Reflections on The Write Retreat

How working with eleven writers from Europe and the Middle East inspired me… and drove home some writing truths.

From April 22–26, I was a guest of The Write Retreat in Mallorca, Spain. During that time I worked with each writer or writing duo on their creative projects. It was an eclectic group with writers who hailed from Sweden, Denmark, Slovakia, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the U.K., Spain, Qatar, and Bahrain. Their stories traversed multiple genres and included feature films and television series.

The location for the event (Finca Fangar) was about a forty-five minute drive inland from the hustle and bustle of Palma and proved to be a perfect setting for conversations, story deliberations, and quiet contemplation. Also, many delicious meals together!

In addition to my mentoring responsibilities, I gave a presentation on The Protagonist’s Journey sponsored by the Mallorca Film Commission. The event, which included students from a Madrid-base film school, was held in the courtyard of a centuries old castle.

Here are a few moments of Zen to give you a sense of what the writers were able to experience each day to reflect on their stories and write pages.

As I worked with the writers —dissecting stories, brainstorming ideas, sketching out character maps and potential screenplay structures — I was struck by several thoughts at the overall experience.

• Sometimes it really does help for a writer to get away from their normal daily routine and look at their story from an entirely new perspective. The geographical shift can contribute to their ability to free themselves up to envision new narrative possibilities.
• While each of the writers’ projects we discussed arose from a specific cultural experience, often reflecting the writer’s unique personal lives, there were common themes — regret, loss, separation, renewal, redemption, identity — which spoke to the universality of the human experience.
• Befitting my own point of storytelling focus, character-driven screenwriting, I emphasized with each writer the importance of digging deeper into the lives of their existing characters. Our sessions together continually opened up potential new storylines or a reinterpretation of current ones. This proved to be especially true when delving more deeply into the personal history of their Protagonists. Zeroing in on those key backstory elements, when explored to depth, not only provided insights into untapped story dynamics, but also a focus of what the story meant and where it could go. In other words, the whole point of my book The Protagonist’s Journey proved once again to be on point when it came to unpacking the potential for stories of all kinds.

I had one recurring thought. As I took my daily walk through the Mallorca countryside, soaking in the blue skies and warm sun, I kept wishing that every writer could experience a retreat like this. How wonderful that would be for writers if, say, Elon Musk were to use just one billion dollars of his absurd wealth to sponsor such events for all of the world’s writers. How might even just a week spent in a new place with new faces where each writer could explore their story in a new way… what incredible stories might emerge from those experiences!

If anyone knows a billionaire who has a weakness for movies, television series, and good storytelling, feel free to suggest that as a philanthropic venture.

Meanwhile, I will keep doing what I’ve been doing: working with writers to enrich their stories and deepen their understanding of their creative process. Upcoming events: 2022 Black List Feature Writers Lab, 2022 Black List / Women In Film Feature Residency, 2022 Willamette Writers Conference, a yet to be announced three-day master class in October in Paris, and a few other events which are in the works.

In July, after a six-month hiatus, I will resume my teaching through Screenwriting Master Class including the only time in 2022 I will host my Prep: From Concept to Outline and Pages I: Writing the First Draft workshops.

Finally, there is my recently published book The Protagonist’s Journey: An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling which continues to be Amazon’s #1 Best Selling title in the category of Film and Television.

My thanks to Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten and Anthea Devotta for inviting me to participate in The Write Retreat in Mallorca. They are wonderful hosts and truly passionate about working with writers to bring out the best in their storytelling, as well as filmmakers in their own right.

Here’s one last image from Mallorca to inspire your writing today.

The word nature is so close to the word nurture. As far as writers are concerned, spending time in nature can nurture creativity.

May you find your way to nature in your own way to inspire your storytelling!