitchen as they would do at home. The evening’s readings were a wonderful way to get to know each other better (and practice reading!). Some of us had some wonderful walks while others wrote on. There's no pressure to write - many seemed to use the opportunity to use the vast piles of resource books on writing to read and think. It's very much your space to use in a way to benefit your writing.
On my weekend we were lucky enough to be tutored by Richard Skinner who gave us a stimulating workshop and saw us all for personal tutorials. For me, his presence added a welcome professional/academic element to the experience. I left feeling refocused on my writing and I hugely benefited from his thoughts.
My only regret about WritingSpace is that I didn't go to the others.
