ALLWRITERS’ WRITING RETREAT AT THE MARIA HOUSE IN TECHNY TOWERS

DATES: June 10 – 12, 2011

Come for a weekend of intense writing immersion! Our retreat will be located at the beautiful and peaceful Maria House in Techny Towers (http://www.technytowers.org/maria_house.htm), located in Techny, Illinois. Techny Towers is only thirty minutes from O’Hare, so the trip should be easy for our out-of-state students! Our focus for the weekend will be on writing, writing, writing. The retreat will actually kick off before it even starts when participants submit up to 15 pages (up to 3750 words) of their writing two weeks prior to the event. These pages will be incorporated into a packet which will be mailed to every participant prior to the retreat. Work is to be read and critiqued so that everyone is ready to discuss the pieces at the retreat workshop. Then we will officially start with a gathering on Friday evening at seven o’clock for a lecture by AllWriters’ director, Kathie Giorgio. The topic will be announced later, but it’s guaranteed to inspire your writing spirit. During the day Saturday, all participants will be in or near their rooms, actively writing. There will be no disruptions, no interruptions, no phone calls, no laundry to do, no meals to prepare, no children knocking at your door. One-on-one consultations with Kathie will be available throughout the day (sign-up for consultations will be on Friday night). After dinner in Techny Towers’ fabulous dining room, writers will form into a large group for the workshop, where the submitted material will be discussed. All participants will receive a line by line edit and an overall thematic critique by Kathie. After a good night’s sleep, writers will gather again to complete the workshop so that every participant has a chance to have their work discussed. The event will end with a energizing creativity exercise that will keep your enthusiasm going after you get home.

Everyone will have a private room.  Meals will be provided by Techny Towers and are included in the price of the retreat.  Techny Towers also provides all bed linens and towels.  You may want to bring a few comforts from home…iPods, snacks, and whatever it is you use to write.

The Maria House can only hold 24 people, so early registration is advised to secure your spot.

TIMES: The retreat officially starts at 7:00 on Friday night.  Techny Towers does have a taxi service, so if we can get your flights coordinated, we should be able to have all students arriving by plane picked up at O’Hare.  We need to be out of the Maria House by 4:00 on Sunday, and again, a taxi service can be used to get all of you back to O’Hare.

COST:

We all know that life intervenes with what we really want to do.  Trying to fit in writing time is hard enough, but it’s even harder to fit in time for LEARNING about writing.  How do you get the most out of your writing time?  How do you write great fiction or nonfiction or poetry?  And when you’ve finished a piece, what the heck do you do with it?

There’s so much to learn, and so little time to do it.  But guess what?  You can learn it all in ONE DAY!

Come to THE ART, CRAFT, AND BUSINESS OF WRITING with author Kathie Giorgio on Saturday, November 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  This event will be held at Bard’s Books, 3508 N. 7th St., #145, in Phoenix.  When you walk out the door at five o’clock that evening, you will feel full of knowledge, bursting with encouragement, and ready to pound the keyboard.

The day will break down this way:

9:00 – 9:30      Intro and getting everyone comfortable

9:30 – 11:30    The Art of Writing

                              How to get inspired and stay inspired

                              Where do ideas come from?

                              How can I stay motivated?

11:30 – 12:30  Lunch

12:30 – 2:30    The Craft of Writing

                              Characterization

                              Dialogue

                              Setting

2:30 – 2:45      Break

2:45 – 4:45      The Business of Writing

                              Where do I find markets?

                              How do I write a cover letter?

                              What rights should I offer?

4:45 – 5:00      Q & A

5:00                 An exhausted bunch of enlightened writers heads out the door!

 So come and learn everything you’ve always wanted to know about writing, and then some.

FEEL FREE TO JOIN US FOR A READING/RECEPTION FOR KATHIE ON THURSDAY THE 5TH AT 7:00 P.M.  YOU MAY ATTEND THE RECEPTION, WHETHER OR NOT YOU ATTEND THE CLASS.

COST:

Reading/Reception: FREE!

Class:  $100 covers the whole day!