WALK IN BALANCE—A NEW RESIDENTIAL RETREAT IN GEORGIA

  When I first viewed the Web site of The Writer’s Retreat, I was most struck by the breathtaking, yet diverse beauty of each location. I remember thinking that I wanted to visit every one of them. That thought will remain a goal for me.

I am delighted to now join in the fold of our network with my new retreat in Sharpsburg, Georgia.

  I gave thought to why one might want to also come to Sharpsburg. I was led to the obvious. My location offers a woodsy and serene environment where one can create, but less obvious is that the environment feeds the soul. To that end, I have one room that is reserved for those who wish to meditate, practice yoga, enjoy spiritual music, and just allow silence. A vegan myself, a healthy diet is also part of that spiritual feeding. The retreat is a smoke-free environment and a shoeless space as well.

  I have found that in order to write, I have to be in a space that allows me the freedom to express. For me, that includes quiet, focus, and a meditative state that invites my inner voice a place to be honored and to be heard. I try to allow at least part of one day a week to experience a “talking fast” so that I may rest my mind and settle inward.

  What I offer personally at our Sharpsburg location is my background as an artist. Although I am also an actor, acting teacher, talk show host, and producer, what I bring to the retreat most fittingly is my background as a writing instructor. I primarily work with actor/writers who are interested in getting down on paper personal stories that have been dancing around in their heads. My writer’s workshops at the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival have facilitated writers in reaching down to the core of their being to unveil memories that resonate in both personal and universal truth. I have found sensory exercises that take the writer back to childhood are a fertile source to unlock stories begging to be told.

  In Los Angeles, I have taught such workshops as “From Thought to Pen,” “Connecting the Inner Dots.” and “From Page to Stage.” In June of 2008, I will begin teaching solo writing classes at the award-winning Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. I welcome the opportunity to also serve my new bicoastal community as I begin to build relationships within its artistic world.

  The progression of unleashing personal stories from the heart to the page, and ultimately on stage, has been an extremely rewarding journey for me. My own solo show, “I Am That I Am: Woman, Black,” is a historical journey through time sharing the lives of seven African American “sheroes” beginning from slavery with Sojourner Truth to present times and concluding with Maya Angelou. My one-woman show has zigzagged across close to forty U.S. states, and has crossed the waters to the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Though the stories in my one-woman show are not my own, they are personal stories of women I admire and who inspire me.

  My first book, On My Own Terms: One Actor’s Journey is slated for release this spring. A cross between a memoir, an acting book, and an inspirational walk, I now look forward to working with writers at our Sharpsburg retreat who are also developing non-fiction narrative works.

  I welcome women of all genres of writing to The Writers’ Retreat in Sharpsburg, Georgia. We will together give honor to the literary word and celebrate the creative voice as we also learn from one other.

  You may contact me directly at abarnes@writersretreat.com or visit my Web site at www.writersretreat.com/georgia.htm.


 

http://www.writersretreat.com/Georgia.htm


THE WRITERS' RETREAT NEWSLETTER

July, 2008, Volume 8, No 3

http://www.writersretreat.com

 

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IN THIS EDITION

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1. CREATING A ONE PERSON PLAY

2. WRITING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

3. THE CHOICE IS YOURS

 

4. UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS/CLINIC

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1.  CREATING A ONE PERSON PLAY

 

By Adilah Barnes

More and more writer/actors are beginning to combine their talents to create one person or “solo” plays. They are more commonly called “one person shows.” Some choose to create historical figures to portray, while still others draw from their own personal lives to create pieces that are sometimes termed “personal stories.” I have conceived both but for this article I want to focus on writing personal stories. In essence, I see this genre of writing as autobiographical or memoir writing in nature.

 

As Co-founder and Executive Producer of the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, I have produced over 400 solo artists from around the globe. They have ranged from first love, rape, family, breast cancer, culture, incest, identity, menopause, death, the workplace, the life of an actor, and many, many others.

 

I have also taught writing workshops such as From Thought to Pen, Connecting the Inner Dots, and From Stage to Page. In my workshops, the bottom line is first getting stories on paper that actor/writers want to tell.

 

Some say, “I want to create a one person show on my life but I do not know where to begin!”

 

I say, “Start with childhood memories.”

 

Our youthful days are filled with a plethora of memories, charged with emotions that are both pleasant and painful. One way to activate those memories is to use the senses to excavate our past experiences.

 

For example, as a writing instructor, I have an exercise I use when teaching solo writing workshops where I use guided imagery that makes use of all five senses, one sense at a time. In one group I taught, I guided my students who laid outstretched on the floor as they sensorally went back to their youth. One student in that workshop responded to the sense of touch with a memory of the feel of shag carpeting underneath him on his family’s New Rochelle, New York living room floor.

 

He remembered how he and his brother’s played “slow motion” football on that green shag carpet without ever disturbing any of his mother’s furniture or fine crystal. From that exercise, he activated the memory of that slow motion football game. That memory also connected him to his individual relationships with his brothers. From that exercise he ultimately created a one-man show called, My Boys and Me, a very compelling piece that explores his relationship with his brothers, both then and now.

 

Another way to activate childhood memories is to chronologically explore the past, either by age or grades in school. I personally prefer going grade by grade because I have remembered in great detail each of my grade school teachers by name and can visualize quite clearly our classrooms, which have also guided me to relationships and past experiences, year by year.

 

In either approach, once a series of experiences have been explored on paper, the task of deciding what to choose to what about may begin. Usually, through a series of exercises, there is one or more memories that seem to resonate more than others and that begin to take center stage. This may begin the process of narrowing down the theme of the solo show, as in the former student I mentioned.

