Composed is a transformative writing retreat for any scholar who wants to stop writing in fear, and create a
calm, confident, productive writing practice.
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Leave all your worries behind and spend an entire week focused just on you and your writing. Steal away to one of two lush, beautiful environments, where you'll connect with a group of amazing scholars and together, learn to overcome your internal writing barriers--the thoughts and feelings that undermine your productivity, steal your peace of mind, and rob you of the pleasures of your work.
We work with pre-tenure as well as senior scholars, to help you face your fears and transform your writing time into a haven that motivates and nourishes you. So you can write more. And worry less. |
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"The retreat was incredibly helpful--breaking down decades old logjams and allowing me to access help, advice, and support that I had, but couldn't see."
Kim F. Hall, PhD
Lucyle Hook Professor of English
Barnard College
Kim F. Hall, PhD
Lucyle Hook Professor of English
Barnard College
Composed is for You if:
- You wish you could just sit down and write – without getting overwhelmed by the work or paralyzed by self-doubt
- You're worried about how slow your writing seems to be and wish you had concrete strategies for making real progress more quickly
- You feel frustrated by how hard it is to carve out time for writing—which has only gotten harder since the pandemic began.
- You find it hard to stay focused and work through distractions and difficulties.
- You get tired of feeling that you and your work aren’t good enough.
- You yearn to reconnect with the pleasures of research and writing – that excitement you felt when you first started grad school.
- You wish you could find a community of scholars who support your healthy writing practice – instead of shaming or competing with you.
Join the waitlist to find out when 2022
registration opens.
How Does Composed Work?
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InkWell's unique writing retreats weave together four key elements that do more than give you time to write: they teach you to make the most of that time by identifying, facing, and freeing yourself from writing anxiety.
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Composed Daily Schedule*
Sunday
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3:00 - 5:45 p.m.
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Arrival & Check In
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6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
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Welcome Meal
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7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
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Orientation & Opening Workshop
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Monday - Friday
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8:00 a.m.
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Breakfast
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8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
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Morning Writing Workshop
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10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
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Writing Time
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12:30 - 1:00 p.m.
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Lunch
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1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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Writing Time / Private Coaching Meetings
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4:00 -5:15 p.m.
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Yoga/Massage/Swim
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5:15 - 6:00 p.m.
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Idle Time
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6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
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Dinner
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7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
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Coaching Meeting
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Saturday
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7:30 - 11:00 a.m.
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Breakfast & Goodbyes
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11:00 a.m.
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Departure
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*Schedule is approximate and varies slightly by date & location.
All participants receive a finalized schedule upon registration.
All participants receive a finalized schedule upon registration.
Results
Whether you are trying to develop a sustainable writing routine or
let go of unhelpful habits, Composed will teach you to:
let go of unhelpful habits, Composed will teach you to:
- Get Clear: Finally understand what makes writing so damn hard (I promise, it ain't you).
- Get Unstuck: Uncover your unique writing process, which will bust through your blocks and make writing easier, faster, and way more fun.
- Focus In: Resist the rabbit holes that steal your attention and zero in on your writing, no matter what else is going on in your life or the world.
- Relax Without Guilt: Work hard. Make progress. And then let the work go. So you can enjoy the rest of your life.
- Know. Your. Worth. Actually feel good about yourself and your writing. Like you used to before academia happened to you.
- Finally feel supported. And seen. And in sync with the world's most generous, encouraging writing community.
- Make Progress. Oh yeah. While you're learning all that? You'll make some serious progress on your manuscript.
How Well Does Composed Work?
Among past Composed participants:
96%Learned strategies that strongly increased productivity.
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94%Felt significantly more motivated to write.
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96%Felt more confident about their
writing ability. |
"Composed helped me find ways to build writing into my daily life in a way that is pleasurable and rewarding. I won't have to bully or coerce myself into the chair anymore."
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Join the waitlist to find out when 2022
registration opens. |
Who Can Attend the Composed Writing Retreat?
