Sharpen your style!
Say goodbye to bland, boring, colorless prose! Join Helen Sword, internationally esteemed author of Stylish Academic Writing, for 3 action-packed days of advanced writing and editing workshops, personal coaching, dedicated writing time, and hands-on feedback. Transform your writing by mastering the art of meticulous wordcraft and irresistible style.
The Stylish Writing Intensive runs three times per year, in March, July, and October.
Next 3-day Intensive: July 22, 24, and 26, 2024
SPECIAL OFFER: Polish up your prose in the Stylish Writing Intensive, then get creative with your writing strategies! When you register for the SWI, we’ll automatically enroll you in Helen’s Creativity Catalyst which runs from Aug 31 - Oct 11 (a $550 value).
What is the Stylish Writing Intensive?
The Stylish Writing Intensive is a 3-day online retreat for academic and professional writers who want to take their writing from stodgy to stylish — or from adequate to amazing — over the course of a single long weekend. If you aspire to expand your stylistic repertoire, increase your research impact, and write with renewed pleasure and panache, this course is for you!
How it works
The Stylish Writing Intensive runs over three consecutive days in March and October (Th/Fr/Sa or Fr/Sa/Su depending on your time zone) and over three non-consecutive weekdays in July (Mo/We/Fr) for participants anywhere in the world. We recommend that you reserve the hours between 8 am and 8 pm on all three retreat days to get optimal benefit from this immersive experience.
What you’ll learn
Whether you plan to fine-tune a work-in-progress, revisit a stalled manuscript, or kickstart a new project, the Stylish Writing Intensive will help you get there in style. Each day you’ll attend a carefully sequenced series of advanced writing and editing workshops, engage in several hours of focused writing time, and work with Helen in an intimate 2-hour masterclass to transform your abstract ideas into engaging, accessible, beautifully crafted prose.
Why you’ll love it
Enrollment numbers for this exclusive event are limited to just 4 people per local cohort, ensuring personal attention for every participant. A local facilitator will check in with you regularly, even when your colleagues elsewhere in the world are asleep. Best of all, you’ll meet with Helen every day for two hours of live craft-focused coaching designed to build your confidence and hone your writing style.
Meet your facilitator
Greetings, fellow writer! I’m Helen Sword, a scholar, poet, professor, and the author of four research-based books on writing and writers, including Stylish Academic Writing.
I’ve helped thousands of writers find their voice, tell their story, and strut their style — and I’d love to help you, too! Whether you’re a PhD student, a faculty member, or a writer in any other discipline or genre, I’d be delighted to work with you to tailor this course to your needs and aspirations.
Please contact me to book a free Zoom consultation if you’d like to discuss whether the Stylish Writing Intensive is right for you.
The Stylish Writing Intensive curriculum
Schedule
Your daily timetable will include a carefully choreographed mix of advanced writing and editing workshops (1-2 hours), structured writing time (2-3 hours), curated breaks (1.5 hours) and 2 hours of intensive coaching (8 hours per day, 24 hours in total).
Coaching
At the heart of the retreat are the 6 hours of masterclass-style coaching that you’ll undertake with Helen as part of a small local cohort. Each day you’ll have the opportunity to try out new techniques, ask questions, and seek advice from Helen on matters of both style and substance.
Workshops
Across the three days of the retreat, you’ll attend hands-on workshops on topics including Smart Sentencing, Structural Designs, Tempting Titles, Engaging Openings, The Story Net, and Finding Your Voice. You'll get lifetime access to all course materials, so you can catch up on anything you miss.
Writing
You can focus on a specific writing project or on multiple pieces of writing. This is your retreat, and Helen will consult with you closely to ensure that it meets your personal and professional goals.
Breaks
No need to stay glued to your screen all day! Between sessions, we’ll prompt you to take effective, replenishing breaks designed to nourish your productivity.
Contacts
Meet the WriteSPACE team and find our contact information.
Meet some past participants
You can enroll in the Stylish Writing Intensive from anywhere in the world — but don’t worry, “global” doesn’t mean “vast and anonymous”! Here’s what previous participants have had to say:
Karim Khan (Professor of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia)
A BETTER TOOLKIT
“The in-person work where Helen looked at my writing and addressed my common style issues meant I left the weekend with a better writing tool-kit and greater confidence.”
Nicole Rust (Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, USA)
confidence boost
“I'm feeling so much more confident now about writing [my] book. My primary goal was to find my 'book voice', and I found it. I can now diagnose my funny academic writing habits and I have a better sense of how to fix them. I also have a much better handle on story, structure, openings and metaphor. Helen's course was amazing!”
Jasmine Wang (PhD candidate in Education, University of Auckland, NZ)
adventurous yet exhilarating
“I received enormous support from my peers and especially from Helen, my mentor. Therefore, I might describe this journey as adventurous yet exhilarating. I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and stretched my boundaries.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Don't see your question answered here? Contact us for more information.
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The Stylish Writing Intensive has been designed primarily with academic and professional writers in mind: for example students, faculty, research fellows, lawyers, business writers, and government employees. However, the course materials can be adapted to suit virtually any kind of writing. All writers are welcome!
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The course runs for 8 hours per day over 3 days (24 hours in total). We will also ask you to do some preparatory exercises in the week before the retreat begins (1-2 hours)
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We’ll prepare a personalizedschedule for you based on your time zone and the locations of the other participants in your cohort. For now, please block out the hours between 8 am and 8 pm each day. You’ll receive your individual timetable a week or two before the retreat begins.
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You’ll have lifetime access to all of the online workshops, so you can catch up on any that you miss during the retreat. However, the times of the live coaching sessions with Helen are fixed and cannot be made up if you do not attend.
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Retreat Alumni and WriteSPACE Studio annual members qualify for a 10% discount.
SWI alumni can enroll on a last-minute basis at a steeply reduced price (60% off) in any cohort that has extra space available.
We occasionally reduce the tuition fee due to personal circumstances.
For more information or to enquire about any of these discounts, please contact us.
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Yes! Every participant will get 2 hours of daily coaching with Helen as part of a small masterclass group limited to no more than 4 people.
Get stylish!
Enrollment is limited to just 4 people per cohort, so book early to reserve your place.
Cost: USD $2400
Transform your writing!
Next 3-day Intensive: July 22, 24, 26, 2024
SPECIAL OFFER: Polish up your prose in the Stylish Writing Intensive, then get creative with your writing strategies! When you register for the SWI, we’ll automatically enroll you in Helen’s Creativity Catalyst which runs from Aug 31 - Oct 11 (a $550 value).
Session dates
Cohort A (North/South America): July 22, 24, 26, 2024
Cohort B (Europe/Africa/Middle East): July 22, 24, 26, 2024
Cohort C (East Asia, Australasia): July 22, 24, 26, 2024
Please select one of the following based on your July location.
WS Studio annual members qualify for 10% discount. Please visit your WS Studio Lounge for the discount code to insert on checkout.
Price is in US dollars, payable by credit card. Contact us if you would prefer to be invoiced. See also Terms & Conditions.
By enrolling in this retreat, you agree to be added to Helen Sword's automated email distribution list.