I think writing retreats are woefully underused. Before I started writing professionally, I’d never heard of them. Now I don’t know how writers manage without them.
Writing whilst living in an urban environment and working a nine-to-five is tough. Even if you don’t do a nine-to-five, and you earn enough from writing to cover living costs, it can still be a slog. The grind of urban living, whilst offering plenty of material for the writer’s imagination, can be an enemy of the creative process. As can the needs and demands of others. Yes, I said it. There is nothing wrong with looking out for number one sometimes. If you don’t spend some of your time on yourself, people will use it up for what they need, and you will only have yourself to blame.
Now, before you picture yourself vanishing into a remote cottage for six months and emerging with a masterpiece, let me stop you. That myth is exactly that, a myth. Despite its solitary image, writing is very much a collaborative process. You need feedback to improve your work. You need other people’s eyes on it. The earliest writers had a person, or a cadre of people, whose opinions they valued and sought out. Very few of us have that on tap. Relatives who think everything you do is genius, unfortunately, carry little sway in the film & TV industry.
This is exactly where the right retreat earns its keep. A good one gives you the perfect balance of solitary writing time and enriching social time among like-minded people. It can help get you past a block, bring an embryonic idea to life, or help you finesse the 3 Big Firsts Your Script Needs.
The trouble is that retreats are not one-size-fits-all, and they are rarely cheap. Book the wrong one for where you are as a writer, and you can come home poorer both financially and creatively. So rather than hand you a list, I want to give you something more useful. Here is how to work out which retreat is right for you before you part with a penny.
Start with your project, not the postcard
The most common mistake is choosing a retreat on the strength of the view. Beautiful surroundings matter, but they are not the deciding factor. Start with an honest question. Where are you with your project right now?
If you are at the spark-of-an-idea stage, you want a retreat built for generating and developing material. If you have a few chapters and have stalled, you want somewhere geared to momentum and problem-solving. If you have a full draft, you want editing support and structured feedback.
A retreat that suits a writer beginning their first manuscript can be the wrong room entirely for someone trying to finish their fifth. Match the retreat to your stage, and everything else gets easier.
Decide how much solitude you actually want
Retreats sit on a spectrum. At one end, near-total quiet, a room, a desk and long uninterrupted hours to write. At the other, a busy timetable of workshops, group sessions and social evenings. Neither is better. It depends on you.
Be honest about how you work. Some writers thrive on the buzz of a full schedule and the accountability of a group. Others need the silence and would resent every organised activity eating into their word count. Read the daily structure carefully before you book, and picture yourself actually living it for a week.
Tutored or self-guided?
This is a big one. Some retreats are mentored, led by professional writers who teach craft, run exercises and give you feedback. Others are essentially serviced space, where you are left alone to work, and everything else is taken care of.
If you want to be taught, and to leave with your work stronger and your writer’s toolbox fuller, choose a tutored retreat and check who is doing the tutoring. If you already know your craft and simply need distraction-free time with the meals cooked for you, a self-guided studio-style retreat may be exactly right, and often cheaper.
Look closely at the feedback model
If feedback is part of why you’re going, the detail matters enormously. Ask specific questions before you commit. How much of your work will actually be read? Is it group workshopping, one-to-one consultations, a full manuscript assessment, or a mix? Do you submit pages in advance or work on the day? Who is giving the feedback: produced writers, credited producers, agents, and what is their track record?
There is a real difference between a retreat where a tutor reads a hundred pages of your manuscript and one where you read a short passage aloud after dinner. Both have value. Just know which you are paying for.
Check the form and genre fit
Plenty of retreats specialise. Some are built around the novel, others around memoir, poetry, playwriting or screenwriting. A general creative-writing retreat can be wonderful, but if you are working on a script, make sure screenwriting is genuinely catered for and not an afterthought. The more your retreat understands your form, the more useful the guidance will be.
Think about group size and who else is in the room
Group size shapes the whole experience. A small cohort means more individual attention and a more intimate atmosphere. A larger one means a wider network and more voices, but less 1-on-1 consultation time. Neither is right or wrong, but they are very different weeks.
It is also worth checking who a retreat is for. Some are women-only. Some are pitched squarely at beginners. Some are demanding, aimed at focused writers well into a project. None of that is a criticism, but you want to walk into a room that fits you, so read the description properly and call and ask if you’re unsure.
Add up the true cost, not just the headline price
Look past the advertised figure. What is actually included? Accommodation, meals, airport transfers, excursions, tuition? Are you expected to arrange and pay for your own accommodation on top, as some city-based retreats require? Factor in travel and any single-room supplement. A retreat that looks pricey but includes everything can work out better value than a cheaper one with a long list of extras.
Vet the host and verify it’s still running
Retreats change year to year. Dates move, hosts change, prices rise, and some quietly stop running altogether. Before you get attached to any of them, do three things. Look at the retreat’s own current page for this year’s dates and details rather than solely trusting a write-up. Read recent reviews from actual attendees. And check the host’s background, because a retreat is only ever as good as the people running it.
Reputable directories such as ShawGuides and the various writing-retreat listing sites are a sensible place to start a search, but always click through to the source and confirm the current details for yourself.
A last word
Here is the honest bit. I’m not going to point you at a single retreat and tell you it’s the one, because the right retreat is the one that fits your project, your temperament and your budget, and only you can weigh those. What I will say is this. There is something genuinely inspiring about being among people who are in the same mind space as you, all wrestling with the same blank page.
If you are serious about your writing, whether as a career or a passion, the right retreat is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Do the homework first, and give the writer within the space they need to create.
Happy writing!