Our Costa Rica Writing Retreat

Sometimes, we all need to retreat. From work, from responsibilities, from our endless Canadian winters. And more importantly, we don’t only retreat from – we retreat to. On our annual creative writing retreat in Costa Rica we retreat into nature, healthy food, daily workshops, an immersion in writing, wonderful weather and a community of likeminded souls. We come back rejuvenated and with fresh inspiration for our creative projects. This past 10 days, I took 11 incredible people to Finca Luna Nueva, our magical writing base in the heart of rainforest in Costa Rica. Mornings were spent in writing workshops, on a gorgeous deck looking down on the bamboo restaurant and pool. While hummingbirds flitted past us, cicadas buzzed and howler monkeys roared in the depths [...]

2019-05-04T17:00:30-04:00February 22, 2019|Home Page, Life at Centauri, On Writing, Writing Retreats, Young Writers!|
Read More

A Pilgrimage to Spain

Why is it always easier to write when you step out of your daily life and head somewhere new? The Finding Place was written on a beach devastated by a tsunami. Flying Backwards with Pelicans was written on a ranch in Chile. Beyond Chaos began life as the sun was rising over the rainforest in Costa Rica, and the final words of Girl Awake were written in the same hammock. Two weeks ago, I set off for Spain, to research a second location for our writing retreats. My days were spent exploring in a tiny rental car barely able to manage the switchbacks and steep plunges of the single track Andalucian roads, and my nights were spent feverishly plotting ideas for a new novel.

2019-05-04T17:01:09-04:00November 22, 2018|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|
Read More

A Creative Week in Costa Rica!

Our third annual writing retreat to Costa Rica took place last week, and what a fabulous adventure it was. Here’s a list of our most memorable experiences: The Group! A wonderful collection of people from across North America. We had seasoned writers, and participants writing creatively for the first time. Poets, playwrights, short story writers, novelists, memoir writers and people trying various forms. Some of us had attended retreats before, while others had barely travelled. Our group was supportive, encouraging, positive and eager to launch into this amazing experience. Together we formed a community we will value forever. Finca Luna Nueva! Our lodge is one of the most relaxing, rejuvenating and beautiful places you could ever wish for – a paradise in the heart of [...]

2019-05-04T17:20:55-04:00February 13, 2018|Home Page, Life at Centauri, On Writing, Writing Retreats|
Read More

Costa Rica Writing Retreat – The Adventure Begins

It’s day one of our 2017 writing retreat week, and I’m excited, nervous, eager to meet this year’s writers as I thread through the manic crowds of San Jose’s international airport. It seems everyone is shouting, the voices echoing the thrill I feel inside. I join the throngs of tour guides and drivers, each of us holding aloft a sign, jostling for space outside the terminal as the doors swing open to reveal the next batch of travelers. I’m early, as always, so there’s a long wait before my first writer emerges. She steps from the air conditioned, newly refurbished terminal, into the heat and noise of a tropical city and I LOVE her expression – surprise, turning swiftly to delight. Then, she sees me [...]

2019-05-04T17:22:01-04:00November 28, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|
Read More

Writing and Teaching Writing – Both Matter!

A few years ago, I was interviewing to find a new writing teacher for our arts camp. One applicant told me in the interview: It’s good that teaching positions exist because when you can’t make enough money in the arts, teaching is the next best thing. Wrong. If an artist views teaching as financial fallback, then I would question how they define what it means to be an artist. As A.L.Kennedy puts it in her excellent book on writing, being an artist may be HARD, but it’s also a privilege. Privileges carry responsibilities. And those include the responsibility to inspire. We inspire by writing, making art, acting… but by creating, we also open a dialogue. We speak to our readers and to our audiences, but [...]

2019-05-04T17:23:14-04:00November 23, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Uncategorized, Writing Retreats|
Read More

Spooky Prompts for Writers

If you enjoy writing, and you also love Halloween, here are THIRTEEN writing prompts to get you in the mood for trick or treating! ONE: You take an elevator at the mall. The elevator goes down… and keeps on going. Where are you when the doors open? TWO: It’s a dark and rainy night. Someone hears a knock on their door. They open it – and find themself standing on the other side. THREE: Your character receives messages from a stranger who seems to know everything about them. The messages direct him or her to a disused factory at dusk. There, a dozen other people wait. All received the same message… FOUR: You take a cruise to a deserted island where strange things happen. On [...]

2019-05-04T17:24:44-04:00October 23, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Young Writers!|
Read More

Beat the Blank Page: Inspiration for Writers!

This post is most definitely for the writers among you! Have you ever sat down at your desk and tried to write – only to find you have no ideas at all? Here are 6 ways to get you started on a new piece of fiction: Choose a novel off your shelf – preferably one you haven’t read. Open randomly and let your eyes land on a portion of a sentence that sounds vague. Write from there. Examples:           Hearing a noise behind him, he turned and… It was a house they had never noticed before… Alternately, choose the first line of a story and write from it, or choose the last line of a story, and write towards it. (When you are done, change [...]

2019-04-30T20:59:36-04:00April 6, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place, Writing Retreats, Young Writers!|
Read More

Writing Matters – a Newsletter for Writers

Several weeks ago, I started a newsletter for writers. The newsletter is a free service. It goes out every Friday by email and is packed full of prompts and writing tips. This blog is an excerpt from the very first newsletter. If you like what you see here, and you want to receive the newsletter every week in your mailbox, simply drop me a note: julieAT SIGNcentauriartscamp.com Today, I’d like to introduce you to the writer’s best friend: the Free Write. What’s this? It’s a way to beat the blank page, the blank screen – to help your words flow freely. Imagine that your passion was dance, not writing. Would you ever slip out of your winter gear and leap immediately onto the stage to [...]

2019-05-04T17:26:48-04:00March 24, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats, Young Writers!|
Read More

Costa Rica Retreat – Days 6-8

Day 6… After breakfast by the pool to a cacophony of screeching parrots, we set ourselves a bizarre challenge this morning: use what we have learned this week to collaborate, in just an hour, on the plot outline for a novel! We explored different ways to generate ideas, warmed up with a 15 minute free write, then in less than an hour, we outlined a complete novel. Our inspiration was a simple question: what is essential for life? What would happen if one of those essentials was taken away? This morning, we also shared, critiqued and celebrated the character pieces we worked on yesterday – several participants were so inspired by these that they have already worked them into short stories! This afternoon, several group [...]

2017-02-13T15:35:15-04:00February 13, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|
Read More
Copyright 2012 - 2022 | JulieHartley.ca | All Rights Reserved
FacebookXYouTube
Go to Top