MEMOIR MAGIC IN THE MOUNTAINS

/ Edwina Shaw / 2 Comments

Once again the sun shone for us in Springbrook as our group of wonderful women writers gathered to relax, write, feast and connect at the beautiful Theosophical Society Education and Retreat Centre high above the bustle in the Gold Coast hinterland.

We wrote up a storm and shared our stories, connecting heart to heart, writer to writer, learning from each other and growing in our skills and abilities to get those stories out of our heads and onto the page.

The weather was so beautiful we even had a session outside on a picnic blanket, listening deeply to the stories of the ancestors of this spectacular country, the Yugambeh people, and our own ancestors with their own stories to tell.

Chief cookie, the fabulous Gay Liddington, whose own memoir will be published in 2024 – WATCH THIS SPACE – tempted us all with delicious treats, and what a treat it is to walk into the kitchen at the end of a long day writing to smell a feast ready and waiting. THANK YOU GAY!

This retreat, we saw many repeat retreaters reconnecting and other new friends finding their writing gangs. Writers need other writers. When we are deeply immersed in our own stories, we can’t see our way through what can seem like a tangled forest of words, but other writers can look at our mess from a different angle and clearly see the path through the trees for us.

We laughed and we cried together, wrote, talked and even sang. We relaxed and stretched our bodies with yoga and indulged in healing bodywork treatments by the amazing Monique De Goey of Reconnect Holistic Bodywork.

Each one of us, yours truly included, came away feeling refreshed and renewed, with new ideas for our stories, a clear path ahead and writing companions to cheer us on and pick us back up again if we fall.

As Heidi would say, “I knew the mountains would make her well!”

Here’s what some retreaters had to say.

“A beautiful space of learning, reflection, sharing and mutual honouring of our stories.”

Retreat participant October 2023

“This had been such a wonderful experience for me. I love being in community and experienced wonderful community this weekend. The writing workshops were inspiring, exciting and ignited my creative side again.”

Retreat participant October 2023

“Thank you for all the inspiration, warmth, listening and LOVE.”

Retreat participant October 2023

As is traditional, we finished our retreat with collages – here are some of the beautiful results!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these retreats are only as special as the women who come along. I love how women come together and lift each other up. THANK YOU to all the wonderful women writers who made this retreat such a beautiful experience for us all, me included.

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest person in the world, getting to uplift and inspire others for my job!

Would you love to come along to the next memoir retreat? Dates are already set for next year’s Memoir and Life Writing Retreat – MAKE A NOTE – 18 – 20 OCTOBER 2024. You can book in HERE by paying your deposit. Hurry repeat retreaters are already signing up! Prices have gone up as retreat costs have risen along with everything else. I’ve created a tiered system for the waged and unwaged but if you’re still burning to come, but can’t see your way through to paying that much, DROP ME A LINE and I’ll see how we can help.

And, just quietly, a new JUST WRITE RETREAT of 4 or 5 nights is planned for early April, 2024. More on this soon!

Vietnam Relax and Write Your Journey Retreat is fully booked and we’re all getting super excited, but places are still available for Bali! I cannot wait to get back to the divine Bali EcoStay to swim in our own waterfall and fall asleep every night to the gentle lull of running water. Tempted? Check it all out here – you’ll have the time of your life!!

Remember to sign up for my monthly newsletter if you’re not on it already. A special treat is planned for Christmas! Only available to subscribers.

Lots of love

Edwina xx

GETTING INTO CHARACTER! A freaky exercise to discover your characters from the inside out.

/ Edwina Shaw / 1 Comment

Here’s an interesting character!

GETTING INTO CHARACTER!

As a teenager I wanted to be an actor and did lots of drama classes where you inhabited a character’s body and became them, to really understand what they were about and become them on stage.

I’ve adapted these theatre exercises to help me get inside the heads, and bodies of my characters. I’ve used this practice for over a decade myself and used it in workshops on my retreats, with really great results for my participants’ stories.

LET’S DO IT!

  1. Sit quietly, feet on the floor with a pen and paper or your computer ready to go. But not yet. Hands in your lap, eyes closed, take some deep breaths or do one of my Youtube meditations to get into your “creative zone”. 
  • Once you’re relaxed and that shitty inner critic has shut up, imagine you are inviting your character to come and say hello. Some will appear in front of you quickly, keen to have their say. Others can be reluctant (they’re usually the ones that really need help to come alive on the page) so tempt them with their favourite treats. Eg: Beer for a footy-player, lollies for a kid, a cup of tea for a grandma. This can work for fictional characters and those in your memoir – particularly useful for family histories where you’d love to get inside Granny’s head.
  • When they’re standing in front of you, get a good look at them, what they’re wearing, the smell of them, any unexpected clothing details, what kind of shoes do they wear, etc. After the pleasantries, ask their permission to enter their body. (I told you this exercise was freaky!) In your minds’ eye, step forward and into the body of your character.
  • Once you’re imaginatively inhabiting them, FEEL what it’s like to be in their body. How is it different from yours? How do they breathe? How do they move? Where are their aches and pains? How do they walk? Talk? Eat? Think? How busy is their mind? What are their predominant thoughts? Their self esteem? Their self talk? Their thoughts about others?
  • Then feel deeply into their heart centre. What is their predominant emotion? When I did this with my castaway cabin boy character, I was surprised to learn he was filled with rage, more than fear, which was what I had thought. Don’t be afraid, you are still you and don’t have to be stuck in their bodies and feelings forever.  What are they FEELING?
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com
  • To finish put a hand in their pocket, or handbag, or under their hat, and pull out a talisman, lucky charm or other special object that they hold dear. What is it? A photograph, old and worn? A love note? A broken watch? A ring?
  • Still inhabiting the character, get them to write a monologue in first person about that talisman, telling the story of why it’s important to them. Free-write for as long as it takes to get that story told.
  • Once they’ve finished, come back into your own body. Visualise stepping back out and into your own body, then tap your heart centre several times, also stamping your feet on the ground to make sure you’re back grounded being you!

What’s her lucky charm? What’s in that handbag?

This talisman story should give you vital clues, not only to the character’s emotional goals, but also to their voice. We need each of our characters to have a clearly individual voice and getting them to tell a story in first person is the best way I know to find their unique traits.

You don’t need to include the story in your book, but it will give you great clues to the character’s motivations and how to use their unique voice in dialogue and point of view chapters. You can easily change the monologue into third person if necessary.

Want more tips on character development? Try these extra articles:

CREATE COMPLEX CHARACTERS IN 5 EASY STEPS

And THE C WORD METHOD FOR CREATING CHARACTER DRIVEN NARRATIVES

Let me know how you go with this freaky, but fun, exercise of the imagination.

What works best for you when developing characters? I’d love to learn.

Lots of love

Edwina xxx

PS. Early bird prices for our fabulous Heavenly Hoi An Retreat Feb 2- 7 2024 end on 30 September. Don’t miss out!