 

I have found that writing in an unedited fashion by just getting the stories out can work quite well. Because we all have many personal stories dancing around in our heads, material is rarely an issue. Giving oneself permission to allow the stories is another matter. For different reasons, some stories we want to share with others, and some we choose not to.

 

I do believe the more free we are in our storytelling, the more engaging and riveting the work can be. In actuality, there are few experiences we have had that have not already been experienced by others. What sets our own particular stories apart are the specifics, but the broad strokes are essentially the same (i.e. a woman’s fight with breast cancer, the dynamics of coming from a dysfunctional family, coming of age, online dating, etc.)

 

The telling all begins with the desire to create a one person show. With guidance, the rest will unfold. How exhilarating it is to see a one person play develop step by step from thought to page and then from page to stage!

 

Adilah Barnes is a writer, actor, acting instructor, producer, Internet talk show host and lecturer. She owns and operates The Writers’ Retreat in Sharpsburg, Georgia. You may contact her directly at abarnes@

2. WRITING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

 Writing is a solitary endeavor and one that often takes as much as it gives. Those of us in pursuit of publishing have to keep so many literary balls in the air while working on our craft that sometimes the technical demands overtake the creative ones. With so much outside (as well as self-induced) pressure, we sometimes forget why we decided to write in the first place. That’s why it’s important to find ways to renew our love of writing.

 

Avoiding burn-out and renewing enthusiasm for the joy of written expression are only part of the inspiration behind the upcoming writing workshop titled “Writing is Good for the Soul”, to be held October 17-19, 2008 in Folly Beach, South Carolina. The weekend workshop is geared to help writers connect with and free up our creativity; take the everyday pressures off; and find a new way of looking at our work and our lives. Using writing as a form of expressive meditation, this workshop allows writers to delve deeply into who we are: our minds, our bodies and our spirits.

 

The weekend begins with a Friday evening session titled ‘Connecting With the Spirit of Nature’ where participants will write from the senses in a class held at the ocean’s edge. Saturday includes an all-day workshop titled ‘The Story of Your Soul’s Journey’ and Sunday ends with ‘Connecting With Your Creative Spirit.’ The workshop, taught by Creative Writing teacher Mary Ann Henry, has proved to be hugely popular in the Carolina Lowcountry where it is held.

 

“I’m a journalist by trade and I never write poetry”, stated Will Beckett, a participant at a recent spiritual writing workshop.  “But I was surprised at how much poetry came roaring forth.” He added, “I re-read some of my writing at the end of the day and I wondered ‘Who wrote that?’ It felt really good.”  Another participant, Sandy Morehouse, spoke of how she doubted her own ability to access her creativity. “I’ve had trouble writing from the heart. I get caught up in expectations and I keep second-guessing myself. But during the workshop, I just let it rip. And the writing showed that new level of confidence.”

 

The connection between a person’s sense of spirituality and their creativity has long been of interest to the creator of the workshop, Mary Ann Henry. “I try to create, above all, an atmosphere of trust within the group. I let everyone know right away that they’re safe with me, with each other, with themselves. And to see the growth that a person makes in such a short time is thrilling to me as a teacher and a writer.”

 

Held in an ocean-front location on beautiful Folly Beach, just minutes from historic Charleston, South Carolina, ‘Writing is Good for the Soul’ promises to be one of the most unique learning experiences available to writers this year.

 

See details at http://www.writersretreat.com/spiritualwriting.htm.

To register, please call Mary Ann Henry directly at 843-437-1934 or email her at maryannhenry@writersretreat.com or complete our online form at

http://www.writersretreat.com/workshopformSC.htm

 

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3. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

 

Are you looking for a space where you can shut out the world and dig in deeply internally? The Writers’ Retreat provides the perfect balance of leaving you alone and at the same time making sure you have everything you need while staying with us.  The Writers’ Retreat offers nine year-round retreat locations to choose from:

Québec, Canada (Headquarters);

Oliver, British Columbia, Canada;

North Lake Harbour, Prince Edward Island, Canada;

Ouray, Colorado;

Corralitos near Santa Cruz, California;

Folly Beach, South Carolina;

Craftsbury, Vermont;

Ojochal, Costa Rica;

Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast of México.

 

Please visit our website at www.WritersRetreat.com and click on one of the locations for more details and to reserve your private studio.

 

If you are contemplating a business opportunity in the literary world, contact us today to learn more about starting and operating a Writers’ Retreat in your area.

 

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4.  UPCOMING WORKSHOPS/CLINIC

 

MAKING A GOOD SCRIPT GREAT A three-day script clinic

Facilitator: Linda Seger, author, and script consultant.

Date:  October 10, 11, 12, 2008

Place: Cascade, Colorado (Pikes Peak Region)

Description: http://www.writersretreat.com/Makingagoodscriptgreat.htm

 

WRITING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

Facilitator: Mary Ann Henry, writer; on-site mentor in Folly Beach, SC

Date:  October 17-19, 2008

Place: Folly Beach, SC

Description: http://www.writersretreat.com/spiritualwriting.htm

 

POETRY WORKSHOP

Facilitator: Julia Shipley, writer; on-site mentor in Craftsbury, VT

Date:  August 23, 2008

Place: Albany, VT

Register:  http://www.writersretreat.com/workshopformVT.htm

 

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Until next time… Shape your vision into reality!!!

 

Micheline Côté, Executive Director   

The Writers’ Retreat 

Telephone:  (819) 876-2065

info@writersretreat.com

http://www.writersretreat.com

 

Please feel free to post or forward this message to a friend.

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