10 – 17  March, 2012

End of summer special $1500 ($2400 with flight from Sydney / Brisbane)

Breakthrough writing is a week’s creative writing retreat during which Jan does what she’s so good at: focussing on what’s swirling around in your mind, accessing it and getting it down on paper in your own voice. As any writer knows, none of this is easy – and all of it is essential.

Jan is coming back to Daku Resort for the third time: this is what Chris Richards had to say about the 2011 workshop he attended:

Every now and again in this world of spin, hype, over promise and under deliver, we get a surprise. Our expectations are exceeded. My experience of Jan Cornall’s Writers Workshop at Daku Resort, Fiji was just one of those rare times.

Here I was sixty thousand words into a novel and totally stalled. I am an experienced writer, I know all the gimmicks but still “the very urgent but not important subsumed the very important but not urgent,” in my life. The casualty was my demon, my novel. What I needed was some isolation, immersion and the company of like minded writers to resurrect my demon. Daku Resort (a jewel) and Jan Cornall provided just that.

Jan is a more than a competent facilitator and an excellent writer. She is non invasive but nevertheless resolute on our purpose for being there. She coaches and pushes… just enough. Her workshop was one of the best things I have done in the past twenty years.

Workshops take place every morning and participants are expected to use some of their time in the afternoon to complete specific writing goals. During the workshops, we’ll revise the essential elements of the writer’s craft, and you’ll have a chance to read, critique and receive feedback on any aspect of your writing or writing process. Begin a new work, refresh a tired old draft or come as you are. Jan uses the principles of the course to work with all genres including scripts, poetry and non-fiction with the emphasis on breaking new ground in your chosen writing form.

It takes place in March, which is the end of summer in Fiji and can still be hot and humid – but this end of summer price is a real low-season bargain which should really take the heat out of your purse.

A writing workshop is a precious opportunity to forget all your daily responsibilities and be greedy with your writing time. No work; no cooking or shopping – just pens, paper, inspirational teaching and a group of others who share the passion.

Then spend the afternoons relaxing or exploring the island – snorkeling the reef, hiking up the mountain, visiting a local village, having a spa massage or reading by the pool.

Throughout this week you have the opportunity to be a serious writer and show yourself and others just what you are capable of. The lab concludes with celebration drinks and readings.

Jan Cornall is a highly experienced teacher, renowned for motivating writers in all genres to set and complete writing goals while instructing them in essential writer’s craft. Participants in past workshops include many who go on to publish. First time author Marguerite Van Geldermalsen, Married to A Bedouin, received invaluable help from Jan’s workshops. Margo Lanagan, award winning fantasy writer wrote her novel, Tender Morsels, with the support of Jan’s Draft Buster workshops, as well as her novella Sea Hearts, the winner of the 2010 World Fantasy Awards.

Others who have benefited include : Margaret Wilcox, Gone (Penguin); Anne Lovell, Connie’s Secret (Allen & Unwin); Catherine Therese, The Weight Of Silence (Hachette Livre); Margaret Stevenson Meere, The Child in The Lotus (Rockpool); Walter Mason, Destination Saigon (Allen & Unwin); Yvonne Louis, Brush with Mondrian (Murdoch); and Mary Delahunty, Public Life, Private Grief (Hardie Grant).

She has also written over 15 produced plays and musicals, a feature film (Talk 1994), a novel (Take me to Paradise, 2006) and three CD’s of songs. Jan’s cabaret musical, Failing In Love Again, (with pianist Elizabeth Drake), was a cult hit of the comedy/cabaret revival in the early 80’s when Jan performed alongside Jeannie Lewis, Margaret Roadknight, Robyn Archer, Wendy Harmer and Gretel Killeen.  www.writersjourney.com.au

Read Jan’s account of the 2011 retreat at Daku Resort »

Program Includes

• Return domestic flight from Nadi to Savusavu.
• Return airport transfers from Savusavu to Daku Resort.
• 7 nights accommodation at Daku Resort in traditional bures with private facilities.
• Breakfasts, lunches and dinners are provided.
• Course fees.
• Lectures, excursions as indicated.

Program Excludes

• Departure taxes applicable to the standard itinerary.
• Comprehensive Travel Insurance.
• Optional activities not listed on the program
• Costs of a personal nature eg laundry, massages, private trips
• Meals taken in transit at the airport

Cost of course
$1500 per person twin share (includes flight from Sydney)
$300 single room supplement
or course plus international flight Sydney-Nadi return: $2400

The course runs for 6 days, and includes workshops, local excursions and free time.
Throughout this week you have the opportunity to be a serious writer and show yourself and others just what you are capable of.

Programme

Day 1:
Arrive : Welcome ceremony and dinner.

Day 2:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop – Breaking Through to the Essence of Your Writing.
Setting goals, mapping the territory, making a plan, hunting and gathering. Dreaming up descriptive detail, creating the atmosphere of your writing.
6.00pm –7.00pm:  Reading and feedback
7.00pm: Dinner

Day 3:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop – Breaking Out of Old Habits.
Dealing with the negative critic, procrastination, avoidance addiction, transforming obstacles into descriptive imagery, character and plot.
Afternoon: Visit to Savusavu town
6.00pm –7.00pm:   Reading and feedback
7.00pm: Dinner

Day 4:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop – Breaking Into Voice.
Rediscovering your writer’s voice, developing its character, tone and rhythm, through the building blocks of sentence, paragraph, scene, chapter, story.
Afternoon: Beach outing
6.00pm –7.00pm:   Reading and feedback
7.00pm: Dinner

Day 5:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop – Breaking It Down.
Effective editing, busting bad writing habits, going for the jugular, ensuring the impact of our writing with pace, style, rhythm, timing.
6.00pm –7.00pm:   Reading and feedback
7.00pm: Dinner

Day 6:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop – Breaking Into a Run
Finding dramatic tension in action, plot, juxtaposition and opposition. Foreshadowing and suspense techniques, character development,  emotional subtext, subplots and storyline.
5.00pm –6.00pm:   Reading and feedback
6.30pm: Drinks and dinner at Savusavu Yacht Club

Day 7:
10.00am – 1.00pm: Workshop -  Breaking Out of The Mould
Enhancing the unique qualities of your writing, finding unity and cohesiveness, experimenting with form. Setting future writing goals, discussing publishing options.
4.30pm – 5.30pm: Village visit and meke (traditional dance)
Final dinner and readings and celebratory drinks

Day 8:
Return home.

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