second draft

Our Feedback Retreat gang 2026!

What a great joy it is to host these retreats in Springbrook a few times a year. So many wonderful women writers and my beloved retreataholics who make these weekends so much fun! And it’s always a pleasure to hang out with author of Will I Ever Be Who I Am? and chief cookie, the warm and nurturing Gay Liddington who cooked up a storm with the help of the lovely Rebecca Hall this time round. My beautiful helpers and upcoming authors to watch Liana Brown and Natasha Cox always bring smiles and are a great help to us all. Love you girls! And the wise and wonderful Monique brings her in depth body knowledge which she shares with us in a movement session and with her incredible bodywork treatments to get those stressed out bodies back to full strength.

Sunshine shone bright and sparkly all weekend as we delved deep into the heart of our works-in-progress. It was cold up in the mountains but perfect weather for writing on a blanket under the giant trees listening to the whip birds. The sun was too good to miss so most of our workshops were held outside on the porch. Sun on our backs, pen in hand. What better way to spend a weekend?

We had a fabulous group of writers of all levels of experience, from multi-published authors to complete newbies finding their way into their first book. Workshops, feedback groups, excursions to the waterfall (watch out! That’s a big drop!) and of course workshops to help you find the heart of your story and ensure your reader will keep turning those pages.

Plus my favourite part of every retreat – collage. We leave words behind and play with images to create vision boards of the futures we’d like to create for ourselves. With our lovely “kindy photos” showing off what we’ve made.

These retreats are about a whole lot more than writing (though of course that’s a vital element). People arrive frazzled and worn out from all the many roles women must perform these days, exhausted and pale and a little shutdown. By Saturday I start to notice more smiles, colour returning to cheeks, sparks of light in those eyes that had seen too much, friendships forming, ideas taking flight and epiphanies for stories and life changes. By Sunday we are all on a high from being together. There is magic in groups of women! I’m sure of it.

This retreat was over the Lion’s Gate Portal and a rare alignment of multiple planets so we took advantage of this and did a special intention setting ceremony – walking the 8 – to help manifest all our writerly and personal goals.

And of course between yoga sessions and intention setting and writing workshops, and feedback groups and chatting – a lot of feasting was done! Delicious vegetarian meals and treats considering all dietary needs, prepared with love and joy that fed our bodies and our hearts. What a treat it is to be cooked for – to spend the day writing and just turn up the kitchen to fill our plates!

Highlights of this retreat were the sunshine and smiles of retreaters. Our Readings Night on Saturday showcased the great talent in the room, had us laughing and oohing and aahing, and closed with a powerful chant.

In my heart, in my soul

In my blood, in my bones,

I am a powerful woman.

Changing, emerging, powerful, magical

Free!

Original woman.

We sang together and thumped the table and the powerful energy rising was tangible . Wise women are rising around the world and we are a part of all that. Rise women rise!

Rebecca hadn’t been writing at all but wrote a beautiful haiku that told the story of her retreat.

Here’s what some retreaters had to say about the retreat

The Relax and Write Retreat was a fantastic experience – whether you wanted to take a break from creative process and reset or sequester yourself in your room and complete a draft. Ed is a knowledgable and encouraging mentor committed to supporting you, wherever you are in your writing journey. It couldn’t recommend it more!

Naomi Jeffrey (R & W retreater August 2026)

Edwina’s Relax and Write retreats are the perfect way to recalibrate, to immerse yourself in writing and indulge in some solitude while connecting with like-minded writers. The seamless transition from activities like yoga and workshops to quiet writing and gathering around a table of delicious food was exactly what I needed to still my head and let creativity flow. I would highly recommend this retreat for anyone who longs for a safe and nourishing environment where you can let go and just be yourself.

Jo Skinner (R & W retreater August 2026)

This is the second time I have attended this retreat, and I will be back! After struggling for some time to get back into my writing, this was the perfect opportunity to absorb the beautiful surroundings and support of other retreaters. This retreat is more than workshops (though they are incredible). Speaking to other writers, great food, quiet time all contribute to an amazing experience. You can even get massages!

Robyn Ede (R & W retreater August 2026)

A wonderful writing retreat that holds and nurtures you as you progress your success in writing and publishing.

Dolores Cummins (R & W retreater August 2026)

Really loved this retreat! It was just what I needed. Perfectly structured. I loved the fact we could come and go at our own pace. It was just bliss.

Caroline Moon (R & W retreater August 2026)

Edwina is a gifted and generous teacher. Great inspiration for moving forward.

Jill Moonie (R & W retreater August 2026)

You helped me break through a stuck and stagnant point. And done with loving community. Perfect! I leave refreshed and focused.

