PRING 
IME 
RITERS
SPRING TIME WRITERS
Writing Workshops
Words for the Mind & Spirit
Workshop Calendar
including Writing Tips and Exercises
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.
Birthing of Creative Writing, and
Capturing Random Memories ©
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.
For Full Description, click the Link:
Our Most Popular Workshops
Dates are subject to Change
See our Calendar page from May to September for an easy view of what's happening this month.
Click on the Individual Workshop page on this web site to see which Sessions are Full.
We are closed for the season.
Please return in late spring 2012 for a new Calendar.
Over the winter months, we will continue to publish our bi-monthly writing tips
below, and our free quarterly newsletter. We also can issue Gift Certificates
for the summer workshops. You can read the details about our workshops below, which will
probably not change in the coming year, except for the dates of the workshops. Thanks.
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
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
(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
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 (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
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.
These tours are usually one week long, and take place in spring or fall, when our regular workshops are not taking place. They include unique beautiful lodging and some meals, tour transportation and guides or teachers, and run approximately $1,500.00. (We can arrange to take your small group on their own exclusive trip.) Go to our Specialty Guided Tours for more information.
Watch this web page, or subscribe to our free Newsletter to stay informed about these and other new workshops. Email us about your interest, and we will notify you of updates during the summer.
CREATING A NEW WORLD (NEW ORLEANS AND LOCAL PLANTATIONS)
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SOUTHWEST ARCHITECTURE
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"FINDING YOUR MISSION IN LIFE"
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"GHOST STORIES OF COLORADO"
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"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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ATTENTION GROUPS!
Do you have a small "Writers Group" or a "Single Women Travellers" group or such? and might be interested in attending a WORKSHOP TOGETHER? Our regular workshops are limited to three people, but we can work with you to accommodate larger groups. Contact us! We would love to offer you a once-in-lifetime experience of going to any of our above workshop on a date mutually agreed to. We can offer single bedroom lodging or shared rooms for a lower price. Don't wait; our calendar fills up fast, as the Rocky Mountains are a very popular destination.
NOTES:
==Watch this web page, or subscribe to our free Newsletter
to stay informed about these and other new workshops.==
==You can extend your stay to enjoy the Colorado Rocky Mts. sights at very reasonable prices.==
==Workshops are conducted over 4-day weekends May to September. Contact us for availability.==
==The Retreat was "refreshed" in the fall of 2005/6, and photos are displayed on this page.==
Subscribe to our free Newsletter to be informed on these dates.
==See our Calendar page for an easy view of what's happening this month.==
Writing Tips
(Fourth Quarter 2011) "Benefits of Reading Out Loud"
Have you ever read a children's book out loud, or had one read to you as a child? Didn't it sound completely different than reading it yourself? Hearing it allows you the freedom of letting your imagination run wild. Instead of being a movie in your head, it becomes a 3-D explosion.
Have you ever heard a poem read out loud? A person will experience different types of understanding when they: (1) read a poem (2) hear a poem, and (3) hear a poem read by the author. I like to see the words on the page, especially if the poem is intricate and I can better define it at my own pace. But I have heard poets read their poems out loud, and had an entirely new experience. My poetry group has read several insightful poems by Billy Collins, and we have analyzed them. Then I rented a DVD with him reading some of them out loud, and we were a bit amazed to hear the laughter in the audience. We saw his sense of humor for the first time.
The third benefit of reading out loud, is to use it as a extension of your editing process. Once you have finished your draft, read the text aloud. It will illuminate awkward sentences, grammar, conjunctions, ommissions and errors.
All "tips" and "exercises" are copyrighted
by Kathleen Spring, Spring Times, Copyright 1998-2011.
Writing Exercise.
(Fourth Quarter 2011) "How to Focus on Your Chosen Topic"
Do you have problems with the size or direction of your story or article? Do you find that sometimes you devote too much time to a particular incident or character? A good way to take control of this is to write each chapter or new topic on a fresh sheet of paper. At the top, block out a few inches of space for an outline or index.
There are two ways to handle this: either do the outline or index before you start to write, or after. If you do it afterwards, take a fresh sheet of paper and pull out the topic, the action, the tension, and the characters, and make your list. It is better to do it before, but some people think it takes away from their creative process. If you do it first, then list the same topics. Then when you are writing, and you want to move off the subject or intended "tension" and write about "the girl he remembered from grade school," you can stop yourself. Or, you might see that you meant to write about "Jack and Jill" but have focused only on Jack.
Try a practice run: pick out a fairy tale and write a list/outline/index for the story on a sheet of paper. For example: A girl sets out for a walk in an unfamiliar but enticing woods. A bear family of three set out for a morning walk before their breakfast oatmeal. The two cross paths. The girl's decisions are the center focus, which brings about the tension." OK, then you do it for a real story. Pick a short fiction topic, like "Little dog gets lost in the woods," or non-fiction article like "Packs of dogs roam small town streets."
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. You can also become a "fan" (or "like") on FACEBOOK and get a new "mini" tip delivered monthly. Sign in to your account and search for "Spring Time Writers;" or "Rocky Mt. Retreats" for min-wellness tips monthly.
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Workshops make a Great Life-long Gift!
Quick jump to Home Page
As seen in ARTICLES in: the N Y Times Travel Section, " Writing retreats" -and- "Travel and Leisure" writers retreats -and- in "Journaling" magazine
Know a friend without a computer -
we'll send a brochure.
Spring Times
P. O. Box 512
Lyons, CO 80540-0512
(303) 823-0997
10am to 7pm Mountain Time MST, only please
Check this web site for the latest information.
Thanks for visiting; see you soon!
Date last modified: October 4, 2011 9:00 AM
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Disclaimer – Copyright 1998-2011. 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.
