CWCC's 3rd Annual Spring Retreat!

## Details

Contests! Workshops! Prizes! Hiking! S'Mores! Campfire cooking! Wildlife! Cold drinks! Hot drinks! The dark, open sky! Your erudite, articulate, and helpful writing colleagues!!!!!

Wordsmith, what more could you ask for in the CWCC's 3rd Annual Spring Retreat?!?

This year's spring retreat will be an exciting first: a full-on camping adventure, on a very rustic, beautiful parcel of land owned by Chris R, just off of I-64 near the WV border. Plan on a nearly 2-hr trip from Cville, and plan to bring your tent, sleeping bag, warm clothes, and coolers with drinks & food. We'll coordinate the details in the weeks leading to the event, but this much is certain: if you come, be prepared to have spotty cell reception at best, and stay put overnight until Sunday morning/afternoon. Access can be difficult and cannot be undertaken after dark, absent emergencies. We will have large canopy tents for rain contingencies. As always, friends, kids, and significant others are welcome.

To be eligible to attend the retreat, by June 15th you must have attended a minimum of four (4) CWCC events: Classic Critique, Poetry Section, Longform Group, Wordsmiths, Flash Fiction Critique, Business of Writing.

**If you're unsure about the camping part, please chat with Chris. We'll try to accommodate special circumstances and needs. There will be a couple of bathrooms and some non-tent sleeping accommodations.**

RSVPing early will help us plan the event.

We have an exciting time lined up for folks, including a storywriting contest AND a mininar series. As such, all member attendees are asked to prepare two things for the retreat: 1) a short story for the contest; and 2) an 8-10-minute mininar.

The Writing Contest

For the contest write a 200-250 word story that takes place at a writing retreat. The story can be of any genre, and the retreat need not be in the wooded wilds of the Appalachians.

-1.5 spacing
-Garamond or Calibri font, a title
-NO IDENTIFYING INFO/NAME.

We'll mix up the stories and read them anonymously. Prizes for the best story, the person who reads the best story, and the person who can match the most authors to stories.

Email your story to James by the end of Wednesday, June 12th to have it included in the contest.

The Mininars
Member attendees should also come prepared to present an 8-10 minute mininar on any writing-related topic of their choice, in prose OR poetry. Examples: best use of commas, creating a believable villain, how to self-publish, tips & tricks for outlandish open-mic poetry presentations, how to sell your book on Amazon, words you should only use once per manuscript... etc, etc. Ideally, presenters will bring a 1-page handout for all attendees. Come ready to teach us something!

Attendees will receive directions to Chris's forest retreat via direct message, as we draw closer to the event.

Things to consider bringing:
-food/drinks/cooler
-hiking boots + camp shoes
-raingear
-plastic grocery bags for your trash
-mountain bike
-warm hat and layers
-ground tarp for tent
-binoculars
-folding chair(s)

Hope to see you there!