PRING IME RITERS

SPRING TIME WRITERS
Writing Workshops
Words for the Mind & Spirit

Attend a workshop in the Colorado Rocky Mt. Region to improve your writing skills while relaxing in a mountainside retreat, with endless sunshine and deep-blue skies, breathing in fresh mountain air, and enjoying fresh foods. Be nurtured with warm, professional tutoring on how to get your book or memoirs started or refined, or write short stories and essays. Classes restricted to only one to four people to enable private attention (special arrangements for groups up to eight). Most workshops are especially designed for women. (see below "Home" page for more details.) Includes creative writing in everything you do: fiction, self-help non-fiction, and journalings.

Writers Tips and Anthology available.
Our compilation book of our finest writing tips and exercises, and samples of works published on our web site over the past three years. Clear, exciting, simple and fun! Visit "Writers: Birthing Creative Writing..." for more details on this anthology. Only $11.95 plus $2 postage.

Our Most Popular Workshops for 2010
Dates are subject to Change

• Holistic Wellness (with Journaling)
  4 day weekend workshops; offered May to September Therapy for the Heart

  This is a spa and wellness weekend. Includes one enjoyable, relaxing treatment per day. Chose from our basic retreat plan, or add items like: attune your chi energy, begin self-healing, learn about your nutrition etc. Journaling guidance for self-healing and self-discovery, and meditations are included, but optional.

• Creative Writing
  4 day weekend workshops, offered twice monthly, May to September. Creative Writing

  ==May 28 May 31 (Memorial Day Weekend);
  ==June 4 to 7, June 18 to 21 (Father's Day/Summer Solstice)
  ==July 2 to 5 (4th of July Weekend); July 16 to 21, July 30 to August 2;
  ==August 6 to 9; August 20 to 23
  ==September 3 to 6 (Labor Day Weekend). and September 17 to 20
  ==a final workshop on October 1 to 4, 2010.

  Creative writing workshop: exercises, discussions, critiques; warm atmosphere and serene surroundings to meditate in and be inspired. For fiction and non-fiction writers and novelists. Goal of the class is to break down traditional writing barriers and produce heart-felt fresh material. Small classes for individual attention. Limited to 1 to 3 people for personal attention.

• Journaling for Self-Discovery; Memoirs; Biographies
  4 day weekend workshops, offered twice monthly, May to September. Journaling only

  In-Depth Journaling: June 11 to 14, August 13 to 16, 2010
  (May and July are "Visual Journaling;" see more below)

  In-depth journaling could change your life! Find out what's been keeping you back. Uncover hidden motivations. Discover your true thoughts and aspirations. Find insight into solving problems. Optional: Write your own life story; memoirs or biography.

Missed the deadline for registering?
Sometimes weekends do not get booked until 2 or 3 weeks before the date,
so do not hesitate to call if the weekend date you need is less than one month
away. Also, sometimes there are people who want to switch to a different week,
and a spot might open up. Generally, fees are due in full one month before the workshop,
but other arrangements are sometimes possible for late registrants. Give us a call...

Speciality Workshops for 2010

Watch this web page, or subscribe to our free Newsletter to stay informed about these and other new workshops.
See our Calendar page for an easy view of what's happening this month.

• "Express Yourself," Visual Journaling
  4 day weekend workshops, offered twice during summer Journaling

  "Mother's Day" Special Event May 7 to 10; and July 9 to 12, 2010 (See also Self-Help Journaling above)
  Using art to help bring out "your story." (no artistic experience required) It's fun and revealing! This also involves journaling (writing), in order to understand better your discoveries. Learn the meaning of colors and how they affect your life. Make a mandala (circle medallion for meditation). An easy art project each day!

• "Blooming Poets," Poetry for Beginners
  4 day weekend workshops, offered twice during summer. Creative Writing

  July 23 to 26 "General"; September 24 to 27 "Real Life."
  Have you always enjoyed poetry and wished you could get a grasp on how to write it, or improve on your pieces? This workshop involves learning the basics of the different types of poetry, and then soaring ahead into the beauty, joy and pleasure of writing poems that have great meaning and depth to you and your readers.

• Try out Being a Journalist for the Day
  4 day weekend workshops, offered four times during the summer. Journalist

  Variety Pack: August 27 to 30; October 8 to 11, 2010
  On-the-street reporting: May 21 to 24; and September 10 to 13
  Be a reporter for the weekend! Your choice: (1) Write in the comfort our our retreat four different styles of newspaper/magazine writing, like features, reviews, interviews and more --or-- (2) Attend a local festival or event and report on it. Learn how to take notes, interview participants, and put them all into a resume-quality article.

• Book Consultation
  4 day weekend workshops, offered during the summer. Creative Writing: Books

  We have had clients come to us with their unpublished books for critical analysis. We can check the content, consistencies, outlines, proposals and more. You will go home with a fresh look at your work and lists to use in continuing the editing or submission process. We will have discussions with you while you are here and give you immediate satisfaction through interaction and improvements in your material. This is the one workshop where you can bring your computer with you. Ask us for more details and see our recommendations.

