What Are the Different Writing Retreat Types?
You have questions, we have answers!
We currently have not one but two retreats that are open and ready for you to join us!
The first is our “Atmospheric Writing” retreat in New Orleans, LA, coming soon—in just a few weeks, actually! We have two spots left open for that one, so reach out now and let us know if you have questions or want to snag a spot.
Second, we’re excited to announce our spring Fast Drafting retreat in Wimberly, TX! Join us April 17-21 for a fabulous, relaxing long weekend in Texas where we’ll be discussing drafting!
What Makes Our Retreats Different
We’ve been at this for nearly a decade, and we’ve been working hard to fine tune our methods to be the most helpful for you. Currently, we’re offering two different types of retreats, two each in the spring and fall:
Craft-focused retreats in various locales
Drafting and Revising retreats in Texas
Craft Focused Retreats
Our Craft-Focused Retreats, like the one happening in February in NOLA, are just that: focused on the overall craft of writing. We have workshops during the day, where Beth and Cristin go over a certain topic, and then critiques and writing time in the afternoon.
These retreats are great for people at any stage, although we also are sure to cover the basics for beginners. Because we move around to different areas for these, these tend to be slightly more expensive for us to produce, but we try to off-set that by having a “field trip” day where you can apply your lessons to real life and explore a local area to the retreat. You can be certain we’ll be stopping for beignets in New Orleans!
Included with the price is everything outside of personal transportation:
Timed airport shuttle to and from the closest airport
All lodging and meals
Online content: Since our time during the retreat is spent focused on production, we have video lessons that are made accessible to you the month before, so you can refer to them and be ready to hit the ground running
Focused time:
In spring, the Texas retreat is focused on drafting. We have sprints, competitions, and more to help encourage you
In fall, the Texas retreat is focused on revising. We have tips for revision plans, critiques on samples, and more to help focus you
Daily workshops from both Beth and Cristin, covering as aspect of drafting, a query letter workshop, and a publishing Q&A
A personal critique from both Beth and Cristin
A planned day out in the regional area
Drafting and Revising Retreats
Our retreats in Texas are able to be a little more budget-friendly, as they’re always in the same location. Rather than lessons on craft or publishing, we have roundtable workshops to hone your pitch and/or writing with your peers. You also have the chance to schedule one-on-one time with both Beth and Cristin, either during the retreat, or cash them in for an online session after you’ve worked in your small groups.
These retreats emulate writing workshops on an MFA level, and in addition to the larger roundtable sessions, we also have time set aside for small group focused discussions.
Included with the prices is everything outside of personal transportation:
Timed airport shuttle to and from the Austin airport
All lodging and meals
Daily large roundtable discussions on a specific element (pitch or pages)
Organized time for small group breakout sessions
One-on-one consultation from both Beth and Cristin, available in person or online at a later date
An evening out with all your new friends at a food truck park
Additionally, the spring/fall combo of Texas is designed to work hand-in-hand—the spring one focuses on drafting, and the fall one focuses on editing and revising. You’re welcome to attend both or only one.
Learn more!
Of course, we’d love to host you this spring—and we have slots open in both retreats this spring, and in the fall, we’ll have another location for the craft retreat and the revising retreat in Texas.
Unlike some retreat businesses, we’ve been working together and doing this for nearly a decade. You’re going to get consistent, quality time with writing professionals and a great group of peers.
Public Discord Community: Free for All!
After some feedback from you all, Beth has decided to open up her previously private Discord to the wider community! You are all welcome to join—free of charge—this online community.
We have multiple channels within the Discord for you to talk about what books you’re reading (you don’t have to be reading ours! it’s open to discuss any book!), as well as what you’re writing. You can ask for help, search out critique partners, sprint with others or the SprintBot, and more!
All communities are only as strong as their members, so we hope you stop by and contribute. Unlike social media, there’s a little more privacy here, and this Discord is focused entirely on books: reading and writing.
New Book Deal!
Join us in celebrating Beth’s latest book deal! Beth has signed a three book contract with DAW books in an adult novella trilogy!
These books follow Ada Lamarr, a chaotic girl who makes a living looting in space. But her latest job makes her cross paths with razor-eyed Rian White, a government official who’s far too interested in the crash site Ada planned to loot. No worries, though—Ada always as a plan. And she always gets what she wants…
If you like a Sherlock & Moriarity vibe where the story is told from the non-legal point-of-view, and if you like River Song, Saffron from Firefly, or any character played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (with a bonus of some twisty mysteries a la Glass Onion) and everything’s set in space, these books are for you!
These books are also a break from Beth’s YA writing—they are very much adult stories with adult characters and lots of adult cursing that Beth’s mom was not at all a fan of. But they’re pretty f%^&ing fun!
Craft Lesson: Foreshadow Development
This month’s craft lesson…isn’t quite ready yet, sorry! But it will be uploaded to the website by the end of the month, and will focus directly on foreshadowing and how to develop that within your novel.
Check back here to get the lesson, or join Beth’s Patreon to get all the video lessons on subscription!
As always, thank you friends! Whether you’re here for the online content, come to us on retreats, or just want to dip your toe in writing, we are so glad to have you here with us! Do not hesitate to reach out and ask us anything either in the comments or just hit reply to this email—we’re always happy to help point you in the right direction or take advice on what else you’d like to see us produce.
Congratulations Beth on the book deal! It sounds amazing! I'm on a hol/research trip round Scotland at the moment - I've joined the discord but will definitely check it out more when I'm back!