This half-day creative journey will help you:
Dive deep to find the stories inside you.
Bring to light the stories you've always wanted to express.
Help you view writings you’re working on from a fresh perspective.

Find your story gold.

As Leonard Cohen sang "There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in." This integrative, creative process will lead you to your stories, even if you don't think you have any. Finding those stories can feel like finding the gold which finally bonds your life experiences together in a meaningful way.

Erica’s framework for discovering sense-of-place connections (which can be found anywhere- urban, rural, wild, past, present) offers you a powerful, often surprising door into creativity, uncovering a deep well of ideas and imagery inside you.

Join us to:

• Generate fresh ideas.

• Explore your inner and outer landscapes.

• Create a "story map" you can use to guide you in your writing process.

• Create writings for yourself and/or for others.

• Feel nourished and supported by a wonderful gathering of people who want to explore and write.

You'll gain tools, ideas and inspiration you can use generate writing, or polish any writings you may be working on now, that will help you stay inspired long after the retreat is over.

You'll gain time to write, because sometimes it really is just about deciding to carve out the time and not let anything else get in the way.

You'll gain a feeling of support, community and bonding that is often missing in our world today.

This is for you if:
You want to tap into your creative side and explore.
You want to write stories, essays, songs, memoirs.
You want to get unstuck, or just want to get started again.
You want to find stories, ideas, meanings, and memories to use in your personal or professional writing.
You do not think you are a writer or know you are, but it's been a while.

Recent Participant Feedback:

“Erica’s classes have been life-changing for me. I appreciate all her preparations for leading us through a process each week and creating a peaceful, productive environment in the Zoom gatherings. It’s also a much-appreciated contrast to all the doom and gloom these days.”

“I have never taken another writing class so this was a new experience. I had never thought of myself as a poet, but Erica stating that the rhythm of one of my pieces sounded like poetry opened my eyes. I now think of poetry in a different way see how many of my thoughts can be put into poetry in addition to prose. I valued the opportunity to do writing in class was always surprised how when I do short pieces off the top of my head and they turn out to be good. The class gave me the impetus to do more short writing pieces rather than always thinking about big pieces. I can combine them and put together a larger piece.”

“The class opened up my mind to writing about me and the everyday, and I gained confidence in the possibility of my writing that I never had before. Your feast of materials was fantastic. I read most of it a number of times. They prompted me to go in all sorts of directions."

“The overall experience has been so enriching. Each facet, from the materials you provided, to my curiosity each day to read what others had posted, the Zoom connection and discussions, the diverse members...all added up to way more than the sum of its parts."

“I think the power of this is that I’ve thought of writing, but I’ve always kept the idea inside my head. It’s putting it down on paper that’s truly awesome. Because of this class I’ve felt and noticed so much more.”

“You’ve given me a whole new way of thinking about place.. living in a place where I really don’t feel connected, this process has really helped me come to terms with it, and how that’s okay. I can write about that."

"I highly recommend Erica Wheeler and her writing classes! I have had a great deal of experience writing academic articles and chapters, which in turn meant I had little to no opportunities for descriptive or creative writing. In a short time, Erica’s classes turned how I approached my writing 180 degrees. It has been as though my writing shifted from a black and white movie to now one in technicolor. I have not written this much or as easily in my 30+ years in academia."

"It wasn’t until I found “Sense of Place” that I felt truly at home in a writing class. Erica is a mentor who inspires writers to experiment with their craft and to explore new territories. I haven’t had this much fun writing in a long time.”

"I heartily recommend this class as a place to find your voice and improve and expand your skills. It is appropriate for those with vague goals as well as those with works in progress. I definitely feel more confident in being able to express myself with descriptive language and have learned to write for another reader instead of solely for myself. Sitting down to write has become a joy rather than a bit of a chore. I really looked forward to sitting down with a topic and worked hard to craft my writing. Practice blending history, personal experience, theme, and descriptions really led to some good solid pieces. I think the zoom sessions really helped me gain a sense of the other participants which increased trust and engagement. Through Erica's focused individual guidance, we were each treated like writers instead of students.”

“This is a wonderful place to explore oneself through investigative writing. It’s moved me in directions that I might not have thought of before. And I have now come to understand how a sense of place can be physical, internal, historical, sensory, past, and present. Place is very personal.”