Living the Romantic Comedy: Montana Writing Retreat

Come to Rockpoint Ranch and write...

2,000 acres of pasture, cows, river, trees and solitude.

At this unique writing retreat, award-winning UCLA Extension writing instructors Billy Mernit and Barbara Abercrombie will guide you into the story you want to start writing, or help you polish and finish the final draft of the story you've been working on. Wherever you are on your writing journey, come join us this summer in Twin Bridges, Montana at Rockpoint Ranch, June 22nd to June 27th, 2008.

Billy Mernit: Character and Plot for Fiction and Film

Finding one's way through the thicket of a long narrative, be it a screenplay or a novel, is always a series of challenges for even the experienced writer. Whether you're just beginng a first draft or revising a many-drafted project, this workshop -- drawing upon the rich arsenal of storytelling tools that fiction and film provide -- will help you focus on the vital, central aspects of your work. With the aid of exercises, analysis and rewrites, you'll more fully and deeply realize your characters and story development, and you'll get the specific feedback and support you need to push the work toward completion.

Screenwriter and author of Imagine Me and You: A Novel (Random House/ Shaye Areheart Books, April 2008) , Billy is also a story analyst for Universal Studios. His Writing the Romantic Comedy (Harper/Collins) is a screenwriting textbook bestseller. Formerly a songwriter for Carly Simon and Judy Collins, and presently a guest speaker at writing conferences around the country, Billy teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, where he received an Instructor of the Year award in 2001. He also pens the popular blog Living the Romantic Comedy.

Barbara Abercombie: Writing Your Life Into Story -- Memoir and the Personal Essay

If you're a beginner, this workshop will help you recognize the meaning and potential story in your experience, and then give you the guidelines for crafting that experience into a publishable personal essay or the beginning chapter of a memoir. If you already have essays and/or a memoir in progress, this is an opportunity to receive in-depth feedback on your work as well as a chance to make significant progress with your manuscript. We'll go over the nuts and bolts of personal non-fiction: clarity, narrative, scene setting, theme and points of view, plus read excerpts from published personal essay and current memoirs for inspiration. Most important of all -- what you'll get is time and encouragement to focus on your work, every day, all day.

Barbara has taught for seventeen years in the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension, where she won the Instructor of the Year award in 1994. She's the author of twelve books, including novels, books for children, memoir, poetry, and numerous personal essays and articles. Her latest essay appears in the just-published anthology, For Keeps. Her most recent book is a writing guide, Courage & Craft: Writing Your Life Into Story, published by New World Library. She also conducts writing workshops for the Wellness Community and writes Writing Time, a blog offering advice and inspiration to writers.

Cost: $850.00 Includes five four-hour morning workshops from Monday to Friday, one-on-one meetings with instructors, and all lunches and dinners from Sunday night to Friday night. Also fly fishing at the ranch on the Big Hole River if you get a fishing license. Lodging is available in the town of Twin Bridges, ten miles from the ranch. You can fly on Delta Airlines to Butte, MT which is forty miles from Twin Bridges.

A non-refundable deposit of $200 is due on signing up for the retreat (If there's a waiting list and someone can take your place, your deposit will be refunded). The deadline is April 7th and workshops are each limited to ten people. $650 will be due on June 1st, 2008. We urge you to make reservations for lodging as soon as possible because June is fishing season in Montana and rooms will fill up fast.