Morning preparation

Jan Cornall has now lead three retreats at Daku; she’s just come back from the latest and has sent me a brief account of the week:

I love the moments on our Fiji  writer’s retreat when the breakthroughs start to happen.  You would hope for it on a course called Breakthrough Writing but it’s not going to happen straight away, unless simply getting off the plane in Savusavu Bay and slowing down to the pace of the locals, relaxes you so much you just can’t help yourself. Sometimes it’s when we get out the coloured pens and make our first story maps that things start to fall into place, or when you slip into a voice you know is so right for your story you want to shout – hallelujah! It could be that you discover your favorite three chapters have to get the chop (and you are ready to let them go) or you’ve worked out how to cut 10,000 words down to 1,000. It might be that giving yourself a week to concentrate just on your writing; no cooking, shopping, worrying about all the small details of life, turns on your creative tap and you wonder how on earth you will ever stop it. It certainly has something to do with devoting time to working on your craft, receiving positive encouragement and daily feedback and becoming involved in the development each others stories; as if through the daily activity of sharing our stories and the processes of writing we draw the strength and courage to finally inhabit the uniqueness of our own writers’ voice. The same voice that at the beginning of the week we were so unsure about. I can’t wait to do it all again next year.

And here’s a few words from a couple of the writers:

Reading out the day's work in the evening

BIFF WARD: Jan was everything that was promised and more. She really can work with people writing in any genre and at any stage of its development – even if they haven’t actually started! She had us all writing new stuff, re-working bits and, most importantly, reading to each other and giving useful feedback. It was a rich, rewarding, expanding, inspiring process. It seemed to me that everyone went away with clarity about where to go next with their project and the focus and energy required to keep going.  Even with people from very different backgrounds and experiences, Jan had us all working together productively and well.

Daku allowed me to have a deeply satisfying routine to my days – something I never seem to establish at home. Wake up to tropical paradise through the louvres; read a littler; walk up to the yoga platform and spend an hour stretching a centring looking out to sea; shower in outdoor funky bathroom; delicious breakfast; then writing time on my verandah followed by class from 10 till 1. And that’s only thew morning! everyday! All in the Daku resort atmosphere of informal comfort and friendliness subtly underpinned by fabulous service.

CHRIS RICHARDS : I have become a bit of a writers class “junkie” and this one had the most eclectic and skilled group of people thus far. All very imaginative, all very productive. Jan basically set the parameters, set us up and let us go. The old iron fist in a velvet glove method which I do well under. Of all the workshop leaders and facilitators I have worked under over the years, she is my favourite.

Picnic on the beach

The writers on the Manuscript Mentoring week with Rosie Scott had a great week – productive, friendly, stimulating, full of laughs and stories – and Rosie enjoyed it every bit as much as they did.

Rosie Scott:
MAGIC! I loved it. Small but fabulous group very committed, worked hard but also lots of fun, the staff were as usual wonderful – great food and kindness to us.  They put on a memorable farewell night with kava, a lovo and singing and dancing by Keni’s children (Keni and Mereone sang with them) and a rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan by one student – the extraordinary Kevin who is a professional singer among many other things. And loved the outdoor shower I had this time, not to mention the snorkelling. The group all went away in high spirits, inspired to write.

As I said in my last article on Daku, it’s a great place for people  to get to a deeper  level with their manuscripts. It really is the best teaching experience for me too- to see the way people’s work improves over the week is a joy. I believe this is partly because they become so relaxed and open in this lovely place.
I hope this is will become an annual event.

(Yes, Rosie – it will. The 2012 manuscript mentoring week is up on the website – 22- 29 September.)

Helen Grenfell
Writers can be very defensive about their work, treasuring it as one does a newborn baby and very reluctant to expose it to the discerning eye of others. But Rosie’s generous nature and the relaxed and friendly group members put an end to such fears. She is friendly, perceptive, a skilful mentor and, importantly, for this course, she is a successful novelist and teacher of creative writing, with a string of academic qualifications that bring added authority to her task of mentoring.

She made the week good fun, yet it was also rigorous, and both the workshops and exercises revealed skills in my writing that I didn’t know I possessed. I came home realising I really could write, but also with a clear understanding of the areas of the craft I need to develop. Amidst the humdrum silliness of daily life, I am still writing everyday, a sure sign that Rosie and the group members had a positive, lasting effect on me.

Rosie had a sensible timetable of activities. We had all previously read by email the work of each of us in the group. The mornings were spent in writing exercises and a thorough workshopping of a group member’s piece; in the afternoon that person had a private mentoring session with Rosie. Nobody felt unduly stressed, and happy conversations bubbled along about books, films, and life experiences. A sense of humour, a good yarn, a well-told joke are essential pieces of equipment to bring to Rosie’s classes.

It is hard to explain just how suitable Daku Resort is for such activities as writing. It is small, very beautiful, and authentically Fijian. Colours are powerful – the red and orange of flowers, the deep shiny green of foliage, the stark white of a ship out on the blue bay waters. Laughter from children on the beach or guests in the pool drift up to our verandah where we always worked, but nothing distracts us; we are far from the rush and bother of our daily lives. A guest at Daku, in a conversation about travel, reminded me that ‘there are diamonds in one’s own backyard.’ ; it’s the moral of a story of African origin. That’s very true, but I would like to have Daku Resort as my own backyard, and Rosie Scott can have a cabin for free to advise me on my writing.

Cooling off after a hard day's writing...

AnneMarie Bennett
Rosie Scott is a terrific teacher – probably the best I’ve encountered.  And I’ve studied a lot.  In fact I never felt like I was being ‘taught’, but instead, her methods helped to peel back layers.  Rosie has a wonderful personality and a knack at understanding exactly what each person in the group needs to take their writing to the next level.

Kevin McGrath
The outstanding feature of the course was its flexibility. Rosie Scott concentrated
on the individual writer, drawing out his or her talent and helping the ideas to flow freely. Simultaneously there was plenty of time to get on with personal writing. Rosie is not only an accomplished author but a professional counsellor as well – a great help in getting an author
to sort out aims and ambitions.

You would go a long way to find more good humoured and friendly staff then those at Daku. You are always greeted with big Fijian smiles. The travel arrangements worked extremely well, especially as Fiji is so easy to reach. It was a great pleasure to take the domestic flight from Nadi to Savusavu, to experience the beautiful views of  mountain and sea from the aircraft window.

Stephen Price
No, I’m not a published author, merely someone who loves to dabble in both writing and traveling.  And when I discovered the writing course at the Daku Resort, I knew that I had to be a part of it!  Our writing instructor, published author Rosie Scott, was absolutely fantastic, helpful and very inspiring.  And the group of other budding authors that I met also led to a fantastic writing holiday. Rosie, thank you for everything!  I look forward to working with you once more!

Details of the 2012 course can be found at Paradise Courses – Manuscript Mentoring.

Rosie’s webpage can be found here.