Most writers have been taught to sit still at the desk, hands on the keyboard, stare at the screen until the words behave.
At our retreats, we do it differently.
We still write on the page, of course, but we also get the story out of your head and into the room.
You draw it, you move with it, you speak it out loud.
You let the book live in colour, sound and gesture, not just in silent sentences.
Here is why that works so well.
You see the book instead of just thinking about it
When you sketch a scene, storyboard a chapter or map your structure on big paper, you stop wrestling with foggy ideas.
You can literally see the shape of the book.
Characters, gaps and patterns stand out in a way they rarely do on a laptop screen.
Writers notice missing beats, flat sections or repeated themes within minutes, simply because the story is visible.
Your body remembers things your brain has parked
Standing up to tell a key scene as spoken word, or moving through the emotional beats of a chapter, often brings back details the logical mind has filed away.
A gesture can trigger a memory.
A change in posture can reveal where the real turning point sits.
Once those hidden pieces surface, they can go straight back into the manuscript with much more depth.
You get instant feedback without needing a full critique
In an interactive session, you share your book idea in a quick, creative way.
Other writers watch, listen and respond in real time.
They reflect back what is clear, what is intriguing and what they still do not understand.
You do not have to hand over a full draft to know whether the core concept is landing.
You get fast, focused data you can use the same day.
The shy part of you relaxes when the focus is on play
Traditional workshops can feel like school.
Chairs in rows, red pens, long readings.
Interactive sessions shift the focus to simple, playful experiments.
Draw your cover idea.
Act out the first meeting between two characters.
Use coloured cards on the floor to mark out the past, present and future of your story.
Because the exercises are short and playful, people usually forget to be self conscious and start to explore.
The book becomes bigger than your laptop
When a story only exists in a file, it can feel unreal and distant.
Once you have stood up and told the room what your book is about, it has a presence.
Other people have heard it, seen it, asked questions about it.
You walk away with a clearer sense that this project is real and worth finishing.
Across a four day retreat, there is still plenty of quiet writing time.
The difference is that every writing block is surrounded by short sessions that wake up your imagination first.
Why this is central to our retreats
Publishing KAR DON retreats are built around that simple idea: your book will move faster if you can see it, feel it and express it in more than one way.
Movement, drawing and spoken word are not extras or entertainment.
They are practical tools for clarity.
So when you come to a retreat, you will still leave with pages written and a plan for your book.
You will also have stood inside your story, tried it out in different forms and watched it land with real people.
That combination often does more in a few days than months of sitting alone staring at the screen.
