Florence Art of Writing Retreat, June 9-13, 2024
This retreat is now full.
Plot and Character
All sessions are to be conducted at Palazzo San Niccolò.
Retreat June 9-13, 2024
Full 4 Day + 2 Night Workshop
COST: 1,300 Euro
Included in price:
All tuition and Zoom lectures.
Welcome drinks and opening dinner.
Morning cappuccino break.
Final light dinner and wine at Palazzo San Niccolò.
All wine during our evening special Aperitivo Zoom hours.
Please note this retreat does not include accommodation.
Sunday, June 9th
1830:
Aperitivo in Palazzo San Niccolò. Welcome!
1930:
Welcome Dinner to meet your fellow writers. Introduction to Lisa Clifford, you, your work and the week ahead. Opening dinner together at a nearby restaurant included.
Monday, June 10th
We all adore stories. It's human nature to love a good yarn. Your story might be a novel, a memoir, or a plotline that’s stalled. Perhaps you need time to dream about the seed of an idea, or there's a blog you want to improve: this class is about refining your storytelling skills. Designed to bring your writing to life, we'll nail down the essentials of story.
9:30 – 11:00
MAKE YOUR READERS CARE! Lisa Clifford.
We all adore stories. It's human nature to love a good yarn. Your story might be a novel, a memoir, or a plotline that’s stalled. Perhaps you need time to dream about the seed of an idea, or there's a blog you want to improve: this class is about refining your storytelling skills. Designed to bring your writing to life, we'll nail down the essentials of story.
11:00 – 11:30
Morning break, cappuccino and caffe.
Your characters are your story. How your protagonist feels, reacts, their motivation, what they need and are afraid of is your story. In many ways, characters are your plot. So how do we create characters that readers will care about? Through discussion and exercises, this class is enormous fun. Whether you are writing non-fiction, fiction or a memoir, let’s work on the invention of a believable person on the page.
11:30-1300
CHARACTER
Your characters are your story. How your protagonist feels, reacts, their motivation, what they need and are afraid of is your story. In many ways, characters are your plot. So how do we create characters that readers will care about? Through discussion and exercises, this class is enormous fun. Whether you are writing non-fiction, fiction or a memoir, let’s work on the invention of a believable person on the page.
13:00-15:00
Private writing time.
Tuesday, June 11th
What better place in the world to learn how to fully portray your location than Florence? Following a forty-year career in books, journalism, and travel writing, Lisa Clifford, spends the day breaking down the details of our character’s surroundings. This class is way more than simple sensory perception. This class will open your eyes to the tiny details that envelopes your story environment.
09:30-1100
SENSE OF PLACE
What better place in the world to learn how to fully portray your location than Florence? Following a forty-year career in books, journalism, and travel writing, Lisa Clifford, spends the day breaking down the details of our character’s surroundings. This class is way more than simple sensory perception. This class will open your eyes to the tiny details that envelopes your story environment.
11:00 - 11:30
Morning cappuccino break.
SENSE OF PLACE continued:
Take your character for a walk-through Florence with Lisa Clifford. What is your character thinking, feeling, and seeing? Our Sense of Place trail starts from Palazzo San Niccolò and finishes at the San Ambrogio Food Markets. Lunch at our own expense around San Ambrogio.
Private writing time
Wednesday, June 12th
A compelling memoir digs deep into themes. How do we boil your story down to concentrate on what thematically truly matters to you? And how do we say that in 80,000 words? ‘Life writing’ is about your journey and always has a distinct story arc. How has your life challenged and changed you? And how do we set up the scenes that show that?
09:30-1100
THE ART OF MEMOIR, Lisa Clifford.
A compelling memoir digs deep into themes. How do we boil your story down to concentrate on what thematically truly matters to you? And how do we say that in 80,000 words? ‘Life writing’ is about your journey and always has a distinct story arc. How has your life challenged and changed you? And how do we set up the scenes that show that?
11:00 – 11:30
Morning cappuccino provided.
Tips on different ways to plot – should you draw up a thorough plan beforehand; make it up as you go along; or do a mixture of both? Each method has its pros and cons. Strong characters will also suggest the way in which your plot should go. Do you want your plot to be seen through the eyes of different characters? Is there an overall narrator? Can the use of the first person or the third person give your plot an extra ‘spring?'
