Guest author Cyndi Pauwels: Writing Workshops

C.L. (Cyndi) Pauwels
Author of  Forty & Out

I’ve been to any number of writing conferences and workshops over the years, and I’ve learned there are certain gatherings that will send me home with a renewed confidence in my work. Others simply drain my enthusiasm, leaving me tired and discouraged. And like any new experience, a conference can be intimidating. What should I look for? How do I choose? Will I fit in? Granted, I’m a confirmed introvert (like many writers I know), so after the initial adrenaline rush, large gatherings exhaust me quickly.

My favorite writing conference in both size and format is the venerable Antioch Writers’ Workshop (31 years and counting!*). I dreamed of it from afar for many years before finally attending in 2009, and the 120-150 person week-long summer session is perfect for me. AWW also offers a fall retreat, a spring one-day craft seminar, and free monthly mini-seminars at the local Books & Co. September through May.

While smaller, more intimate getaways are wonderful, too, they can be fraught with their own peril (I have to share what I’ve written?!). But they can be a good start for novice writers in other respects. I was reminded of that just two weeks when I had the pleasure of staffing the fifth annual AWW fall retreat – an intensive weekend with fifteen writers and two dedicated faculty members. We gathered in a lovely secluded environment with three great meals a day, comfy beds, lots of wine (we are writers!), iffy wifi (which can be a good thing) – and writing time. No interruptions from children, dogs, chores…what bliss!

Several of the participants were new to the world of writing workshops, and their apprehension took a bit of time to ease. But as they realized they were surrounded by like-minded individuals, by people who really understood their struggles with characters and plots and language, who didn’t think they were odd to talk about the voices in their head, their relaxation was visible. They’d found their tribe. It was such a joy for the veterans among us to welcome these enthusiastic newbies to the fold, and after three days of small group discussion, writing prompts, and time to work on our own projects, we all went home energized and motivated.

That’s what a good writing workshop should offer: time together, with fellow writers who understand the journey we’ve chosen; and time alone, to ponder, and imagine, and refill that creative reservoir. We can debate the finer points of class settings versus panels, public readings versus quiet writing time, but ultimately, it’s about community.

Writing is such a solitary endeavor that any time we can find that place to gather with those who understand us, to share thoughts and craft and ideas and encouragement, we need to take advantage of that. A good conference/workshop isn’t about competition and showmanship and sales numbers. It’s about supporting the world of books and writing that we all hold dear, and helping each of us to find our niche, to be successful writers in whatever definition of that term we choose.

After my seven-year relationship with AWW, I continue to be awed and humbled by the camaraderie and warmth offered from the talented and generous faculty as well as from the eager participants. The relationships forged during those sessions carry on into the world beyond AWW, creating ripples in the Dayton, Ohio, literary community and beyond for a long, long time. The “Antioch magic” so many alums speak of is very real.

And at whichever writing event you choose to attend, I hope you find that same magic.

The core of my writing community: the hardworking behind-the-scenes
folks of the 2016 Antioch Writers’ Workshop
(front: Dara Cosby; back, left to right: Matt Garrett, Executive Director
Sharon Short, Jan Irvin, Cyndi Pauwels (that’s me!), and Lori Fetters-Lopez). 

Guides to writing conferences:

• http://www.newpages.com/writers-resources/writing-conferences-events
• http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/writers-conferences
• https://www.awpwriter.org/wcc/directory_conferences_centers
• http://www.pw.org/content/writers_conferences_colonies_and_workshops?cmnt_all=1
• http://writing.shawguides.com/

*Disclosure: after four years as a workfellow, I was appointed Assistant Director of AWW in 2014

http://www.antiochwritersworkshop.com/

Preparing for Writing Retreats

I am actually heading to my second writing retreat of the year! Last March I attended the Rainforest Writer's Village and later this month I am headed to the Oregon SCBWI Fall Retreat. The aim of each retreat is different and I'll be taking different tools with me.

The Rainforest Writer's Retreat had no (or at least terrible) internet and little to no cell service. I went there with the intent to start my next Middle Grade novel in a distraction free zone with other writers. I brought with me pencil, paper, a 3-ring binder, and the reference material I needed to get a start on the first draft. I've probably mentioned this before, but I hand write all my first drafts. So while most of the other authors there were on their computers I was writing away on my loose-leaf binder paper.

But my plan for the SCBWI Annual Retreat is very different. The novel I started in March is done-- well, the hot mess of a first draft is done. But now I need to edit that book! So I'm going to take my shiny new laptop to the SCBWI Fall Retreat. And because the retreat facility has wi-fi I'll be able to look things up on the internet *coughplayFacebookgames*.

If you go to a retreat of any kind, it helps to plan ahead. Here are some things to ask yourself before you go.

-- What are my goals? Figure out your writing goals before you go. Depending on how social the retreat is and how much you feel like participating you may or may not achieve those goals. But at least you'll have an idea of what to pack writing-wise.

