Edwina Shaw workshops

HEAVENLY INDEED! Heavenly Hoi An Retreat Review February 2024

/ Edwina Shaw / 1 Comment

Me and the beautiful Kerstin, celebrating another wonderful retreat together!

As the streets of Hoi An filled with flowers for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) a group of talented writers from all around Australia, and from as far away as the Welsh mountains, gathered at beautiful An Villa on the river to write up a storm! 

Every day started with yoga in a lovely yoga shala over the water, kept company by a turquoise kingfisher that flew around us encouraging us to also take flight, and enormous colourful Koi fish who swam below us, reminding us to be calm and flow with life.

The kitchen staff at An Villa fed us so well we felt like geese being fattened for a French market. Even breakfast had dessert! Banana pancake with chocolate anyone? 

After breakfast we had our daily workshops covering all aspects of the writing craft, with plenty of writing prompts to get people sparking. As always, we were blown away by the inherent talent of our writers and the depths that were being explored, right from the very first session. Groups of kindred spirits convened and connected. The greatest joy for me as a host of these retreats is watching writing friends connect and support each other in this writing journey. Stories made us laugh, while others brought us to tears. Heartaches shared felt less burdensome. Pain transformed into works of great beauty soothed the soul.

The afternoons were either free for solitary writing in our beautiful rooms, swimming in the pool, or on visits to the tailor (Hoi An – land of 1000 tailors!) and excursions.

We visited old town and drank cocktails at sunset watching colourful boats rocking on the river and a passing parade of people, then got on a boat of our own (thank you Arek for helping us all get on and off safely) that took us upstream to a lovely restaurant where we feasted like happy fools.

So much food! Because it was Tet we were continually offered all sorts of new year treats, the food just kept coming! I was stuffed but couldn’t resist the pandan crepes stuffed with ice-cream! 

Another day we ventured to the Vegetable Garden Island for a tour of the amazing local vegetable farms, which included a foot massage and then a cooking class. We carved tomato roses and carrot daisies then cooked our own yellow Vietnamese pancakes. Watching Kerstin jumping up and down, more likely to flip herself than the pancake was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen! They dressed us all up too – first as farmers, complete with conical hats, then as chefs in bright lime green. We looked ridiculous and laughed a lot.

On the way home in the electric taxi bus we sang old ABBA songs and snippets of whatever else we could remember with our resident singer-writer, Kylie, making us all sound so much better with her beautiful harmonies.

On afternoons when we weren’t ‘writers running amok’ in Hoi An, we had one on one feedback sessions discussing projects and the way to best move them forward, as well as delving deep with tarot readings. Some napping and swimming may also have happened, as well as lots of chatting and sharing of life stories and writing tips, with beautiful hearts opening to each other through the magic of deep connection enabled when we stop talking about the trivial and venture into what really matters.

In the evenings we feasted, remembering to leave room for dessert, with the Hoi An staff plying us with ever more delicious New Year treats to try. Across the river, end of year parties sent Karaoke songs over the water, but by bedtime all was quiet. The beds were super comfortable, and I slept like a log, still recovering from a flu that had seen me confined to bed for most of the week prior to retreat.

I am constantly in awe of the magic that brings just the right people together at just the right time. This retreat we had two venues close to each other and we randomly assigned people to each place, then stood back to watch as this magic went into effect, with firm friendship groups building in each place. 

The people who come along are what makes these retreats special. Yes, we provide heaps of information and useful guidance, but the true blessings come in the friendships that are made or deepened. Writers need other writers. It’s a silly business, with plenty of the joy of creation but then often the pain of rejection too. We need a tribe of writing buddies to cheer us on, help us polish our work, to commiserate with us when the rejections come, and to celebrate with us when our book babies see the light of day because only other writers know just how much hard work goes into every page.

So thank you my wonderful new writing friends (and some older ones too), Susan, Arek, Trish, Tallulah (Lorraine), Annie, Nicole, Kylie, Genine, Emma, Cindy, Lena, Yvonne, Belinda, Laurie and lovely Helen, who made this retreat so much fun. Thank you to the staff at An Villa who pampered us and went above and beyond to make sure everyone was safe, happy and well looked after in every way. It truly was a heavenly time. My favourite memory of the retreat is Emma saying over and over again, “I’m in heaven. I’m in heaven.”

REVIEWS HEAVENLY HOI AN 2024
Here’s what some of our lovely retreaters had to say:

“Regardless of where you are in your writer’s journey, this writing retreat is for everyone. Emerging, mid-career or professional, there is something to be gained personally and professionally. For me this retreat offered an opportunity to connect with creative and intelligent co-writers who share a passion for story-telling, in an inspiring location. The facilitators were warm, dynamic, generous, authentic and engaging.” 

Kylie Ryan

“I loved coming together with diverse writers sharing our knowledge and practice, bonding and cementing lasting friendships for future writing adventures. I loved it! I feel so blessed to have been part of the 2024 Heavenly Hoi An Retreat.”

Helen Weder

“Edwina and Kerstin were great, expertise plus interpersonal warmth, enthusiasm, encouragement, inspiration and more! Nothing was too much trouble for the beautiful staff and the food was delicious. The other participants were so easy to connect with and the yoga was a great balance between yin and yang. Loved the excursions too.”

Retreat participant

“Thanks Kerstin and Edwina for a lovely, immersive experience. Great to refresh on some topics and get a new viewpoint on others. The encouragement and advice was so valuable and the companionship of other participants and the fun excursions and experiences in another country were the ‘toppers’ on a wonderful retreat.”

Annie Kemp

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these retreats are only as good as the writers who come along and make them true magic. THANK YOU for coming beautiful people! Love you!

Thank you most of all to my dear friend and co-host Kerstin Pilz whose new book Loving my Lying Dying Cheating Husband is due for release imminently, launching in Cairns as part of the Tropical Writers Festival. The launch is FREE but do book your place. I’ve just pre-ordered my copy! It’s a great read. I know, I did a structural edit for Kerstin a while back now.

Now back to the real world, teaching at UQ, and the stifling Queensland summer heat after the very pleasant reprieve of the cool(ish) Vietnamese winter.

We’ll be back in Hoi An in February 2025, FEBRUARY 10-17, 2025. If you’re keen to join us in wonderful Heavenly Hoi An DROP ME A LINE and I’ll put you on the waiting list. All the details coming soon! And, just quietly, ITALY IS COMING!! October 10 – 17, 2025. In a beautiful medieval retreat centre on a hillside surrounded by autumnal forest, between Cortona and Assisi. I’ll keep you posted, but in the meantime, you can check out our glorious venue Terzo Di Danciano HERE. Find a buddy to share your room. Most rooms will be shared rooms to keep prices as affordable as possible and still get us to Italy!! Plan an extended holiday around the retreat – I sure am!

This is it! Where we’ll be in October 2025! Put yourself in this picture! Oh my goddess I can’t wait!

I so hope you’ll be able to join us soon at one of our uplifting, inspiring and informative retreats with kindred writing spirits. International retreats are open to all genders. Information on all upcoming retreats, both in Springbrook S.E, Queensland (April Just Write, August Second Draft and October Memoir and Life Writing)and internationally HERE.

Lots of love,

Edwina xx

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

/ Edwina Shaw / 2 Comments

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!