THE
OXFORD WRITING
RETREAT
Is this the year you want to WRITE THAT THING? (That’s already a great start.)
Have you got a story in you that you really want to tell, but don’t know where to start?
Do yu want a creative boost to help your writing?
Have you already started a writing project but lost confidence/interest/energy to complete it?
Do you feel you are lacking confidence to write, and need some inspiration and personal encouragement?
Do you want to write for magazines or newspapers but need some advice on pitching, commissioning and . . . ever getting paid?
Are you overwhelmed by social media, and what we as writers ‘need’ to be doing online in order to get published and be successful?
Do you have The Killer Manuscript in your bag and want to know about agents, deals, marketing and winning an Oscar for the screen adaptation?
Have you never written for publication before but think you would like to, and are looking for a supportive, positive and nurturing space to learn more?
Are you seeking to spend some time with other writers who understand your dilemmas, and feel much more confident and encouraged for the experience?
Do you want to spend a day among the Dreaming Spires, in some of Oxford’s most beautiful and literary places, receiving personal writing coaching and support from an Oxford-based, best-selling author, copyeditor and broadcaster who GETS IT?
The writer.
I have been a writer, columnist and broadcaster for over 25 years.
My speciality is non-fiction, especially memoir and narrative non-fiction, and magazine feature-writing.
My books include a Sunday Times best-seller published by HarperCollins, and a No1 best-selling memoir published by Bloomsbury in 2021.
I’ve also written for national newspapers and magazines, as a columnist and features-writer for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Red, Grazia, Italia! Magazine, Guardian Travel, Glamour, The Daily Mail, Mother and Baby, Marie Claire, Junior, Woman, Runner's World, Women’s Running and others.
My publishing career has encompassed a mixture of some of the biggest traditional publishers, successful crowd-funding publishing, and subscription-supported self-publishing. As a result, I understand the whole process from many angles:
from literary agents, pitching and commissioning to publicity and self-marketing, in-house style requirements, the pain of by-lines and sub-editing and the somewhat important business of actually getting paid.
I’ve also been rejected plenty of times, so I know how that feels and am here to support you if you feel disheartened!
For books, I can give advice and support on aspects concerning literary agents (do you need one? How do you find one? What do they DO? Does anyone like their agent..?), contracts, Rights (including foreign, and TV/film).
For journalistic work I can help you with pitching (who to pitch it to, when to pitch, lead-times, expectations of editors) and what happens when a commissioned piece is not published.
Unfortunately, I have plenty of experience with online trolling - this is now almost unavoidable in the public domain, including any form of published writing - and it’s something I believe all creators and writers should be well informed about and prepared for.
I am happy to share some of my experiences and advise on how to protect oneself against the more damaging personal aspects of publishing, and the sensitive and legal aspects of memoir-writing.
Social media is now a fairly complex, confusing beast, where reels, Substacks and a plethora of new places we ‘should’ be sharing our work and building a profile have come into everyday life.
This is something I can cover in the workshops. Do all writers need a strong social media profile? What’s the best place to be ‘visible’, and how? Where does the balance of private and public lie? Can you be a successful writer with no online presence?
Each course will be very much tailored to the group of people who attend:
the morning coffee hour is to meet each other and for you to outline your writing journey to date, where you’re at with it now, what you would like to get out of the day and the specific issues you are hoping to find answers, support and encouragement with.
The person
Who I am as a person is as important to my own work, and to my writing workshops for others, as the work itself.
As is fairly well documented, I have spent years recovering and rebuilding my health and life following deep trauma, and while living with PTSD and an ADHD-type of brain.
I thus know intimately how hard it can be to do something as apparently simple as ‘sit down and write.’ While also looking after children, paying the bills and struggling with self belief.
I am passionate about helping others to find ways to connect with their strongest, most confident and free self;
to be released from personal and writing blocks and fears, and thus to inhabit a good place in themselves where they are able to create their best work, and enjoy it.
There are many ways to teach writing, and many writing courses out there to suit all wants and needs.
My writing workshops are designed around the WRITER, the person and your individual story and voice.
“YOU BE YOU” is my mantra in life.
‘YOU WRITE YOU” is my mantra for writing.
