Structured Writing Courses at Chalet La Giettaz
Our structured retreats have a range of seven to fifteen guests, to allow for friendships to develop and to facilitate the harmony and energy that every creative retreat needs.
A weekend will focus on smaller exercises, so that by the end of it every writer will have perfected a few scenes, an overall structure, a plan for a single piece of work or the opening pages of a story. A week-long retreat will focus on full-bodied short stories, book ideas, travel and memoir chapters and sizeable chunks of work. A fortnight’s retreat will enable writers who’ve already commenced a piece of work they’re truly passionate about to deepen their skills, get the words down in long stretches of peace and quiet and learn the finer points of editing, shaping and successfully critiquing and concluding their work.
The Schedule
Arriving the afternoon or evening before a course officially begins, you will be given time to settle in, before enjoying a gourmet welcome meal, an introduction to the shape of what’s to come over the following days, and the chance to discuss what has brought you to La Giettaz and what you hope to achieve during your stay.
The next morning - after the boulanger has delivered fresh pastries and bread to your apartment - there will be group workshops and writing exercises conducted in the comfort of the bar. These exercises might be anything from perfecting dialogue, pace, setting and structure to crafting memoirs, writing wicked comedy or achieving the perfect opening paragraph.
The retreat is a friendly and nurturing environment, where you can read your work aloud, redraft it, react to spur-of-the-moment inspiration, and won’t have time to worry about whether you’re ‘getting it right’ or not. The purpose of the workshops is to encourage spontaneous thought and trust in the creative process without panic our doubt - no matter what stage of your writing career you are at.
Following a break of Savoyard specialities and salads, you will have free time in which to pursue your own project, go for a long walk to clear your mind, visit the spa, work on any exercises you were set in the morning or sample some of the many cultural and sporting attractions La Giettaz offers.
The afternoon is also the time to schedule a solo consultation with the course tutor, who will take a detailed look at your work and give you any guidance you might want, whether it’s something technical like how to write the perfect ending or a broader issue like choosing which of many ideas to see through to completion. You can bring an already-completed piece of work, a range of ideas, something that’s just in the planning stages… whatever you want. If you have something completed that you would like to be closely commented on, simply send an extract (with a limit of about 6000 words) in advance and our tutor will read it before you arrive and be ready with comments.
Should the group wish to change the dynamics for an afternoon, an invigorating group hike can be of immense help in unclogging any writer’s block and getting new ideas flowing.
In the evening we will serve you with a three-course meal of delicious, organic, locally-sourced French produce and wine. After dinner there will be question and answer sessions about the business of writing and brief readings of either your own work or that of your favourite authors. If you’re still keen to create, your tutor will always be happy to round off the evening with a quick writing exercise, which can be reviewed the next morning; the choice is yours.
You can find details on dates and prices of forthcoming retreats here.