What is The One Story you are most meant to tell?
The one you’ve tried to tell a dozen times, but it hasn’t come out right yet, or the one you keep returning to because it won’t leave you alone, or the one you’ve been afraid to tell, for whatever reason(s), but you know you must?
It’s time to write as if your life depended on it.
This retreat, led by Center director Stacia Fleegal, is for you if
- You have a clear idea of what you want to write about, a story that is pressing against your insides with an urgency you can no longer ignore;
- You have at least some experience, and feel at least moderately comfortable, giving and receiving strength-based, respectful, and substantive (i.e., beyond “I like this part”) feedback on writing in a small-group setting;
- Your schedule and/or budget does not permit a long, luxurious getaway, but you are ready and willing to stay home and spend one full day writing in solitude and meeting by Zoom as a group to build a tiny-but-mighty community over one long weekend;
- You want not just a retreat, but an experience of creative camaraderie and reverence for the emotional process of excavating and crafting a stubborn narrative.
Here’s how it will work:
- Monday, September 30: I will post a pre-retreat reading and short assignment to connect registrants with their retreat cohort and provide them with some initial inspiration to tap their flow. Asynchronous/no set meeting time; registrants will complete their brief assignment according to their own schedules.
- Core long weekend October 3-6, 2024: Registrants clear their home schedules as best as they can for the core retreat long weekend. Registrants spend the core long weekend writing and participating in four group Zoom meetings. These community-building sessions will include feedback exchanges, assignment discussion, craft talks, and more. Synchronous. Zooms will take place Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday late morning. Complete schedule provided upon request or registration.
- Post-retreat week October 7-13: The week following the core long weekend will feature one 30-minute, one-on-one feedback session for each registrant with me, plus planning for next steps in terms of revision, further development, or new projects. All retreat participants will provide written feedback to one another at the start of the post-retreat week, and are invited to post revisions and additional comments throughout the week on the online course platform. The post-retreat week is designed to keep the cohort connected and engaged with their own and one another's stories. Asynchronous/no set meeting time outside of the 30-minute one-on-one feedback session, at a TBD time that works best for both of us.
Are you ready to open up to the story you are most meant to tell?
Begins Monday, September 30, 2024, and ends Sunday, October 13, with a core, synchronous long weekend of scheduled Zoom meetings (group and one-on-one with your teacher) October 3-6.