-- What amenities does the facility have? Will you have access to wi-fi? Cell service? Do you WANT access to these things? It will help you determine if you bring your technology with you or not. You may be looking for a distraction free zone, or you may need to the internet for fun and help. 

--Bring back up! Don't forget the back up if you take a computer! A thumb-drive if  you don't have internet. If you do have internet, email yourself your awesome manuscript. If you are like me and like to hand write then bring lots of pens, pencils, and paper.

--Bring something to take notes on. Computer, notebook, whatever. There will be presentations that you'll want to take notes in. At least that's me :) I take notes on everything.

So wish me luck and I'll report back to you next month!

Personal Retreat, Post 2

In my last post, I talked about how I would be accompanying my husband on a trip to Denver. He had business there for three days; I intended to spend most of those days immersed in poetry.

I did go to Denver; I did study poetry and even wrote some; I did eat lots of dark chocolate; I did have a nice break from my usual routine.

It wasn't the total poetry immersion I had imagined, though. A client sent some editing and pages to proof the night before we left. So instead of going to bed early and sleeping late as planned so that I would be well rested, I was to bed late and up early. Even so, we left for the airport late because we waited to make sure all the pages went through the fax machine. To make matters worse, that evening when we got to Denver, several emails from my client awaited me. The last several pages of my fax had arrived blank. I had to have her send me the file in Denver, then search out a printer, get up early to redo the work, and have the hotel fax the pages back to her.

As a result, I lost several hours I had planned to devote to poetry—partly because of the time I spent on the unexpected editing and partly because sleep deprivation led to my falling asleep repeatedly while studying. So much for a weekend free of distractions and interruptions.

That aside, I count the retreat a success. I started with Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry, which explained the basics of poetry simply and in just over 100 pages. As I read, I realized I had learned much of the information in high school but had forgotten it, so this book was a good refresher.

Next I started The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry. (Yes, that Stephen Fry, the British actor who was so great as butler Jeeves in the PBS series "Jeeves and Wooster.") What a fun book! Fry infuses every page with his sense of humor, and his instructions are detailed and clear and his exercises fun. Example: Write two lines about pesky tasks overdue in iambic pentameter with enjambment and at least two caesura. Write a poem about cows in dactylic pentameter.

Looking at my notebook now for the first time since Denver, I see most of what I wrote was awful, too awful even to give you an example of how awful it was. But I was—and am—amazed that I could do it at all. I thought expressing ideas in metered feet would be difficult to learn and take a lot of practice before I could do it. But I actually wrote directions to my house in anapestic hexameter on first try! How cool!

The last full day we were in Denver it snowed heavily. We had large windows and a balcony with a great view of the city. It was a treat to watch the snow blow and swirl and pile up in white mounds that stayed white because few people ventured out on the slick streets. We got to experience that absence of sound that only occurs on rare snowy days. The snow ended up the subject of several of my poem exercises.

Next, I need to finish Fry's book and its exercises and work on writing poems that don't suck. That will come with practice, I assume. My husband has another business trip this spring that I'm going along on, and finishing Fry may be a good project to work on then.

Next time I plan a retreat, I'll do things a little differently. I'll tell people that I'll be completely unavailable during my retreat and on the day before. That should allow me to get a good night's sleep beforehand and not waste limited retreat time on naps and work.


I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on February 5. I hope to see you back then.

—Shauna Roberts

Personal Retreat

Last February, a friend told me that writing poetry has helped her be a better prose writer. Writing poems has trained her to express her ideas more concisely and vividly. I was intrigued; I'm always looking for new ideas for improving my writing. I've rarely written poetry other than haiku, so I asked her for some recommendations for books on how to write a poem. I immediately ordered the instructional books as well as a book of African-American poetry a different friend had recommended. The books arrived; I put them in a pile separate from my other to-read piles; and . . . . nothing.

More-important writing projects, house repairs, trips, and life in general bumped poetry to the side. I looked at the pile of books longingly each time I walked by, sometimes picking a book up to look inside and smell the paper and ink.

Almost a year later, the pile still awaits. But now it awaits next to my suitcase. My husband will be taking a business trip to Denver this month, and I'm going along. I'll see some friends one day, but otherwise I'll be studying and reading and writing poetry.

And, of course, eating dark chocolate.

It will be like a writing retreat, except by myself. No workers to supervise; no phone calls to answer; no doctor appointments to go to; no meals to cook; no birds squawking next to an empty bird feeder—no distractions at all. I'll even skip exercising; it shouldn't be too harmful to go a few days without. Total poetry immersion.

I went on a personal retreat once before and was astounded how productive I could be when I wasn't being pulled in twenty directions at once. I came home from that retreat refreshed and eager to start writing the novel I had mapped out. I'm excited to try a personal retreat again with a project I've been looking forward to for so long.


Have you ever taken a personal writing retreat? How did you benefit (or why didn't you benefit)?


When I blog again at Novel Spaces on January 21, I'll let you know how my retreat went. In the meantime, I wish you many productive writing days.

—Shauna Roberts