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NEWSFLASH! WRITERS ON FIRE IN SPECIAL
INVITATION to 2007 WINTER
WRITING RETREATS! (January 3rd – 9th
and January 17th – 23rd)
Dear friends and fellow writers, Ready for a week of creative pampering? Eager to explore
new ways to express yourself and hungry to experiment with different forms of
writing? Dreaming of a rejuvenating stay in the island paradise of SITE OF RETREAT: Picture a relaxing,
6-night stay at the privately owned Sunset Villa on the North Shore of Oahu –
a breathtaking beachside villa, overlooking
DATES: This January, I am offering two retreats. From
January 3rd to January 9th, and again from January 17th
to January 23rd, I will guide your creative journey during the
immersion workshop. With only seven participants, the opportunities for
intimacy, play and growth in this creative adventure are unparalleled. With 7
days and 6 nights, there will be ample time to enjoy surf and sunsets before
and after plunging into the workshop. Soak in the natural enchantment of the
North Shore of Oahu, relax in the Sunset Villa, and bask in personal
attention. WHO IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR?:
This retreat is designed for all writers - beginning to advanced - who
want to venture into new territory and create, or at least begin, new work to
serve as the start of a new writing year. It is also a good opportunity for
those eager to stretch or cross the boundaries of genre - fiction writers who
want to tell the truth; nonfiction writers who want to learn to lie; poets
who want to try prose; prose writers curious about playwriting;
screenwriters, actors and filmmakers looking to capture stories on the page;
and novices primed for adventure.
Writing Workshops CREATIVE WORKSHOPS: 5 days of double-session writing workshops.
This is a generative
workshop - meaning we will be writing while we are in Explore new forms
of writing, from fiction to nonfiction and beyond. Tons of daily on-the-spot
writing exercises to activate the five senses, overcome
writer's block and uncover rich material from your own life and experiences. Two
personal coaching sessions to help map your creative goals and create a
writing plan that will keep your writing life on track after you get home.
Renew your commitment to writing. Be prepared to work in a completely
focused, ultra-intensive way in a setting that will instill energy and
promote pure inspiration. YOUR WRITING
SCHEDULE IN WRITERS ON FIRE IN WRITERS ON FIRE IN Day 1: Morning arrival. Unpack, settle in. Afternoon trip to the Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Art of Memoir. Stirring up memory. Awakening
the primal sense of smell. Draw psychogeographic
maps. Discuss scene-writing and shaping experience versus therapy. Share
personal histories; draw inspiration from selected readings of other
memoirists, plus selected readings from writers who inspire each participant.
Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Memoir Intensive. Explore Hawai’i-set excerpts from
Joelle Fraser’s searing memoir The Territory Of Men. Discuss structure, pattern, shape and voice
--the tug of nostalgia, recreating the Vanished. Exercises galore. 9pm: Screening of PBS’ “The Last
Queen of Day 2: Morning session: 9am-12pm. The Necessary Lie: Turning Life
Into Fiction. Awakening
the sense of touch. Explore Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s prize-winning book Saturday Night at the Pahala
Theater – a series of short poetic novellas written in pidgin. Claiming
your own voice, forging your own language. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More Fiction. Literary v. genre writing. From
short fiction to the novel: Discuss
Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s critically acclaimed first novel, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers which blends pidgin and formal
English. Experiment with voice, dialect, dialogue. Day 3: Morning session: 9am-12pm. Tour-de-force Travel Writing & The Power
of the Personal Essay. Awakening the sense of taste. Using setting as inspiration. How To Tie A Pareo.
Playing with kitsch, the real and the sur-real.
Tone, attitude, and all-important point of view. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. Dramarama: Cooking Up The One-Act Play or more Travel
Writing. Continue with on-the-spot writing exercises. Performance
games. Using travel materials. 9pm:
Screening of “Riding Giants,” the awesome big wave surf doc featuring
local hero Laird Day 4: Morning
session: 9-12pm. Sudden
Fiction: The Flash Art of the Short-Short. Tapping into the sense of
hearing. Crafting self-contained short writings. Afternoon session: 1-3pm. More
short fiction.
Preparing for final reading. Day 5: Morning
session: 9-12pm. Sex and
Violence: How To Write Without Censure. Awakening the sense of vision. Erotica
writing exercise. Tapping your inner island libertine. Afternoon session. 1-3pm: Site-Specific
Writing. In this
session, we move outdoors to write from a powerful sense of place and
awareness of nature. The myth of the castaway, and the lure of the island. Final event: 8pm. Public Day 6: Departure.
Last opportunity
for lounging in the Sunset Villa. Farewell breakfast and beach ritual.
