Birmingham Writers’ Retreat

No distractions. No excuses. Just writing.

Look, we get it. We have the same problem. We make the grandest of plans – Booker Prize winning plans. Pulitzer winning plans! – but life gets in the way.

There’s a thing that needs doing or a different thing that just needs looking at or, worse, there’s someone being wrong on the Internet and you really need to explain to them why that is before you can get started. And before you know it, it’s past midnight, you’re sitting in your pants eating Dairy Milk and you’ve written 25 words. Ugh.

That’s why we’ve developed our state-of-the-art, cutting edge, highest of all high tech retreats, during which we make you get on and do the work. Because the only way to get your project written is to sit down and write it.

What happens at a Writers’ HQ retreat?

Writing, and lots of it.

You’ll spend the day in a room with a bunch of writers, limitless caffeine and no Internet.

We’ll help you set your personal writing goal for the day and longer term. We’ll talk about your successes and blocks.

And then you write. And write. And write.

We write in short and then increasingly longer bursts called sprints, which are punctuated by stretches of legs, cups of something hot, and a delicious but mildly coma-inducing lunch.

A score board, gold stars, general silliness and supportive competitiveness will help you reach your targets, break you out of your bad habits, and get your writing moving.

No distractions. No excuses. Just writing. Perf.

What’s included?

• All the tea and coffee you can drink
• Morning snacks, lunch, biscuits and often cake
• A supportive environment. Gold stars.
• Lots of encouragement and the lovely warm glow of finally-getting-it-done satisfaction

Who are Writers’ HQ retreats for?

• Everyone!
• New writers or experienced writers with a project in progress that has stalled or been put aside while life takes over.
• New or experienced writers who want to tinker with an idea, or with an idea they want to make a big start on.
• People who want to drink tea and eat biscuits and write some words in a fun, supportive environment.
• People writing fiction, non-fiction, academic texts, copy, journalism, poetry, creative non-fiction, genre, high brow, low brow, and anything else that needs an alphabet shuffle.

Anything else I should know?

• Writers’ HQ retreats are strictly no sharing events! We want you to focus on writing your story instead of getting anxious about other people reading it.
• There is no workshopping or taught element to the retreats. It’s just about the writing. For taught courses please check out our superduper range of online courses.