The design of this retreat uses Lave and Wenger's (1991) community of practice theory to create a structured retreat for sustained writing. Participants will engage in dedicated writing time with the purpose of progressing with writing projects in a supportive and collegial environment. The writing retreat will provide participants with a distraction free setting to write and the opportunity to speak to and seek feedback from other writers. Participants should arrive with a writing project in mind and a strong desire to significantly move the project forward within the time allotted by the retreat.

The writing retreat is structured following the example described by Rowan and Murray (2009)¹ and benefits from lessons learned following retreats held 2019 - 2023 as well as an ongoing writing circle that evolved from these retreats.

Audience

All writers are invited. Typical projects might include book chapters, journal articles, research proposals, and reports; however, any writing project is welcome. You only need to have a desire to progress your writing in a supportive, collegial environment.

Goals

• To provide a structure for a collective writing experience that promotes focused goal
  setting and writing persistence
• To enrich and support a writer identity
• To establish a community of practice in which individuals learn through participation
• To support and seek feedback from other writers

Format

The three-day "morning" retreat will be generally structured as:

15 minutes: Introductions, writing warm-up, goal-setting, planning
1¼ hours: Writing
15 minutes: Break and review
1 hour: Writing
15 minutes: Wrap up

¹ Murray, R., & Newton, M. (2009). Writing retreat as structured intervention: margin or mainstream? Higher Education Research & Development, 28(5), 541-553.