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The Composed writing retreat is for any scholar who wants to transform their experience of writing from one of fear, to one of trust and power. Our ideal participants fall into one of these categories:
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Junior Scholars Who Want to Start Out RightJunior faculty members, post-docs, and graduate students who want to begin their academic career with a healthy, sustainable approach to writing are ideal for Composed.
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Senior Academics Seeking
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Administrators Looking to Maximize Their TimeComposed is an excellent fit for administrators who want to get the most progress and satisfaction from the small windows of writing time they have available.
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Where is Composed Held?
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Elohee Retreat Center (May 22-28, 2022) in Sautee Nagochee, GA has beautiful views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. Amenities include a stone fire ring; natural reflection pond; spa, gift shop; hiking trails; and a 100-foot waterfall. While Elohee has wheelchair accessible rooms, it is not easy to navigate if you have mobility issues. It does, however offer rooms with shared bath at a slightly reduced rate. Elohee is a 1-½ to 2 hour drive from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and we connect retreaters who want to rideshare. Elohee has no Wi-Fi, although it has excellent cell phone reception depending on the carrier. |
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Details About Your Five-Day Retreat
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Date: May 15 - 21, 2022 Location: Elohee Retreat Center | Sautee, GA Tuition: $4,650 - $5,250 |
The Composed Writing Retreat Includes:
Intensive Writing Training
Pre- and Post-Retreat Support
Room, Board, and Lodging
- Five days of evidence-based writing training. Each day of the retreat you'll attend a morning writing workshop and an evening group coaching session. They include evidence-based trainings, interactive exercises that help you apply what you learned, Q&A, and small group discussions.
- Five days of dedicated writing time. In between training meetings, you'll have hours and hours of writing time, so you can sink into your work and master the tools you've learned.
- Five days of daily yoga, open to and suitable for all levels and designed to keep you refreshed and energized for writing.
- Warm, encouraging community, from a small, supportive group of scholars and a gifted facilitator who nurtures just the right amount of connection.
- Gorgeous writing environments, with multiple nooks for writing in silence and solitude or quiet companionship, whichever you need.
Pre- and Post-Retreat Support
- Get-Ready minicourse: a week of brief, actionable guidance to address your pre-retreat questions and get your home set up as your personal retreat center.
- Go-Home minicourse: filled with practices and reminders to help you quickly and easily integrate what you learned into your regular writing life.
- Resource lists, scripts, and worksheets to help you quickly remember the tools and techniques you learned at the retreat and easily implement them at home.
Room, Board, and Lodging
- Six nights in serene sleeping quarters, with private or shared bathrooms, that restore your energy for work and play.
- Six nights of room, board, and lodging, including all facilities and grounds fees, resort fees, state and local lodging taxes, and gratuities. as well as
- Six nights of healthy, delicious food including all meals from Sunday evening through Saturday morning, freshly prepared, in accordance with your dietary restrictions.
- Optional restorative amenities and activities such as massage, body work, and hikiing. All within beautiful, natural environments.
2022 Retreat Tuition
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*Baths are shared with one other person and located no more than 3 steps away from your room.
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Frequently Asked Questions (+ Lovingly Offered Answers)
(How)
What is the structure of this retreat?
Each day of the retreat includes a morning workshop, long, interrupted blocks of writing time, and an evening group coaching session. We share all our meals together and have access to a daily yoga class.
Is there a lot of...sharing?
Composed is neither therapy nor confession. So there is no requirement that you reveal yourself in any way that feels uncomfortable. However, reflecting on your writing process is a central activity of the workshops. Michelle deliberately designs all our group activities so that they build trust over time, and offer the opportunity for sharing without requiring it.
How big are the retreats?
Retreats at Elohee include no more than 20 scholars.
What form of payment does InkWell accept?
We accept all major credit cards at the online InkWell store.
Do you provide invoices for my university?
No. We provide receipts after purchase so you can be reimbursed.
Each day of the retreat includes a morning workshop, long, interrupted blocks of writing time, and an evening group coaching session. We share all our meals together and have access to a daily yoga class.
Is there a lot of...sharing?
Composed is neither therapy nor confession. So there is no requirement that you reveal yourself in any way that feels uncomfortable. However, reflecting on your writing process is a central activity of the workshops. Michelle deliberately designs all our group activities so that they build trust over time, and offer the opportunity for sharing without requiring it.
