Your retreat cost includes almost everything you’ll need during your stay with us:
All meals are included (and some wine/beer). Breakfast and lunch are served as a buffet. Breakfast is between 7 and 9, with lunch between 12 and 1:30. Dinner is served as a sit-down, 2-course, cooked supper in the dining room. Writing can be a lonely process so supper is a great opportunity for all of our writers to get together and socialise.
If you are travelling by public transport, we can collect you from the local station, at no additional charge.
Writing pads and pens will be available, although we understand that most writers prefer to use their own.
Spare laptops will be available – just in case! If you use one of our laptops, we’ll give you a memory stick to take your work home with you.
All towels and bedding are provided, too.
We will provide all the essential toiletries you’ll need, so you can relax in a bath full of luxurious bubbles or a steaming shower after a long day of writing. You don’t need to worry about toothpaste, bubble bath, shower gel and hand-wash. We even carry some spares, in case you forget, like toothbrushes, deodorant, body spray, aftershave.
Your only requirement is to come, write, relax and be looked after.
We offer mentoring with an industry professional during your stay at our untutored retreats. On a 5/6 night retreat, you will be allocated between 1 and 2 hours of mentoring time. This will typically start with an introductory session on the first evening, where the mentor will discuss where you’re at and what your aims during the retreat, and beyond, are. This usually takes around 30-45 mintues. The remainder of the mentoring time will be scheduled throughout the retreat to suit your needs.
You may want a catch up session, mid-retreat, to review progress and a final session to set your goals and strategy for post-retreat writing, or you may prefer a shorter daily catch up, after a full day of writing. There is no one-size-fits-all, so we flex to suit your needs.
The mentoring is more about process, strategy and talking through storylines, characters and removing blocks, and does not look to critique your work, specifically. In that way, you remain in complete control of the direction of your work-in-progress.
On some retreats, we make an editor available specifically for the critique of work written on the retreat.
Our retreats take place in a homely seaside or rural setting. Our Lake District accommodation is full of rustic character and charm. Our seaside accommodation offers coastal peace. All of our retreat locations give our authors a quiet, comfortable and friendly place to write.
Our rooms vary in size and layout. All have a place to write in privacy, some have ensuite but all are comfortable and cosy.
Yes, we have wifi. It’s not the fastest but it’s good for writing research, if needed.
Sure, you can view it here.