Why Writers Choose This Retreat
I could tell you what happens here. The writing sessions, the tools, the breakthroughs on the page. But honestly, someone else said it better than I ever could.
After the very first retreat, one of the writers sent me a note. I've kept it ever since.
"Elle, I want to thank you for your boundless energy, curiosity, and, of course, your hospitality, which felt like a warm embrace. I believe that major changes in life come about through encounters with the right people at the right time. The opportunity you gave me by inviting me to your first retreat has set a lot in motion in my mind. And not just in terms of writing — though that was, of course, the main goal — but also in terms of questions about the meaning of life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that for me it has been an awakening."
An awakening.
That word stopped me when I read it. Because writing a story, your story, turns out to be about much more than sentences and structure. When you sit down to tell the truth on the page, questions surface that you've been too busy to ask. About who you are, what you've lived through, what you want to leave behind. The writing becomes the entry point into something larger.
That's what this retreat is, at its heart. Not a workshop. Not a course. It’s an encounter with your own story and with other people who are brave enough to be doing the same thing.
When you are in this space, the door to creativity quietly opens and the words flow.
-Elle van Rijn
Elle’s learning objectives are taught in her writing club
Better understand dramatic dilemmas and conflicts
Choose and develop your main characters
Believability as a prerequisite
Integrating research: how do you do it naturally?
Make your plot tight and suspenseful
Create a convincing sense of time with striking details
Bring structure to your text
Less is more/kill your darlings
Write with more focus, rhythm, and clear choices
How do you draw the reader into your story and create a page-turner?
Write opening chapters that immediately grab and hold the reader's attention
Build a writing routine that you can maintain even after the course ends
Learn to write a strong pitch
Find publishers that are a good fit for you, and learn how to approach them