Happy first Monday of the month — which means it's Monthly Micro time!
The prompt is LIE and the word count is 150. Get writing! From now on, all winning and shortlisted stories are going to be published in our lit journal, WestWord!
March Zoom Workshops
We’ve got a month of great workshops lined up to help you develop your writing skills. Everyone with a ticket will also be sent the replay link.
Please note that the clocks change in the UK on the last Sunday in March. Check your local time here.
Mining Your Life for Prompts with Laura Besley
Sat 9 Mar 2024 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM GMT
One of the most common questions writers are asked is: 'Where do your ideas come from?' Have youever been asked this? And, if so, what do you answer?
Many people truly don't know where their inspiration comes from and that's all part of the magic of writing. But what if you could look at the world around you and find prompts? Something interesting to add into a scene? Or something to spark a new story?
In this workshop we will look at how to harness the ordinary and extraordinary things that happen in our lives and use them within our stories.
Workshop Host: Laura Besley is the author of (Un)Natural Elements, 100neHundred and The Almost Mothers. She has been widely published in online journals, print journals and anthologies, including Best Small Fictions (2021). Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, twice nominated for Best Micro Fiction and she has been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers. She is an editor with Flash Fiction Magazine and has recently completed a Creative Writing MA at the University of Leicester. Having lived in the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong, she now lives in land-locked central England and misses the sea.
Finding New Angles for Common Themes
Sun 10 Mar 2024 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM GMT
In this workshop we'll be looking at the ways you can find new angles to tell stories from. There are only so many themes our stories can explore so finding new and surprising ways to tell them will help keep your readers interested.
As writers, there are also themes that recur over and over in our writing but we don't need to stop writing about them - we just need to do it in ways we've not tried before.
Join me to get ideas, inspiration and new drafts of stories that come from angles you've never tried before!
Workshop Host: Amanda Saint started Retreat West in 2012 and launched Retreat West Books in 2017 (Winner: Most Innovative Publisher 2020 Saboteur Awards), which published 24 books between 2018 and 2023. In 2022, she launched the WestWord literary magazine. She has been designing and teaching online courses, and live workshops, for many years and has worked as an editor on hundreds of manuscripts.
She’s the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016) and Remember Tomorrow (2019), and a novella-in-flash, Pressure Drop (2024). She has almost finished a flash fiction collection, and is now working on her third novel. She writes The Mindful Writer and The Tao of Storytelling.
Amanda’s short stories have been widely published; long/shortlisted in the Mslexia Flash Fiction Competition, Fish Flash Fiction Prize, Ink Tears Short Story Prize, Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition, Flash 500 and V300; nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023; and won the Editor’s Choice Prize at 101 Words.
Writing Speculative Hermit Crabs with Sarah McPherson
Sat 23 Mar 2024 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM GMT
Speculative themes and hermit crab flash fiction are the perfect pairing if you want to get playful and experimental with your writing.
Fantasy and science fiction provide us with scope to explore the weird and wonderful, whether that's taking inspiration from fairy tales, imagining artificial intelligence, or just looking to inject a little hint of magic into an everyday situation. This focus on the fantastic lends itself brilliantly to playing with borrowed forms to create hermit crab flashes too. What would be the ingredients in a recipe for happy-ever-after? How might an alien visitor review Earth online?
In this generative workshop we will explore some example flash fictions that marry hermit crab forms with speculative ideas, and you’ll leave with several new drafts or story ideas of your own.
Workshop Host: Sarah is a writer based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. Her work reflects her lifelong passion for speculative fiction and mythology/fairy tales, as well as her love of history and a desire to explore how people relate to nature, the landscape, and each other. Her writing has been widely published, nominated for Best Small Fictions 2022, longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50, and selected for Best Microfictions 2021.
Breathless Prose with Debbi Voisey
Sun 24 Mar 2024 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM GMT
This workshop will be all about choosing the right words and the right way to put them on the page to create impact, and about being original and surprising.
We will read examples and create some beautiful and surprising prose of our own – including attempting a breathless paragraph that weaves a wonderful tale. By the end of the two hours you will have a first draft - or lots of notes - that you can work on and send out into the world.
Please bring along an example of beautiful prose in a story you’ve read and love. I will ask some attendees to share some of these, depending on time available. There will be other examples provided by Debbi.
Workshop host: Debbi Voisey writes flash fiction, short stories and novels. She had two novellas-in-flash published in 2021 (Only About Love with Fairlight Books, and The 10:25 with Flash: The International Short-Short Story Press). Only About Love received a special mention in the 2022 Saboteur Awards and was shortlisted for the Arnold Bennett Prize 2022.
Debbi is currently seeking an agent and publisher for her novel, The Reset, which is written in short, flash-like chapters. She is also working on her next novel whilst running creative writing workshops, events, and courses on Zoom, and offering mentorships and guidance for people working on writing projects. She also works with Retreat West running Friday Flashing sessions, the Monthly Micro workshop and the monthly feedback group for our community members.
Flash Editing Workshop with Amanda Saint
Tue 26 Mar 2024 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM GMT
Join me for a detailed look at the stages of editing a flash fiction story from a first draft created from a prompt. Editing is a unique process for everyone but in this workshop I will show you how I develop a kernel of an idea that comes from a prompt, and over several drafts and taking time getting to know the character who has appeared in it, take it to a different place. You'll get ideas and tips for finding the truth at the heart of the story that can help you edit in a meaningful way rather than just adding, cutting and moving sentences around.
Monthly Micro Workshops with Debbi Voisey
Sun 31 Mar 2024 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM BST
Hone your micro fiction writing skills in the Monthly Micro workshop.
In the first half of the session, Debbi will dissect prize-winning micros and set writing exercises. Then that month’s prompt for the Monthly Micro competition will be revealed ahead of it going live on the website the next day and you’ll have time to write and get started on your entry!
You can pay as you go to attend these each month, or if you join the Retreat West Community they are included with your membership. You'll also get the replay link after the event takes place.
Last chance for Edit Your Novel Course with Amanda Saint!
Starts 6 March
HAVE YOU GOT A COMPLETE DRAFT OF A NOVEL AND NOT SURE WHAT TO DO NEXT?
Based on our popular and successful, Novel Creator Course, this course will equip you with the tools and resources to ensure your novel is compelling, that your characters are memorable and three-dimensional, and that the reader is going to be invested in the outcomes so they read right to the end.
All of the content for each workshop is online for you to access 24/7 and work through when suits you best.
Each week, you’ll share some of your draft based on the tasks set for each workshop to get feedback from Amanda and your course mates. In total, you’ll be able to share up to 12,000 words of your draft for feedback throughout the course.
If you know of any other writers that would enjoy our workshops and publishing opportunities, please do let them know!