Writers Retreat

26/05/2017

Harking back to last year... and in anticipation of this year's cohort. Just four weeks until we'll be back on Agistri, which a whole new bunch of writers, with their own stories to tell : )

Guest Blog! We asked one of our lovely writers about her experience with us at writer's retreat - we thought it better you heard it from the horse's mouth... He...

06/05/2017

Oh the romance of an old typewriter... However you write, write this weekend. In pencil, in green ink (a recent favourite), while on a tube, on a bus, on the back of a receipt.... jot some words down. You never know where they will lead.

24/04/2017

Happy writers yesterday at Brixton Writers' Group. A great space to celebrate these many varied voices.

13/04/2017

Write. Fill that blank page. With notes, thoughts, ideas. It's all part of the process. This is how I figure out what I'm thinking..

27/03/2017

🕊Our Early Bird offer ends on 1st April! So a few more days to grab a bargain and book your retreat with us in Greece this June 🐠🐬

20/03/2017

Grabbing some writing time before work - every moment counts. Especially in such a pretty place as this

13/02/2017

Soaking up some sun by Brockwell Lido earlier today ... In anticipation of our upcoming Writing retreat in Greece this June. Early Bird offer available now!

06/02/2017

Bookings now open! We can't wait for our retreat on Agistri island this summer.

11/01/2017

Wrestling with an old idea today - and it's taken on a whole new form. Now the trick is not to over complicate. What to let go, what to keep hold of. How to be brutal. Sometimes the hardest part is letting go... And yet, perhaps the strongest ideas fight to survive - and if that's the case you've got to listen to that too... Dilemma.

23/12/2016

I love London towards Christmas time. Mulled wine may not be on this menu but it is definitely bubbling away behind the counter at Seven in Brixton. I met up with one of the writers from the retreat last year to sample a glass (or several) and it was so good to catch up with her - she's been on quite a journey. Pick up a book this Christmas and take some time, you never know what ideas might arise

07/12/2016

It starts to rain. It pours, harder and harder. The End. I love typing those last two words, it's so very satisfying... Even if it is only a draft, each draft of my stage play is getting closer to some kind of real ending (and is anything ever really finished?)

28/11/2016

Is it just me or is there a Phoenix rising from the ashes in my coffee today?

29/10/2016

Prepare to get cosy this Autumn. Rooms like this on grey day are an invitation to curl up with a book.

24/10/2016

A new project for Autumn, and the story cards are out - just lucid dreaming at the amazing new Stir coffee in Brixton

23/10/2016

Inspired by Stephen King's 'On Writing' - I was relieved/vindicated to read that I'm not the only one who doesn't plot out the whole story before I start... You need tools yes, you need to know your trade, but if I know everything that's going to happen before I start writing, I get bored in the telling, and if I'm bored, God help the reader. I want to explore while I'm writing. I want surprises. I'm all for Stevie King's view that the first draft is for finding out what the story is - a 'closed door' draft. Then when that's done and the words are on paper, the work on shaping (and I mean some serious rehashing) can start. I've just finished the first draft of a complex, meandering, multi-character play. I only had the vaguest sense of the narrative when I started. Now I know who it's about, what it's about, and how the characters' narratives combine. I think we should trust our inherent instinct for story structure as far as it takes us. Having said that, there's no way I'm opening that door and inviting my select group of critics in until at least another draft is done.
It's so important to get the process right - and every writer has their own way of working. What works for you?

27/09/2016

Reasons to be back in London...

24/09/2016

Retreat Bali anyone? There's something magic in the air

20/09/2016

A brief moment from today - a boy returning to shore after bathing his horse - has got me thinking. How can we use moments like this as writing prompts? And how can we do them (the real people within these moments) justice, even if they will never know the character they inspire? How to write truthfully and to really challenge ourselves to live up to the task? It's about integrity. It's not easy. How can we move away from stereotype and tired assumptions? And I think it's something about venturing into the new, being brave, being brutally honest with ourselves, recognising the limits of our own experience and somehow pushing beyond them. And research, and watching, and listening to people. Every human heart.
Related to this - I've just finished Sarah Waters' novel The Night Watch. The meticulous research into female ambulance drivers in WWII, among other things, and the intricacy of her storytelling (the observation of character, the specific detail of lives and loves laid bare) is at once hauntingly familiar and intriguing in the forgotten world it conjures up. And that bringing us close to a world that no longer exists, I find incredibly moving, because we too are here, now, and like the characters in Waters' novel, we feel our lives vividly - and just as the time Waters conjures so convincingly, so too will our time become history, and we will become a story, variously told. I'd like to think I can trust the storytellers to do me justice too.

19/09/2016

The office today... It's surprising how much writing I can get done with a view like this. There must be something inspiring about being in places new. Today it's the beautiful island Gili Air. And perhaps there's something about relaxing the mind and the senses that helps creative flow.

18/09/2016

If there is a more perfect place to write, I can't think of one right now. This peaceful spot overlooking a paddy field in Ubud, Bali has to be up there. And there's plenty of yoga on offer too. Who knows, maybe Bali is an ideal place for us Brits to get away for a winter Writer's Retreat? And all you Aussie writers out there are a mere hop skip and a jump away....

18/09/2016

Write anywhere. Bingin Beach, Bali. Okay, so maybe It's an excuse, but I'm pretty sure moving and travelling broadens the mind - your experiences wherever you are inevitably impact on your writing, the trick is to stay open and receptive (even a bit naive) to what's around you...Sometimes it's easier to see the idiosyncrasies of both new and familiar cultures when taking yourself out of your comfort zone. I like this picture because for me it foregrounds my characters over the actual people on the beach. It juxtaposes two worlds, the imaginary and 'real' (whatever that is - don't we always see the world through the lens of our own story?) l

02/09/2016

Appreciating this space to write at 'etre in Highbury and Islington this morning. Natural light, great coffee, wooden tables, what more could I want? Hoping it'll get me inspired as I've just made a decision that means I'll have to restructure my entire pilot...

31/08/2016

If in doubt, lay the story cards out. Here the different colours represent different characters as I track their journey through the piece, and figure out the points at which they connect. A great way of untangling complex plots.

20/08/2016

The cafe area at in Edinburgh. It's rainy here today, so this is a nice place to duck into (no pun intended) and there's lots of exciting work from emerging artists to be caught - just read some of the reviews on their review wall...

18/08/2016

The writing on the wall in the loos of in Edinburgh, where JK Rowling used to write. I'm up here for the fringe theatre festival, but this scrawl seems apt for all you writers out there... And other creative types...

13/08/2016

Thanks so much to Zoe for capturing the experience of our Greek getaway so vividly... Read her guest blog post here.

We asked one of our lovely writers about her experience with us at writer's retreat - we thought it better you heard it from the horse's mouth... Here is what Z...

20/07/2016

Oh what I would give for this blue blue sea to dive into today. London looks great in the sunshine but we need some water around... Writing was slow today - it's just too damn hot! (Yes, I will be eating my words in a few days time, I'm sure...)

17/07/2016

Back in Brixton I'm treating myself to an iced coffee and some Sunday writing time. So glad I've brought some of the Greek sun home with me ☀️