This applies to all writing, both fiction and non-fiction, whether for magazine articles, columns, blogs or books. Finding our own style - and having the self confidence to write in that style - is key.
Self-doubt is the death of successful and enjoyable writing, and I seek to inspire and encourage individuality, and finding your unique writing voice.
Some of the best writers of all time threw the Writing Rulebook out, wrote in a style that was criticised, mocked and belittled at the time . . . but which went on to shape and influence writers for decades to come.
Rulebooks are made for restriction and compliance, and true creativity requires the opposite: freedom.
If you want to use punctuation in a way that YOU like and feels right in your writing style, then I say DO THAT. Kerouac did . . .
If you want to repeat words for effect, make up new words (Shakespeare did that a lot, and many of them are still used today), mix languages and styles then YOU DO THAT.
Writing is a hard discipline, and publishing is a tough industry. If you also have a brain that finds it hard to sit down and write for 6 hours a day, or you are juggling childcare and other work, then it’s triple hard.
But it’s also one of the most liberating and enjoyable vocations or personal practices there is, and I want to encourage and support every writer to write!
I believe a holistic and all-round approach, where we as people are central to our writing lives, has a profoundly positive impact on the writing we produce – and thus the lives we live.
We are a product of everything we have experienced, and we are who WE are;
I want you to be able to create what YOU want to create, stop fearing criticism, and write freely and confidently. . . .and then have the knowledge, insights and tools to take this forward to getting it published if you wish to.
So let’s do that!
(Please kindly note: nobody has to attend any of all of the sessions listed below. You do what suits you, on the day. I can work around the individual group at each workshop.)
08.15-09.15: Coffee meet and greet in The Missing Bean, Oxford’s oldest roastery café in the heart of Oxford.
09.30-11.30 Session 1: in a private room in one of Oxford’s Colleges near the centre of town.
12.30-2pm Lunch break. Guests are free to continue the conversation with me or amongst yourselves, look around the College, see some of Oxford and have lunch as and where you like. I will be available over this time to answer individual questions if you have them.
2pm-4pm: Session 2 in the Dorothy L Sayers room in Oxford’s most famous bookshop, Blackwell’s.
4pm-5pm: free time to talk with others in the group, get some air, freshen up, have a mental rest/think/get questions ready for the final session.
5.30. 6.30pm: Session 3 in the beautiful Randolph Hotel, where The Inspector Morse series was written.
We can then go for a wrap-up drink in the famous Lamb and Flag pub, a 3-minute walk away. Guests can stay and talk with me after the end of the workshops, if you have further questions.
Before each retreat, I will ask you to send me some information about your writing, and what you would most like to cover in the sessions. This is so I can tailor each retreat to the individual writing needs of those attending, as closely as possible.
Thursday 7th March
Wednesday 20th March
Wednesday 17th April
Wednesday 8th May
Thursday 16th May
Included
· Breakfast coffee/tea in The Missing Bean café in Turl Street
· 20% discount code for The Missing Bean online purchases, valid for life.
· Coffee and tea in College.
· Coffee/tea in Caffè Nero in Blackwell’s.
· 20% discount on overnight stays at the Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels, Oxford.
· Free use of the Wellness by Randolph Spa for one hour (space-permitting.)
· 10% discount on accommodation within College, where available.
· A full 8-hour day including the workshop sessions, plus 1-to-1 time with me for your individual questions.
Not included: transport and transfers, overnight accommodation if required, evening drink at the Randolph Hotel bar, extra teas and coffees in The Missing Bean or Caffè Nero,
Booking:
50% deposit taken on booking. Remaining 50% payable not less than 30 days before the date of retreat.
Full refund given in the event that The Oxford Writing Retreat cancels.
50% refund given if guests cancel up to 30 days before the retreat date.
No refund on cancellations by guests less than 30 days before the retreat date.
Guests are advised to take out their own insurance for travel and health, or in the unlikely event of cancellation. If you have specific dietary or health requirements please make sure you let me know in advance, and bring with you anything you need for your well-being.
To reserve your place, or to ask questions, please complete the form below.
Please note: spaces are limited to FIVE PEOPLE per retreat.