11:30-13:00
PLOT AND STRUCTURE
Tips on different ways to plot – should you draw up a thorough plan beforehand; make it up as you go along; or do a mixture of both? Each method has its pros and cons. Strong characters will also suggest the way in which your plot should go. Do you want your plot to be seen through the eyes of different characters? Is there an overall narrator? Can the use of the first person or the third person give your plot an extra ‘spring?'
13:00-15:00:
Private writing time.
InkWell is one of the world’s leading literary agencies, proudly representing major literary prize winners as well as many of the world’s bestselling and best-loved authors. In addition to its full-time agents and their assistants, the InkWell team includes a foreign rights department and contracts manager. Inkwell also joins forces with leading literary agencies in every foreign market and has agents based in Australia, Boston, and Dallas. Inkwell is actively on the lookout for original ideas, riveting stories and great writing. The Art of Writing June writers have the chance to chat with Catherine about the major problems she sees in manuscripts, what genres seem to be gaining traction, and whether it's best for Australian, US or British writers to be represented in their own territories even if they live elsewhere and their stories are set elsewhere. Time to ask questions to a fabulous agent and agency!
18:00:
InkWell Management New York, Catherine Drayton
InkWell is one of the world’s leading literary agencies, proudly representing major literary prize winners as well as many of the world’s bestselling and best-loved authors. In addition to its full-time agents and their assistants, the InkWell team includes a foreign rights department and contracts manager. Inkwell also joins forces with leading literary agencies in every foreign market and has agents based in Australia, Boston, and Dallas. Inkwell is actively on the lookout for original ideas, riveting stories and great writing. The Art of Writing June writers have the chance to chat with Catherine about the major problems she sees in manuscripts, what genres seem to be gaining traction, and whether it's best for Australian, US or British writers to be represented in their own territories even if they live elsewhere and their stories are set elsewhere. Time to ask questions to a fabulous agent and agency!
Thursday, June 13th
Laurel Cohn shows us how to resist the temptation of using a slab of backstory rather than artfully placing our character's history throughout our story. The how, when, where and why to including past in our text. (A zoom session).
9:30 - 11:00
BALANCING BACKSTORY
Laurel Cohn shows us how to resist the temptation of using a slab of backstory rather than artfully placing our character's history throughout our story. The how, when, where and why to including past in our text. (A zoom session).
11:00 - 11:30
Morning cappuccino provided.
Marisa Garreffa's class offers a gentle process to bypass the mind and enter the body, while immersing fully in the environment around you. To discover what memories, stories, images, and dreamings are contained within and without. Every time you open the senses and enter the body, it will tell you something new. We learn how to listen to the language of your body, and the language of place. When deep memory speaks, even stones awaken to listen. The process works with free writing or drawing, to connect expression with feeling. We feel, using our senses to open up the universes within and around us, listening deeply to the inner and other worlds, and then we record what we find. These workshops are the perfect complement to self-exploration, or to any creative practice.
11:30 - 13:00
UNLOCKING STORIES FROM OUR BODIES
Marisa Garreffa's class offers a gentle process to bypass the mind and enter the body, while immersing fully in the environment around you. To discover what memories, stories, images, and dreamings are contained within and without. Every time you open the senses and enter the body, it will tell you something new. We learn how to listen to the language of your body, and the language of place. When deep memory speaks, even stones awaken to listen. The process works with free writing or drawing, to connect expression with feeling. We feel, using our senses to open up the universes within and around us, listening deeply to the inner and other worlds, and then we record what we find. These workshops are the perfect complement to self-exploration, or to any creative practice.
13:00:
Lunch break – Italian style
15:00:
Afternoon writing time.
Let’s wrap up our time together with an antipasto buffet dinner and readings. Gift us your favourite piece, perhaps something you've written over the past week, over a glass of wine!
18:00:
Conclusion and shared reading.
Let’s wrap up our time together with an antipasto buffet dinner and readings. Gift us your favourite piece, perhaps something you've written over the past week, over a glass of wine!