Create your Home Writing Retreat

• Is the current world climate of stress and fear getting to you?
• Are you desperate to get back in touch with something truly positive and life-affirming?
• Do you want to express yourself but feel paralysed by all that's going on right now?
• Can you rediscover your creative voice in spite of it all?

Hi, I'm Lorna Fergusson, writer, writing coach, editor and founder of Fictionfire Literary Consultancy. In March 2020, when the pandemic began, I decided to start running free monthly online writing retreats. Writers who attended messaged me to tell me how much it meant to them to come together in this way during the coronavirus crisis.

However, not everyone has good internet access. Time-zones can cause problems. And we don't all feel comfortable taking part in online meetings.

So I decided to complement those online retreats with a resource you can use at home, at any time.

Create your Home Writing Retreat will help you rediscover your creativity - and after all, creativity is a form of self-care. 'Be kind' is a mantra in these times of turmoil. Being able to set your imagination free and put your thoughts and feelings into words is one of the best ways of being kind to yourself. Writing helps you make sense of life. It can be a safety-valve, a soap-box, an escape into a world you control.

Creating your custom-designed writing retreat at home will give you respite from anxiety, a chance to get back into the writing habit, the freedom to explore your ideas and the satisfaction of flexing your wordcraft. A creative time-out like this will inspire and energise you, helping you to cope with 'real' life with renewed positivity.

Here's what your mini-course contains:

• An illustrated 53 page guide and workbook. Learn how a retreat will benefit you and how to design your own home retreat - one that's just right for you and your circumstances. The workbook has useful printable sections so you can plan the elements that work for you.
• A set of 14 inspiring writing sprints, each with a positive theme, for you to print out
• Within each sprint you'll find 8 writing prompts, making 112 prompts in all.
• A set of specially designed journal pages for you to print out so you can record your responses and experiences during the sprints.
• A bonus module: Create your Writer's Prompt Box. If 112 prompts aren't enough, learn how to have an endless supply to hand, so that you never run out of ideas in the future!
• Extra bonus: when I ran further free online writing retreats, I added the writing prompts we used to this collection: Bonus Writing Sprint Packs #1, #2 and #3! You now have 20 sprints and 160 prompts to choose from.

Key benefits of choosing Create your Home Writing Retreat:

• You'll accentuate the positive. Being able to take time out to write compensates for the draining effect of stress. You'll detach yourself for a while from the anxious and troubling dialogues going on in the world right now. Switch those voices off and your inner voice on.
• You'll find consolation. Every theme I've chosen for the sprints is an uplifting one (though the stories you write don't have to be!)
• You'll be inspired. The prompts will trigger images, conversations, scenes, characters and plotlines in your imagination. You may start with something really small, some seed of story, but who knows where it will lead you ...
• You'll be in charge. You are the designer of the perfect retreat for you. I'll make suggestions and give you pointers, but the workbook is intended to help you put together the elements in a way that's personal to your needs and preferences.
• You'll be energised and revived. Through the workbook you'll learn how to mesh your dream of a retreat with the reality of your daily life. You won't be ignoring the demands of work or family obligations, but building your writing sessions into your routine in a realistic way. Instead of feeling stuck and frustrated, you can retreat into your writing space, a space where you'll know new stories are waiting for you ...