Retreat participant August 2026 (R & W retreater August 2026)

Retreat happy snaps!

Love these weekend intensive retreats. Lots of learning packed in, a stunning location and all close to home. With such wonderful women. Love them to bits!

Relax and Write Retreats will be back in 2027! About to update the retreats page.

MEMOIR AND LIFE WRITING RETREAT – SPRINGBROOK April 9 -11

Best for memoirists and those exploring writing or just wanting to join the tribe and write in their rooms!

FEEDBACK AND REVISION RETREAT – SPRINGBROOK August 6 -8

Best for those reviewing a draft (complete or not) or those stuck partway or for those who want to develop a new idea more fully and make a plan.

And that’s a wrap! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these retreats are only as good as the women who come along, and this one was a beauty!!

Lots of love

Edwina 🙂

Patrizia, Bec and Jenny busily cleaning up their sentences at our Italian retreat!

When we write our first drafts mostly we’re pouring words out in a frenzy, carried away by the story unfolding in our heads and getting it onto the page. Sentence structure doesn’t matter, or grammar or repetition, we’re busy creating the stone we’ll use to carve and sculpt our story. After this initial flurry and all the joy of creation, the real work of writing begins, rewriting — doing that sculpting and refining to shape and polish our stories to publishable standard. Writing is rewriting.

Whether you’re writing a short piece or something longer these 5 easy tips will help strengthen your writing.

Cut the total word count by ten percent.

Yes, I know this may have you weeping and gnashing your teeth. I certainly felt this way when one of my earliest mentors Judith Lukin-Amundsen told me to do so. But she’d edited Tim Winton and Kate Grenville, so I wasn’t going to argue. My 90 000 word MS had to lose 9000! The easiest way to do this is by cutting whole chapters or scenes that aren’t moving the plot forward, any characters that are only echoes of others or who can be conglomerated with another. EG only one best friend, not three. Write up a scene list and see what can go. We don’t need scenes recounting what went on in a previous scene, unless the perspective is completely different or we have new information. See here for how to do a scene list.

2. Cut the first and last sentence of every paragraph.

I can hear the screams from here! No! Not my fabulous opening line!

This is another tip from Judith L-A. You don’t have to take it literally, but you do need to look at every paragraph under a microscope to see what can go.

Have you written your way into the heart of what you wanted to say with some unnecessary set up? Is a character thinking back to an event that’s just happened? CUT. Did you get carried away by the beauty of your own words with a fancy last sentence at the end of every paragraph? Cut most so the best one shines. Make sure every sentence is contributing and not just repeating information we already have.

Just don’t cut off any thumbs!

3. Cut all backstory or research dumps.

Take a good look at your story, especially the opening after your hook, to check if you’re guilty of a backstory dump. This is a chunk of writing TELLING the reader all about your character (or your family history if doing memoir) in one big block. Instead, cut it and put aside to use for your own information and to weave through in snippets, revealing information a little at a time when relevant to the unfolding plot, without dragging us back into the past.

If you’re writing family history or historical fiction your MS may also be suffering from research dumps. These should be addressed similarly to the backstory dump, no matter how fascinating your discoveries. Intersperse research details as the story is being told, through the specific sensory details and settings where your characters are taking action.

4. Bring the reader as close as you can to the lived experience of your characters.

Cut all “can feel/hear/see/smell”. Instead of Sophie could feel the rain falling gently, use The rain fell gently on Sophie’s face, bringing the reader closer to the sensation. Not He could hear the roar of the plane’s engines, but The plane’s engines roared.

Fabulous old cemetery church in Sicily. Bury all those dead sentence openings!

5. Cut all dead sentence openings.

There is/was and It is/was are known as dead sentence openings, filler words that aren’t contributing and can almost always be trimmed from your sentences. For example: There is an old car in the driveway, can be changed to An old car lies rusting in the driveway. Take a good close look at all your sentences that begin with there are/is etc. and see if you can find a better way to structure them.

I hope these tips are useful and you can see immediately how your writing improves. Remember, less is always more. Leave room for your readers. Space on the page and between scenes can reveal more of the story that spelling everything out. CUT CUT CUT!

For more information on writing clearer, stronger prose see THIS POST.

Good luck! Rewriting has a joy of its own.

REMEMBER I have an Online Memoir and Life Writing Course coming up in January and February 2026. Six weeks of workshops, with feedback on your writing. Make 2026 your year to get stuck into that story that needs to be told. All the info HERE. Not writing from life? I have a series of recorded workshops to get you off to a great start too. Info HERE.

Lots of love,

Edwina 🙂 xx