ANNOUNCING: Fall Retreat 2024
Create the space to write your heart out this fall... plus fire pits, a heated pool + chef-cooked meals.
Mark your calendars!
My 2024 Fall Retreat will take place at the NYT’s-approved Sylvan Motor Lodge in Hillsdale, NY, from Friday, September 20th to Monday, September 23rd.
I can’t wait to recreate this moment in 2024!
This is my favorite time of year not only because I get to meet many of the people I usually only see on my computer screen, but we get to slow down together in a beautiful environment away from the mania and franticness and distractions of everyday life. We join together in community to give ourselves, and each other, permission to breathe and to play in the sandbox of our writing.
Some of the people who attend my retreats are new to writing or aren’t sure which project to pursue. Others are stuck in the messy middle of an essay or book. And still others just need the time and space so they can get into the flow that will let their pages take flight.
Some highlights from last year’s retreat at Sylvan!
There is an application process for my retreats and I’ll be taking a maximum of 9 people. I specially curate the group of writers who attend not to be exclusive or bureaucratic, but to allow for synergies and collisions between your work.
I’m a huge evangelist for the writer’s retreat. I take solo trips whenever I can to focus on writing - just a few magical days to reconnect to the voice in my head that I usually ignore out of busyness or overwhelm. I love waking up in the morning, grabbing my coffee and going straight to my computer. No one asking for anything, no emails interrupting my focus. On a retreat I get as much done in one weekend as I get done in several months in my everyday life.
But there is something extra special about group retreats, like the one I’m leading in September. We keep one another accountable for showing up on the page, producing our best work, and being fully present. I learn so much from the writers around me - both from listening to their work and from hearing their feedback on mine.
When I ask for feedback about my retreats, what I hear most often is that the community of other writers + the writing exercises I offer unlocks pent-up creative energy and reinvigorates participants’ writing.
Meals are taken care of, you’ll have your own room with a private bathroom, and we will exercise our creativity with fun prompts, while enjoying some fresh air and beautiful scenery. Plus, you won’t want to miss the heated pool, the fire pits, or the acres of space to roam.
Starting Friday night we’ll kick off with a cocktail hour, chef-cooked meal and our opening writing workshop. The rest of the weekend we’ll breathe in the crisp Fall country air while eating fresh local food, immersing ourselves in a creative community of like-minded writers, and workshopping your writing to help dig up the gems just beneath the surface. You’ll also get a private one on one session with me to workshop your favorite piece from our weekend together and get my advice on what you and your story need to take your writing to the next level.
If this sounds like exactly the long weekend you need, I hope you’ll join me September 20-23 at the Sylvan Motor Lodge upstate.
There are just a few spots left so apply now. I’m offering a $100 discount for Substack subscribers who apply by April 1.
Here are a few testimonials from former retreaters…
“I attended Ruthie’s retreat in Tivoli, NY and couldn’t be more thrilled that I did. Ruthie is a phenomenal teacher, a skilled facilitator, a generous community builder, and a thoughtful, creative designer of learning and connecting spaces. She leads with grace and forges relationships in the most elegant way.” -Marci Alboher, VP Narrative Change, CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)
“The retreat at Sylvan Motor Lodge helped me get closer to finishing my manuscript. The support and community I received was incredible. The setting is gorgeous and perfect to spark creativity!” -Tiffany Dyba, Consultant-Tiffany Dyba Coaching & Consulting
Upcoming Courses…
Hysterical Women (four weeks)
Sylvia Plath. Susannah Kaysen. Elizabeth Wurtzel. Catherine Cho. Esme Wang. Terese Marie Mailhot. Juliet Escoria. We will use the writing of a selection of these authors (and more) as a launching point for our own exploration of the darkness in our minds. Come ready to talk about the taboos and tough stuff that most of us keep hidden away in locked boxes and to dive into writing exercises designed to get you to “go there.”
Finding Your Narrative (six weeks)
This is an interactive 6-week class on finding the narrative thread in your story. We will look at the structures and narrative arcs that have worked for other writers and hammer out the threads of your story: What themes keep popping up in your writing? What ideas keep you up at night? What pieces of your personal history haunt you? Will you bring in outside research? Other people's stories? How will all of these threads come together? You will walk away with a clear sense of the foundational themes that drive your writing.
The Secrets to Pitching Essays That Get Published (four weeks)
Writers need to pitch editors to get their work noticed, but the skills needed to pitch an essay or article are vastly different than those needed to write one. In this four week class, we will learn the basics of pitching from how to know what editors are looking for to how to know which publications will be the best fit for your work. You will also have the opportunity to pitch your idea to a panel of editors in the final week of class and hear feedback about what works/what doesn’t from an insider’s perspective.