Inspiration and
Personal Coaching Sessions In both retreats, participants will be encouraged to use
their vivid memories, as well as experiences with the retreat environment,
each other, food, dreams and observations in their writing exercises and
assignments. Inspiration may also come from writing journals and dream logs. I will offer two personal coaching sessions with each
participant, to work out a plan for your future writing and other creative
endeavors and to clarify and expand your individual goals as a writer. The
first one-on-one session will be at the beginning of the conference, and the
second toward the end. Each evening we will organize wine and cheese gatherings
in the living room or on the deck as breaks from writing and opportunities to
mingle. I also offer private personal coaching sessions separately
from the retreats. If you are interested, please contact me directly for more
details. WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU’LL TAKE: Concrete critiquing of
your writing, to whatever degree you desire; a coaching plan for how to work
regular writing into your life and how to use writing to expand your creative
energy and the power of your imagination in all areas; and the experience of
a unique, breakthrough creative journey. PREPARATION: All you will need for each meeting is a
pen and a notebook. There will be writing assignments out of class as well.
The conference will not have computers, so you may wish to bring your laptops
if you work on computer. A printer will be available on the premises for
out-of-class assignments. DSL also available at the Sunset Villa for email
and online access. No advance submission of work is required.
Location and
Logistics FREE TIME: Hike or bike
on the nearby trail, to swim, surf, etc. Bicycles and surf equipment can be
rented. One of the world's most luxurious spas, Turtle Bay Resort, is a few
miles down the beach, if spa visits and massages are desired. MEALS: Three healthy
meals a day will be provided, so you can concentrate on your writing and
creativity, and on soaking up the surf and inspiring setting. Includes a
festive luau the first night. EXCURSIONS: Two sidetrips, one to the groovy old hippie town, Haleiwa;
another to the pounding waterfalls at ALL-INCLUSIVE COST: $3,500. Airfare, which is approximately $500
roundtrip from LAX to COME JOIN US If you are interested, please contact me directly at katamon@verizon.net,
or (310) 455-7767 with any questions or a letter of commitment. Checks may be
sent to Rachel Resnick/415 S. Topanga Cyn. Blvd.
#173/ I look forward to hearing from you soon, and can’t wait
for this creative journey to begin. I hope you’ll join me in January, or in
the future! Let me know of your interest and I will add your name to the
mailing list either way. There will be many more retreats to come, at this
setting and in other fascinating national and international sites. Aloha! Rachel Resnick
RACHEL RESNICK,
WRITING RETREAT LEADER Best-selling author of Go West Young F*cked-Up Chick (St. Martin’s Press); published in the Los
Angeles Times, Women’s Health, BlackBook
magazine (and various anthos, including The
Intimates, The Dictionary of Failed Relationships, Best American
Erotica 2004, Women On The Edge, L.A. Shorts, Absolute
Disaster), and numerous literary magazines including Black Clock,
Swink, Le Storie, Barcelona Review,
a contributing editor at Tin House magazine; graduate of Yale
University, B.A. in English Literature, and of Vermont College, M.F.A. in
Creative Writing; creative-writing instructor and lecturer at UCLA Extension
Writers' Program, USC Professional Writing Program, Loyola Marymount, mediabistro.com, Cal Arts, LACC, Chapman,
Whittier, Emerson, Antioch; recently completed the mod-noir novel Sway. Please refer to www.rachelresnick.com for more
links and general info on the writing retreat leader. Read the smashing Retreat Testimonials The recent inaugural WRITERS ON FIRE IN FRANCE retreat
at a fully restored 10th century French chateau nestled in the
base of the "Rachel Resnick's Writers On Fire retreat proved to be an intense
and invigorating experience. I pushed myself to write beyond my usual
boundaries and experienced seismic shifts in my writing after attending this
workshop. Rachel has the rare ability to inspire and guide a writer on his or
her own individual journey." n
Monica Carter "Whatever you did
blew me out of my rut and into territories I have yet to explore and digest.
