Update (3/31): All spots have been spoken for! If you’d like to put your name on the waiting list in case of any cancellations, write to me here.
Off the Page
A 3-day adventure for writers ready to slow down, feel joy, and find inspiration in surprising places
August 2-6, 2023
Belfast, Maine (the mid-coast)
with guides Maya Stein and Meg Max
Registration opens March 1, 2023!
Creative invitations. Conversation. Field trips. Quiet moments. Collaboration. Celebration. Pleasure. Joy. Reflection. Investigation. Community.
This unique getaway is designed to surprise you with outside-the-box approaches to writing, and tools that will support your creativity on and off the page. We’ll gather in the picturesque town of Belfast, Maine and explore the surrounding mid-coast Maine area throughout our time. Our adventure begins with a welcome dinner on Wednesday, August 2. We will spend the next 3 days in joyful discovery, closing our time together with a goodbye brunch on Sunday, August 6.
With an eye to cultivating community and conversation, we’ll guide writers through a variety of experiences and exercises created to help find delight in the unusual and the everyday. We’ll be experimenting with how to use exploration outside of the writing space as a tool to get into the writing space. This retreat is not a how-to in the sense that we will not be leading workshops on specific aspects of writing (i.e. how to write a persuasive essay, how to edit your work, how to sell your novel), but rather an experiential immersion that will connect and deepen creative work. One day we might melting crayons as we investigate the intersection of control and chaos, or gathering "suspicious-looking” pebbles on the beach as a way of looking at how to transform uncertainty into curiosity. “Off the Page” is an invitation to invigorate our work through inquiry, improvisation, and joyful investigation.
Exploration outside the writing space to get into the writing space
In our time together, we’ll explore things like:
• trusting ourselves to find joy and wonder for and through our writing
• giving ourselves the permission we need to create what feels good in a way that feels good when it feels good
• developing practices and troubleshooting in response to feeling stuck
• learning how to how to ask for the feedback we need on our work, and what to do when we aren’t getting the feedback you’re looking for
• finishing projects (and what to do with them when they’re done)
OFF THE PAGE is especially for:
• writers interested in what can happen ON the page by exploring what happens off the page.
• creatives interested in “changing it up” by experimenting with new ideas and experiences as a pathway into their work
• writers who want to bring new energy and find new and more sustainable approaches to a current project
• writers who are interested in sharing their writing, and learning from others
• anyone interested in finding ways to integrate their creative work more effectively so it isn’t on the “outside” but rather a part of everything they do.
OFF THE PAGE probably won’t be the right fit for:
• writers who ONLY want quiet time to sit and work on a project/manuscript. We will be adventuring, conversing and creating together
• creatives who want to workshop their work. Though there will be time to share, and maybe even a chance to give and get feedback on our writing, this won’t be at the heart of what we will spend our time doing.
• retreatants who prefer a rigid, scheduled structure. While we will have a general shape around the day, all great adventures require some improvisation!
What’s included?
• Dinner during our welcome gathering (August 2)
• Three days of guided experiences. Includes field trips, creative exercises, guided conversations, writing circles and sharing, and surprises! (August 3-5)
• Space at Waterfall Arts (our adventure headquarters and community creativity hub) to gather, write, and experiment
• Lunch for 3 days (August 3-5)
• Send-off brunch (August 6)
• Coffee, tea, and snacks
What’s not included?
• Travel to and from Maine
• Accommodations (list available on request)
• 3 breakfasts & 3 dinners (August 3, 4, 5)
Your guides
We are Maya Stein and Meg Max. Our approach is playful, spontaneous, and inquisitive. We see ourselves as creative companions who believe in uncovering ways to bring joy, experimentation, and sustainable engagement to creative work. We’re always willing to try things, and have them NOT work. We are so excited to create an experience that will meet the curiosity, questions and adventurous spirits of those who join us.
About Meg
Meg Max’s writing has been published throughout the US and Canada. She is the founder of Writers in Bloom, a community centring the needs of neurodivergent, mentally ill and chronically ill writers. She’s spent her whole life as an entrepreneur in both the healthcare and creative fields and believes stories are important—they create connection, and allow us to have compassion for ourselves and the people around us. Meg collects rocks, seashells, birds nests, feathers and stories.
About Maya
Maya Stein is a Ninja poet, writing guide, and creative adventuress. She has kept a weekly short-form poetry practice, “10-line Tuesday” since 2005, and facilitates writing workshops in person and online. After a 7-year stint in suburban New Jersey, she is now happily ensconced in the wilds of mid-coast Maine, in a house named Toad Hall. If you really knew her, you’d know she is still smarting over having missed the word “ecru” during her 6th grade spelling bee, but that she is equally proud of having won the prize, two years earlier, for finding the most words that rhymed with “bat.”
Registration details
Spots are limited to 10 participants to ensure everyone receives the time and energy they deserve.
Low Tide Rate (early bird): $875.00
A deposit of $275 is required to hold your spot.
Registration opens March 1, 2023.
Ready to register?
Please note that as of 3/31, this retreat is full. If you’d like to be added to the waiting list, please email me here.