Workshop Schedule Page
Following please find a sample workshop schedule from the previous Writers On Fire In France retreat. Workshop schedules are subject to change, and will be customized to suit the nine workshop participants for the upcoming August 12th-August 19th retreat.
YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE IN FRANCE*:
Day before the retreat: Early arrival for those who prefer.
Day 1: Arrival. Icebreaker dinner at the Chateau: 8pm.
Day 2: Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Necessary Lie: Turning Life Into Fiction. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Memoir Intensive. 9pm: Screening of 1935 “Bride of Frankenstein” in the 10-seat private movie theater.
Day 3: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Here Comes Frankenstein: Writing Visceral Fiction. The Thrill of High Literary and the Pleasures of Genre. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More Fiction. 6-7pm: Guest lecture on the Frankenstein series of paintings and Q&A with fine artist Pat O’Neal. [Mary Shelley composed the classic horror novel Frankenstein in the mountains not far from the Chateau.]
Day 4: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Tour-de-force Travel Writing & The Power of the Personal Essay. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Dramarama: Cooking Up the One-Act Play. 9pm: Screening of “Quills” in the movie theater, in preparation for tomorrow’s tour. Discussion of de Sade follows.
Day 5: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sudden Fiction: The Flash Art of the Short-Short. Afternoon excursion: 1-3pm. Guided tour of Fortress de Miolans.
Day 6 : Morning session: 9-12pm. Erotica: Sade & How To Write Without Censure. Tapping Your Inner Libertine. Hike: 1-3pm. Excursion of Light. Group stops at various points to discuss ways light can be described. Last event: 8pm. Public reading of works created during retreat at local gourmet restaurant, followed by celebratory dinner.
Day 7: Departure. The evenings are free for writing and exploring the spectacular and richly atmospheric grounds – 17 acres -- and nearby villages. Participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end of the conference. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the library as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. *Schedule subject to change.
Inspiration and Personal Coaching Sessions
In both retreats, participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the living room or on the deck as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. I also offer private personal coaching sessions separately from the retreats. If you are interested, please contact me directly for more details.
WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU’LL TAKE: Concrete critiquing of your writing, to whatever degree you desire; a coaching plan for how to work regular writing into your life and how to use writing to expand your creative energy and the power of your imagination in all areas; and the experience of a unique, breakthrough creative journey.
PREPARATION: All you will need for each meeting is a pen and a notebook. There will be writing assignments out of class as well. The conference will not have computers, so you may wish to bring your laptops if you work on computer. A printer will be available on the premises for out-of-class assignments. DSL also available at the Chateau St. Philippe for email and online access. No advance submission of work is required.
YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE IN FRANCE*:
Day before the retreat: Early arrival for those who prefer.
Day 1: Arrival. Icebreaker dinner at the Chateau: 8pm.
Day 2: Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Necessary Lie: Turning Life Into Fiction. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Memoir Intensive. 9pm: Screening of 1935 “Bride of Frankenstein” in the 10-seat private movie theater.
Day 3: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Here Comes Frankenstein: Writing Visceral Fiction. The Thrill of High Literary and the Pleasures of Genre. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More Fiction. 6-7pm: Guest lecture on the Frankenstein series of paintings and Q&A with fine artist Pat O’Neal. [Mary Shelley composed the classic horror novel Frankenstein in the mountains not far from the Chateau.]
Day 4: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Tour-de-force Travel Writing & The Power of the Personal Essay. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Dramarama: Cooking Up the One-Act Play. 9pm: Screening of “Quills” in the movie theater, in preparation for tomorrow’s tour. Discussion of de Sade follows.
Day 5: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sudden Fiction: The Flash Art of the Short-Short. Afternoon excursion: 1-3pm. Guided tour of Fortress de Miolans.
Day 6 : Morning session: 9-12pm. Erotica: Sade & How To Write Without Censure. Tapping Your Inner Libertine. Hike: 1-3pm. Excursion of Light. Group stops at various points to discuss ways light can be described. Last event: 8pm. Public reading of works created during retreat at local gourmet restaurant, followed by celebratory dinner.