The best single writing experience of my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you." n
"The writing
exercises, where everyone had to read out loud what they'd written, trained
the brain muscle that had been dormant. More than what I expected. I wanted
to get inspired. I got very inspired plus energized plus left with a
smile." n
Gregor von Bismarck "I had a
breakthrough and came out knowing more about my writing voice, how different I
am from others, and not to be afraid of that, but to really go deep and
explore it." n
Holly Hughes "I loved that the
workshop was generative, since it kept it fresh and alive for me -- one who
can get lost in moving a word around for a couple of hours. The retreat as a
whole was beyond my expectations in all ways. The quality and quantity of
work, one-on-one's with Rachel, the writing exercises, the people, setting…
wow, wow, wow." n
Marcia King Every day was intense
and thought-provoking, and we had so many laughs. Thank you for creating such
a great atmosphere. n
Sukeshi O'Neal We were on fire. I came away
happily surprised at what I wrote. A great new beginning for me. n
Linda Renaud
…and
testimonials from other writers “Rachel
Resnick is one of the very few people I entrust to read and advise me on
my works in progress. She is deadly perceptive and exacting in her critiques,
and asks the important questions. We have shared many of the same students
and I can attest to how faithful and awed they are by
Rachel's generosity, editing and teaching
skills.” Bruce Bauman, author of critically
acclaimed first novel And The
Word Was “Rachel
Resnick pulled things out of me that I never even knew were there. I've been
writing all my life, but there was a preciousness and fear about it that
blocked me from getting to the heart of the matter. Through her invigorating
writing exercises, incisive commentary, and vast literary resources, Rachel
slammed me into the reality of who I am and what I have to say. It's
changed the way I write, the way I think, everything.” Mary Feuer, 2006 Grand Prize winner
of national Writers’ Digest contest, staff writer on TV show “Dante’s Cove”
on Here TV, filmmaker, long-time Resnick private workshop member Final Logistics and Refund Policy PLEASE NOTE: The Sunset Villa is privately owned. It is
not currently handicap accessible. Further, Writers On Fire is not
responsible for providing medical care during the retreat. If you have any
health concerns that may be affected by this trip, please feel free to email
Rachel Resnick. REFUNDS: Our Writers On Fire policy is that once
payment is accepted, there are no refunds. However, you can roll your payment
over to secure a spot in another retreat if we hear from you at least one
month in advance of the retreat for which you have paid. PHOTOS: All
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WORKSHOP MEMBER NEWS PLEASE SEND IN NEWS TO ME
IF YOU ARE A FORMER STUDENT, WORKSHOP MEMBER, OR KNOW OF NEWS OF ONE! And
click on back issues to see earlier news. I mentioned
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November 17, 2006 Hey all, Most of this update is
taken up by the Writers on Fire in Been also plunging deeper
into various 12-step programs. The transformation resulting is awesome – the work
is grueling, and challenging. My good friend Anne-Marie O’Connor, the
excellent L.A. Times journalist – told me today a saying in Let us take a moment here
to mourn the ousting of Dean Baquet, former editor of the Los Angeles Times.
This is a shocking and despicable move on the part of the Herald Tribune,
which owns the Times. Dean is one of the most highly respected editors in the
country. He brought this paper to international acclaim, with a slew of Pulitzers
– not only did tears flow when Dean gave his final speech last week, they
even made buttons with his face on them. This guy, I swear, is like the Mick Jagger of the journalism world. He also happens to be the
first African-American editor of a major I can’t help but nurse
the fantasy of Burkle and Broad, local
billionaires, buying the Trib and reinstating Dean.
And I’m not the only one. Stay tuned… More TK… A piu
tardi, Rachel
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PREVIOUS UPDATES: Click to get back issues
of updates -- more news, gossip, ranting! Roma,
Citta Eterna – Past &
Present Collide: and Writers On Fire
In France Springtime
in Topanga: The Seekers, Tongue &
Groove, Black Clock… Bullfighting, Black Clocks, & The Bermuda Triangle of Holidays: 2004-2005 Seoul & Shanghai Surprise: Spring/Summer 2004 Pornification with All-Star Susie Bright Falling Into Winter Into Spring Renaissance: Nov. 2003 - Feb. 2004, With Scent of India September 2003: Lusty Divorcees!!! A Different Drumbeat -- LA Times essay on Topanga May & Summer 2003: R.I.P. Eddie Little December-February 2003: India! White Tigers, Cremations, Maharajas & A One-Legged Sadhus from Texas Winter 2002 -- Back-to-Back Black Book Covers -- All Things Cusackian & "Meant Work" Summer Splash 2002: Entering Beckworld and Other Self-Tanning Adventures in Scribbling December 2001-January 2002: General Holidaze, & The Erotic Side of the Flu September-November 2001 -- the 9.11 Spread, This New World Of Ours September 2nd Update: Loss of Lima, and, other ramblings from the days before The World Changed June-August 2001: Off the Rails at Track 16 Gallery & Other Tales April/May 2001: Second Pick-of-the-Litter Winners! plus Snap and trash from Tin House bash December/January 2001: Happy Kwanzaa Send-Off, Holidazing November 2000 Update: Seven Deadly Sins Contest! Plus Bonus Political Rant June 2000 Update: Hell's Angels, Rocking the Tin House, and More! February 2000 Update: My Bloody Valentine
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