Kids might dream about summer camp, but if you’re a writer you’re likely thinking about summer writers retreats, conferences, and workshops. They’re a perfect opportunity to escape your home office, explore a beautiful natural setting, make new writing pals, and invest in your writing craft. And, like summer camps for kids, they’re great fun. Here’s what to look for when choosing a summer writers workshop, conference, or retreat... 1. Inspiring setting: Sure, with some discipline you should be able to write anywhere, but seeing a new part of the world can prompt you to view your writing through new eyes. For me, the Taos Summer Writers Conference in Taos, New Mexico offered a magical setting--and I’m not alone. The big-sky landscape has inspired generations of writers, artists, and dreamers, from D.H. Lawrence to Dennis Hopper. This particular conference is held mid-July in the historic Sagebrush Inn and offers numerous weeklong and weekend workshops in fiction, poetry, nonfiction and screenwriting.

2. Writing Community: While your own family might roll their eyes when you talk about paragraph transitions and endless revisions to your novel, you’re guaranteed a rapt audience at most writers conferences. Participants are as happy as you are to spend breakfast, lunch, and dinner breaks discussing the craft of writing. Every conference is different, of course: Some workshops, such as the Tatamagouche Writers Conference in Nova Scotia, have small workshop groups and focus on retreat time, while others, such as the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, held in Dayton Ohio each April, are more social, with pep talks, lectures, group writing exercises, and readings. So think hard when choosing a summer workshop or conference. How social do you want to be?

Read about my experience at the Tatamagouche Writers Conference in my post A Maritime Writers Retreat and a Labyrinth. 

3. Cost: Begin the planning process early, and at most conferences you’ll have an opportunity to apply for a merit scholarship which will allow you to attend at no cost or on a reduced basis. At the Tatamagouche Writers Conference, depending on demand and resources, bursaries of up to 1/3 of program costs (maximum of $200) are available. The cost for the independent writers retreat is just $550 ($165 tuition + $385 meals/single room accommodations), but you’ll likely need a rental car, which will add to the expense. At the Summer Workshop in Creative Writing at Humber College in Toronto, students can apply for a $500 scholarship, to be applied to the tuition of $1199 for the weeklong workshop. Accommodation is extra, however, and costs $70 a night.

4. Faculty: The Summer Workshop in Creative Writing at Humber has an impressive faculty to help you hone your work. Esi Edugyan was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the 2011 Giller for Half Blood Blues. David Bezmozgis was nominated for the 2011 Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award for his novel, The Free World. Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists won the 2010 Giller, and Miriam Toews’ The Flying Troutmans was a Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize winner. M. G. Vassanji has won the Giller twice. But if you’re looking for quiet time to finish a manuscript, you may not need such high-profile guidance, and may be able to  consider workshops with a smaller faculty.

Other programs, such as the workshops at the Banff Centre of the Arts, have a rigorous and competitive application process, so even if you want to attend, you may not be accepted. Begin early and prepare well if you hope to attend. Get an inside look at the Banff Literary Program and participant Carol Perehudoff’s experience at the website Wandering Carol.

5. Conference Purpose: Are you working on a first draft of a novel, or are you shopping for a publisher? Different conferences have different purposes. Four times a year in New York City (March, June, Sept., Dec.) the New York Pitch Conference gives writers with completed manuscripts or works-in-progress the opportunity to workshop their novel with professional fiction editors, not to mention meet and pitch top acquisitions editors from major publishing houses. Read about my experience at one of those workshops in the post Inside the NYC Pitch & Shop Conference. Other conferences focus on specific aspects of craft or are a celebration of writing, such as the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, which offers 138 weeklong and weekend workshops across all genres during June and July.

A valuable resource for searching for a summer writing workshop, conference or retreat is the Shaw Guide to Writers Conferences & Workshops, which allows you to search by location, interest, month, and more. No matter which type of workshop you choose, though, you’ll enjoy the opportunity to invest in your craft, make friends, and escape the ordinary--it's a lot like summer camp.

If you’re considering  a winter retreat, read my posts on Inside the San Miguel Writers Conference or check out my own Puerto Escondido Writing Conference on How to Break into Travel Writing. 

Do you have a favorite summer writers conference or retreat? Let’s hear about it!