Day 7: Departure. The evenings are free for writing and exploring the spectacular and richly atmospheric grounds – 17 acres -- and nearby villages. Participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end of the conference. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the library as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. *Schedule subject to change.
Inspiration and Personal Coaching Sessions
In both retreats, participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the living room or on the deck as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. I also offer private personal coaching sessions separately from the retreats. If you are interested, please contact me directly for more details.
WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU’LL TAKE: Concrete critiquing of your writing, to whatever degree you desire; a coaching plan for how to work regular writing into your life and how to use writing to expand your creative energy and the power of your imagination in all areas; and the experience of a unique, breakthrough creative journey.
PREPARATION: All you will need for each meeting is a pen and a notebook. There will be writing assignments out of class as well. The conference will not have computers, so you may wish to bring your laptops if you work on computer. A printer will be available on the premises for out-of-class assignments. DSL also available at the Chateau St. Philippe for email and online access. No advance submission of work is required.
Following please find a sample workshop schedule from the recent Writers On Fire in Hawaii retreat. The upcoming retreat this November 1st-November 8th, 2007, will feature a workshop schedule customized for the seven retreat participants who will join us in this spectacular setting.
YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE IN HAWAII
Day 1: Morning arrival. Unpack, settle in. Afternoon trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center -- immersion in local history and vibe. Festive luau dinner at PCC to welcome all retreaters. Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Art of Memoir. Stirring up memory. Awakening the primal sense of smell. Draw psychogeographic maps. Discuss scene-writing and shaping experience versus therapy. Share personal histories; draw inspiration from selected readings of other memoirists, plus selected readings from writers who inspire each participant. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Memoir Intensive. Explore Hawai’i-set excerpts from Joelle Fraser’s searing memoir The Territory Of Men. Discuss structure, pattern, shape and voice --the tug of nostalgia, recreating the Vanished. Exercises galore. 9pm: Screening of PBS’ “The Last Queen of Hawaii.”
Day 2: Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Necessary Lie: Turning Life Into Fiction. Awakening the sense of touch. Explore Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s prize-winning book Saturday Night at the Pahala Theater – a series of short poetic novellas written in pidgin. Claiming your own voice, forging your own language. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More Fiction. Literary v. genre writing. From short fiction to the novel: Discuss Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s critically acclaimed first novel, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers which blends pidgin and formal English. Experiment with voice, dialect, dialogue.
Day 3: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Tour-de-force Travel Writing & The Power of the Personal Essay. Awakening the sense of taste. Using setting as inspiration. How To Tie A Pareo. Playing with kitsch, the real and the sur-real. Tone, attitude, and all-important point of view. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Dramarama: Cooking Up The One-Act Play or more Travel Writing. Continue with on-the-spot writing exercises. Performance games. Using travel materials. 9pm: Screening of “Riding Giants,” the awesome big wave surf doc featuring local hero Laird Hamilton. Briefly traces history of surfing, which began in Hawai’i. Surf literature, from Kem Nunn (Tapping the Source and Dogs of Winter) to Joy Nicholson (Tribes of Palos Verdes.)
Day 4: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sudden Fiction: The Flash Art of the Short-Short. Tapping into the sense of hearing. Crafting self-contained short writings. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More short fiction. Preparing for final reading.
Day 5: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sex and Violence: How To Write Without Censure. Awakening the sense of vision. Erotica writing exercise. Tapping your inner island libertine. Afternoon session. 1-3pm: Site-Specific Writing. In this session, we move outdoors to write from a powerful sense of place and awareness of nature. The myth of the castaway, and the lure of the island. Final event: 8pm. Public Reading. Participants read works created during retreat, followed by celebratory dinner. Don’t forget to bring clothes to dress festive!
Day 6: Departure. Last opportunity for lounging in the Sunset Villa. Farewell breakfast and beach ritual. Inspiration and Personal Coaching Sessions In both retreats, participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the living room or on the deck as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. I also offer private personal coaching sessions separately from the retreats. If you are interested, please contact me directly for more details.
WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU’LL TAKE: Concrete critiquing of your writing, to whatever degree you desire; a coaching plan for how to work regular writing into your life and how to use writing to expand your creative energy and the power of your imagination in all areas; and the experience of a unique, breakthrough creative journey.
PREPARATION: All you will need for each meeting is a pen and a notebook. There will be writing assignments out of class as well. The conference will not have computers, so you may wish to bring your laptops if you work on computer. A printer will be available on the premises for out-of-class assignments. DSL also available at the Sunset Villa for email and online access. No advance submission of work is required.
YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE IN HAWAII
Day 1: Morning arrival. Unpack, settle in. Afternoon trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center -- immersion in local history and vibe. Festive luau dinner at PCC to welcome all retreaters. Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Art of Memoir. Stirring up memory. Awakening the primal sense of smell. Draw psychogeographic maps. Discuss scene-writing and shaping experience versus therapy. Share personal histories; draw inspiration from selected readings of other memoirists, plus selected readings from writers who inspire each participant. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Memoir Intensive. Explore Hawai’i-set excerpts from Joelle Fraser’s searing memoir The Territory Of Men. Discuss structure, pattern, shape and voice --the tug of nostalgia, recreating the Vanished. Exercises galore. 9pm: Screening of PBS’ “The Last Queen of Hawaii.”
Day 2: Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Necessary Lie: Turning Life Into Fiction. Awakening the sense of touch. Explore Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s prize-winning book Saturday Night at the Pahala Theater – a series of short poetic novellas written in pidgin. Claiming your own voice, forging your own language. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More Fiction. Literary v. genre writing. From short fiction to the novel: Discuss Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s critically acclaimed first novel, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers which blends pidgin and formal English. Experiment with voice, dialect, dialogue.
Day 3: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Tour-de-force Travel Writing & The Power of the Personal Essay. Awakening the sense of taste. Using setting as inspiration. How To Tie A Pareo. Playing with kitsch, the real and the sur-real. Tone, attitude, and all-important point of view. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Dramarama: Cooking Up The One-Act Play or more Travel Writing. Continue with on-the-spot writing exercises. Performance games. Using travel materials. 9pm: Screening of “Riding Giants,” the awesome big wave surf doc featuring local hero Laird Hamilton. Briefly traces history of surfing, which began in Hawai’i. Surf literature, from Kem Nunn (Tapping the Source and Dogs of Winter) to Joy Nicholson (Tribes of Palos Verdes.)
Day 4: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sudden Fiction: The Flash Art of the Short-Short. Tapping into the sense of hearing. Crafting self-contained short writings. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More short fiction. Preparing for final reading.
Day 5: Morning session: 9-12pm. Sex and Violence: How To Write Without Censure. Awakening the sense of vision. Erotica writing exercise. Tapping your inner island libertine. Afternoon session. 1-3pm: Site-Specific Writing. In this session, we move outdoors to write from a powerful sense of place and awareness of nature. The myth of the castaway, and the lure of the island. Final event: 8pm. Public Reading. Participants read works created during retreat, followed by celebratory dinner. Don’t forget to bring clothes to dress festive!
Day 6: Departure. Last opportunity for lounging in the Sunset Villa. Farewell breakfast and beach ritual. Inspiration and Personal Coaching Sessions In both retreats, participants will be encouraged to use their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment, each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the second toward the end. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings in the living room or on the deck as breaks from writing and opportunities to mingle. I also offer private personal coaching sessions separately from the retreats. If you are interested, please contact me directly for more details.
WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU’LL TAKE: Concrete critiquing of your writing, to whatever degree you desire; a coaching plan for how to work regular writing into your life and how to use writing to expand your creative energy and the power of your imagination in all areas; and the experience of a unique, breakthrough creative journey.
PREPARATION: All you will need for each meeting is a pen and a notebook. There will be writing assignments out of class as well. The conference will not have computers, so you may wish to bring your laptops if you work on computer. A printer will be available on the premises for out-of-class assignments. DSL also available at the Sunset Villa for email and online access. No advance submission of work is required.