How big are the retreats?
Retreats at Elohee include no more than 20 scholars.
What form of payment does InkWell accept?
We accept all major credit cards at the online InkWell store.
Do you provide invoices for my university?
No. We provide receipts after purchase so you can be reimbursed.
(Where)
How do I get to the retreat?
That depends on which retreat you are attending. You will find addresses, directions, as well as other helpful transportation information on the website of the retreat space. In addition, you will receive a site-specific profile and multi-week Get Ready Guide several weeks before your start date to help you navigate the trip.
Do you provide ground transportation?
We do not provide airfare, groundtransportation, or travel insurance. However, we do connect scholars prior to the retreat so you can coordinate ridesharing.
That depends on which retreat you are attending. You will find addresses, directions, as well as other helpful transportation information on the website of the retreat space. In addition, you will receive a site-specific profile and multi-week Get Ready Guide several weeks before your start date to help you navigate the trip.
Do you provide ground transportation?
We do not provide airfare, groundtransportation, or travel insurance. However, we do connect scholars prior to the retreat so you can coordinate ridesharing.
(Who)
Is this retreat only for women? Or maybe just black women? You keep using the phrase "sister scholars." And there are a lot of black women in your pictures.
This retreat is for anyone who is interested in connecting with others to free themselves from their emotional and psychological writing blocks. If you want (and already know how) to do that as part of a community that actively loves and holds space for every single, solitary woman, womxn, womyn on the planet, regardless of the body they were born into or what that body looks like, then this retreat is for you. If that sounds scary or confusing, then you should not attend Composed.
Can I bring my family?
Not unless your family member is a scholar working on a manuscript.
This retreat is for anyone who is interested in connecting with others to free themselves from their emotional and psychological writing blocks. If you want (and already know how) to do that as part of a community that actively loves and holds space for every single, solitary woman, womxn, womyn on the planet, regardless of the body they were born into or what that body looks like, then this retreat is for you. If that sounds scary or confusing, then you should not attend Composed.
Can I bring my family?
Not unless your family member is a scholar working on a manuscript.
I have more questions!
Well, we have more answers! Send an email to us hello@inkwellretreats.org and we'll do all we can to help.
Cancellation Policies
Cancellation Policy
Our policy is designed to let you change your mind without requiring Michelle to lose the opportunity to work with another scholar. Specifically: If InkWell cancels a retreat, we will refund your entire payment. If You cancel your registration:
Travel Delay Policy
We do not give refunds or discounts for late arrival, early departure, flight cancellations, travel delays, or illness. We wish we could compensate people for unforeseen circumstances, but unfortunately we can't afford to cover the extra costs incurred by these predicaments.
Our policy is designed to let you change your mind without requiring Michelle to lose the opportunity to work with another scholar. Specifically: If InkWell cancels a retreat, we will refund your entire payment. If You cancel your registration:
- 60 days or more prior to the start of the writing retreat, you receive: 100% credit of the cost of the retreat toward another writing retreat within 12 months.
- 31-59 days prior to the start of the writing retreat, you receive: 50% credit of the cost of the retreat toward another writing retreat within 12 months, and will forfeit the remainder.
- 0-30 days prior to the start of the writing retreat, you receive: no refunds or credits.
Travel Delay Policy
We do not give refunds or discounts for late arrival, early departure, flight cancellations, travel delays, or illness. We wish we could compensate people for unforeseen circumstances, but unfortunately we can't afford to cover the extra costs incurred by these predicaments.
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Michelle Boyd, PhDMichelle Boyd, PhD is an award-winning writer and scholar, and the founder of InkWell Academic Writing Retreats. She spent the first part of her career studying the political significance of black racial identity, and won a Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association for her first book Jim Crow Nostalgia: Reconstructing Race in Bronzeville. Since leaving faculty life, she's helped hundreds of scholars move past their anxieties, reconnect with their writing, and develop a calmer, more confident, more productive writing practice. Michelle is hard at work on her second book, Becoming the Writer You Already Are.
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