The Retreat

A reset. A springboard. A gorgeous, century-old adobe ranch surrounded by fruit trees under the Taos Mountains.

We believe good writing is born at the intersection of getting serious and letting go, of steady structure and joyful chaos. Every impulse that has led you here—your innate curiosity, your sense of narrative, your unique voice, your desire for connection—is a tool that you will learn to use in your writing. And using these tools will reframe your understanding of yourself as an artist.

During our UNSTUCK week, we will meet each day to share our vetted strategies and surprising techniques for strengthening your ideas. You’ll get the behind-the-scenes dirt on our own processes and pitfalls. You’ll also spend time in small groups, building relationships with like-minded writers. And there will be solo hours to dedicate to your project—or start a new one! Evenings will be programmed with intriguing events designed to take you out of writing mode, giving your working brain a delightful break.

Writers have called our past Ideas Workshops “a transformative experience,” “a game changer,” and “the best professional workshop I've ever attended.” Whether you're working on a novel, a screenplay, an essay, a memoir, a newsletter, or an epic song cycle, you’ll leave feeling energized, connected, and clear about what you need to do to bring your words into the world.

Stop waffling and start writing. You are the mother of invention, and we are your midwives.

Develop Your Ideas

This isn’t like other writing workshops. Instead of craft or revision, our UNSTUCK retreat is focused on evolving new ideas—and revamping existing ones—so they are more urgent, more actionable, more exciting. Our exercises, discussions, prompts, and group work will help you:

• Sift through your broad interests to find concrete projects

• Tap into your innate curiosity to find new directions for your work

• Surprise yourself with new approaches to structure and voice

• Whittle down a huge list of ideas to one that’s most compelling

• Gain confidence in your internal creative compass

• Create a personalized workflow so you can actually follow through

Over the course of the week, you will get a step-by-step breakdown of our own idea-development processes, learn about methods that other writers use to strengthen their ideas, and hone your own process for evolving your most promising ideas. Our retreat has a friendly, encouraging, and propulsive dynamic that will get you excited to dig in and do the hard work.

Connect with Other Creative Brains

We’re keeping it intimate. With a maximum of 35 attendees, you’ll make lots of personal connections. We have a conscious framework for small-group work, designed for you to have meaningful interactions with your fellow writers. You will exchange honest feedback, give each other space to be more ambitious, and cheer each other on.

Is there a friend you’ve always wanted to collaborate with? Come together! Or arrive solo and meet kindred creative spirits! Ann and Jade will be leading all of the whole-group sessions and will be present throughout the week.

Get Some Writing Done

Yes, you’re here for our expertise and for the community connection, but with this workshop you are also carving out space in your schedule—and in your life—to focus on your writing. We’ll help you make it count. We’re not interested in just feeling creative. We want you to make a genuine love connection with your idea and follow through on it. That’s why we’re leaving plenty of air in the schedule so you can get the unbroken writing hours you crave, with carefully chosen prompts and exercises you can use if you need a little prodding. We called it UNSTUCK for a reason!

Change Your Perspective

Sometimes it takes a change of scenery to open up new ways of thinking. Nestled in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Taos is a dreamy site for this work. Artists have been coming here for centuries to connect more deeply to themselves and their ideas. In late May, Taos is warm in the afternoons and crisp in the evenings. We might get lucky and catch the seasonal peak wildflower bloom among the sagebrush and creosote.