Writing Courses, Holidays & Retreats
in Costa Rica
Welcome to our Creative Writing Retreat in spectacular Costa Rica!
We all crave inspiration, once in a while; the time to dream, the space to think, the energy to pour into a creative project. We need to recharge, to reassert belief in ourselves and to re-imagine how we see ourselves. We need to laugh, to learn new skills, to be alone when we choose to, to be part of a community when the mood takes us and to reconnect with the natural world. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect place to do all this than in our beautiful Costa Rican lodge Las Cascadas Boutique Hotel, close to Manuel Antonio National Park. Come for the writing retreat. Leave with inspiration and memories to last for months and years to come.
Sound appealing? Then join us for an experience of a lifetime at our creative writing retreat near Quepos, Costa Rica.
Who joins our creative writing retreats?
Writers attending solo, or with family or friends. Beginners who have never written before, and novelists with manuscripts in the final stages. Writers wishing to focus entirely on their creative work, and others who combine our workshops with daily sightseeing tours. Our trip to Costa Rica is fully escorted from the moment you land in San Jose International Airport, so our creative writing retreat is ideal even for people who have not traveled before. Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever your needs, you’re welcome.
Also check out our Writing Retreat in Mexico!
Join us for an experience of a lifetime at our urban creative writing retreat in Merida, Mexico.
Click here to see more information.
Our Creative Writing Retreats – The Delights of Merida!
Our next Mexico Creative Writing Retreat in 2024 will once again be held in the beautiful Yucatecan city of Merida. In addition to the morning creative writing workshops (which are appropriate to writers of poetry, memoir, short fiction and novels), participants will have the opportunity to sightsee in and around this glorious city. Sightseeing in Merida This vibrant city is full of great sights: museums, plazas, gorgeous colonial mansions and art galleries. There are also weekly festivals held in the evenings that include dancing, craft stalls, live music and even a traditional Mayan ball game played with a ball of [...]
Creative Writing Retreats: Magical Moments in Merida!
Just about every day on our creative writing retreats is special – after all, retreats are not only a chance to learn, they are also full of new experiences and great memories. Writing retreats are holidays, too! But there are some days so magnificent that they take your breath away and feed your soul. Yesterday on our Mexico Creative Writing Retreat was one of those days. Writing Workshop We began in the morning with a workshop on five act structure. I hadn’t expected this to be quite so meaningful to so many of our writers, but we have several people [...]
Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules Of Writing
In July 2001, the crime fiction writer Elmore Leonard wrote a short piece for The New York Times on his ten rules for writing. This was eventually adapted into a book. I’ve shared his rules many times with writers on our retreats, so I thought it might be useful to outline them here. In the preface to his book, Leonard says: These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing; to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story. Now, here are his rules: Never open a book with [...]
An MFA in Creative Writing: Is It Worth It?
Read the bios of a dozen new fiction writers, and the chances are good that at least half will list among their credentials an MFA in Creative Writing. I completed my own MFA in Creative Writing through the University of British Columbia, and I’m often asked by my writing students: is a Masters in Creative Writing essential, if you want to see your work in print? Arguments Against an MFA in Creative Writing A Masters Degree is expensive and some writers might argue it would eat into the limited time they have available for writing. Many MFAs also require you to [...]
