Open Beach House
An island, a mountain, a transformation, and a bevy of WriteSPACE Birthday Bundles
Dear fellow writer,
The WriteSPACE turns 3 years old this week! To celebrate, we’re offering free events, special subscription bundles, and bonus discounts throughout the month of February.
First up, there’s my FREE Open Beach House on February 13 and 14, hosted from my Island Time Writing Retreat on beautiful Waiheke Island in New Zealand. In this 2-hour Zoom session, I’ll start by giving you a quick tour of our retreat venue at gorgeous Palm Beach; then we’ll plunge into a Live Writing Studio session consisting of writing warmup, a 25-minute pomodoro (writing sprint), and a round of supportive, craft-focused feedback.
If you’ve never visited the Live Writing Studio before, you’re in for a treat! Please bring along a physical notebook, some refreshments, and a piece of writing that you'd like to move forward with.
We’ve scheduled 2 live Zoom sessions to accommodate members in any time zone:
Session 1: 8-10 am Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday 13 February.
Session 2: 3-5 pm Eastern Standard Time (UTC-4) on Wednesday 14 February (Valentine’s Day!)
I’d love to see you there!
The WriteSPACE on sale
Valentine’s Day Birthday Bundles
To celebrate the third birthday of the WriteSPACE, we’re offering a 33% discount off annual membership compared to the regular monthly price, plus a FREE Journey Planner, Roadmap, and Itinerary package worth $100. There’s never been a better time to join!
If you’re a current WriteSPACE or WS Studio member who wants to take advantage of this special offer, please visit your membership Lounge for instructions on how to upgrade to the annual plan. In a nutshell, you’ll need to cancel your monthly plan and sign up for a new subscription — but we’ll give you a $15 discount code to cover any overlapping charges, and you can contact Victoria to walk you through the process if you encounter any problems.
Not a member? Grab one of these WriteSPACE Birthday Bundles before the end of February!
Annual WriteSPACE membership + FREE Journey Planner, Roadmap, and Itinerary
USD $120 (Value: $280)
Sign up for an annual WriteSPACE subscription and save 33% compared to the regular monthly plan, then fill out our 20-minute Journey Planner Survey. (We’ll include the link in a welcome email). Within a few weeks after receiving your submission, we’ll send you a FREE custom WriteSPACE Roadmap and Itinerary based on your responses, plus I’ll record a personal video recommending resources to help you get the most from your membership journey.
Annual WriteSPACE Studio membership + FREE Journey Planner, Roadmap, and Itinerary:
USD $360 (Value: $640)
Purchase an annual WS Studio membership and save 33% compared to the regular monthly plan, then fill out our 20-minute Journey Planner Survey. (We’ll include the link in a welcome email). Within a few weeks after receiving your submission, we’ll send you a FREE custom WriteSPACE Roadmap and Itinerary based on your responses, plus I’ll record a personal video recommending resources to help you get the most from your membership journey.
Hurry, this special offer ends on March 1, 2024.
Stylish Writing Intensive
Sharpen your style
Do you want to write with more energy, impact and flair — right now? The Stylish Writing Intensive (offered in March and October) is my signature 3-day virtual retreat for academic and professional writers in a hurry. Over three transformational days of writing workshops, editing exercises, and individual coaching, you’ll master the art of storytelling, nail the nuances of structure, unleash your unique voice, and perfect new techniques for polishing your prose. Cohort sizes are strictly limited to ensure individual attention for all participants. Book now to secure your place for our March session!
My primary goal was to find my “book voice,” and I found it. I can now diagnose my academic writing habits, and I have a better sense of how to fix them. I also have a much better handle on story, structure, openings, and metaphor. Helen’s course was amazing!
(Nicole Rust, Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Birthday Bundle: Stylish Writing Intensive + FREE Wordcraft Catalyst
Enroll in the next Stylish Writing Intensive (March 21-24), and attend my new Wordcraft Catalyst course for free — a $550 value.
Mountain Rise Writing Retreat
Treat yourself to a retreat
Reconnect with the pleasures of writing at Mountain Rise (June 23-29, 2024), my annual in-person alpine retreat for writers who want to replenish their creative energies and take their writing to new heights. Ascend in a cogwheel train to the car-free Swiss village of Wengen for 7 glorious days and 6 nights of dedicated writing time, inspirational workshops, and craft-focused feedback, plus plenty of opportunities to put on your walking shoes and get out into that clear mountain air. Return home with your pages filled and your joy in writing restored!
To learn more about my in-person retreats, join me on February 13 or 14 for my Open Beach House at Island Time, or watch the video from last year’s retreat, Open Chalet at Mountain Rise.
Birthday Bundle: Mountain Rise Retreat + FREE WS Studio annual membership
This month only, WS Studio annual members can deduct the cost of their annual membership from the already discounted price of my Mountain Rise Retreat coming up in June 2024. To qualify for this special offer, you must be an annual WS Studio member who submits your expression of interest for Mountain Rise before the end of February 2024 and pays in full no later than March 15.
Other writing news
My 6-week Pleasure Catalyst course started last week, and we’ve been having a fantastic time exploring our personal Leylines and Lifelines (emotional patterns) and the affordances of Ground and Sky (analog vs digital writing tools). It’s not too late to join us! We’re holding the doors open until Saturday February 17 and offering a Valentine’s Day discount of 20% for latecomers.
Do you have writing-related news, events, or resources to share? Contact me with a brief description (50 words max), a hyperlink, and a high-quality image.
Write more, right now! Join fellow writers from 30+ countries the WriteSPACE, the ultimate membership site for academic and professional writers who aim to lift their writing game. As a WriteSPACE member, you’ll get premium access to hundreds of online resources, diagnostic tools, and live events designed to help you elevate your style, deepen your research impact, and coax your writing gently but firmly out the door.
Kia pai tō koutou rā (have a great day) – and keep on writing!
Helen
Books on writing by Helen Sword
Writing with Pleasure
Princeton University Press, 2023
Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write
Harvard University Press, 2017
Stylish Academic Writing
Harvard University Press, 2012
The Writer’s Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose
University of Chicago Press, 2016