"Throughout history, artistic expression has been recognized as a catalyst for healing. Art is an expression of mind and spirit, and cannot be left out of our equation of healing...Modern art therapy is being employed as a potent healthcare intervention." Larry Dossey, MD. Author, "Prayer is Good Medicine and Healing Words."

Tentative Week-Long Guided Tours: Aimed at bringing more "springtime" into our lives, year round.

Watch this web page, or subscribe to our free Newsletter to stay informed about these and other new workshops. Get on an email list for more information.

• CREATING A NEW WORLD (NEW ORLEANS AND LOCAL PLANTATIONS)

• SOUTHWEST ARCHITECTURE

• "FINDING YOUR MISSION IN LIFE"

• "GHOST STORIES OF COLORADO"

• "WILD WOMEN OF THE WEST"
  and more! We change which ones we will offer each year.

Attend local festivals and events
Estes Park is just outside of the Rocky Mt. National Park. It has a festival pretty much every weekend during the summer, with many of them lasting a full week. If you would like to stay at our B&B Retreat for a full week to enjoy the area, check out the Chamber Events Calendar and the Lyons Chamber Calendar. Our students get a special rate of $65 per night if they stay on (see reservation for for more details).

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Writing Tips (June/July 2010)

"Do You Write When You are In the Passion?"

"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility" said William Wordsworth. He gives one side of the issue; do you write when you are in your passion? The pros are that your emotions are strong, vivid, and you feel an urgency to write. The cons are that you may write haphazardly, uneven, carelessly and may get the message scrambled.

The other way of handling it, you can write after the extreme emotion has settled. The pros would be that you are more disciplined, logical, see the matter from a distance, have control of your verbage, and may be able to get the message across more logically. The cons are that it may be dulled, artless and too technical.

What do you think? You can give it a try, and then journal about your conclusions. I personally think that you should write in the emotion, and then go back to the piece and clean it up a short while later. Plus, you can add the bonus of contemplation.

Writing Exercise. (June/July 2010)

"Put Magic in Your Writing, from a Magician"

Have you ever sat down and starting reading a book and been surprisingly mesmerized by the writing? Sometimes it seems like magic how a great book can arise out of a common story. A magician's job is the same way. He stands in front of the public and he can either do cliche or amazing tricks. All the magicians have the same "rule book," but it's how they conduct their performance and present the tricks that will result in amazement or cool enjoyment.

How do you make the moment your reader sits down and reads your book or article into a memorable surprise of fresh delight? Try some of the magician's techniques out, like distracting you from their slight-of-hand tricks, or pulling in assistants (side characters) to stimulate your excitement, or pulling things out of places you never expected, or pretending to make a mistake, or using splashy objects to engage you. All of these peripheral bits are part of great showmanship, knowing what to add when and where.

It takes a lot of practice, just like a magician, so that your reader is not even aware of what you are doing. And, then bam! the final moment of revelation! Isn't life mostly made up of small details? Are you ignoring these in your writing? Do you concentrate too hard on your big moment, or goal? Pick a climatic subject, like a tornado hitting a house and the beloved dog being carried off into the whirlwind. Now begin one day earlier and write your short story (2 or 3 pages) of little things that make that tornado ten times more dramatic and poignant.

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If you are still hungry for more tips and exercises,
sign up for our quarterly newsletter and
have three more delivered to your email box.

Workshops make a Great Life-long Gift!

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• E-mail questions or reservations to: Writers @SpringTimeWriters ...com
• Visit Rocky Mt. Retreats and learn about their Wellness Retreat www. RockyMtRetreats. com
• Locals: join us for a monthly poetry and short-short story read and
  discussion at the Estes Park Library. Estes Park Tea Time Readers
• See our Privacy Statement.
• See sample of our quarterly Writers Newsletter packed with articles, writing tips and book reviews (and no ads!)

As seen in ARTICLES in: the N Y Times Travel Section, " Writing retreats" -and- "Travel and Leisure" writers retreats -and- in "Journaling" magazine

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Spring Times
P. O. Box 512
Lyons, CO 80540-0512
(303) 823-0997
10am to 7pm Mountain Time MST, only please

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Disclaimer – Copyright 1998-2010: All logos, photos, and original and html text are Copyright © by Kathleen Spring. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or use is prohibited without written permission from owner. – All prices, dates and itineraries are subject to change at the discretion of the owner. Travellers are advised to ask their doctor about their tolerance of higher elevations (5,000 to 10,000 feet approximately). See reservation page for other advice/warnings. Owner may cancel or alter trips if unusual conditions come up; and reserves the right to decline to accept or retain any participant, at any time, as a member of the workshop or trip, without refund. This would be a rare circumstance, mainly to keep the integrity of the program and privacy and respect for the other individuals attending or instructing. The program content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Participants should be and will be made aware that they should always seek the advice of their physician or other qualified health provider with any questions they may have regarding a medical condition. All notification of cancellations must be received in writing; penalties will apply. Prices are in USA dollars. See Form Contract for full disclosure.