PublishHER Podcast Episode 98: Travel Writing Retreats with Lisa and Cami

PublishHER Podcast Episode 98: Travel Writing Retreats with Lisa and Cami

by | Jun 21, 2023

Have you ever wondered about travel writing retreats? Lisa Daily and Cami Ostman take authors on travel retreats for writing and are loving the results.

Trying to force creativity can be frustrating and often leads to disappointment. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, consider using travel as a tool for enhancing your writing. Immersing yourself in new cultures, environments, and experiences can open up new perspectives and ideas for your writing. From exploring the streets of a new city to experiencing the natural beauty of a different landscape, travel can offer unique opportunities for observation and reflection, ultimately fueling your creativity and improving your writing skills.

Traveling opens you up to newer possibilities, newer things, newer creativity, newer ways to think about things that you may have never thought about before. – Cami Ostman

Lisa Daily and Cami Ostman's love for travel led them to create Wayfaring Writers, a unique program combining exploration and writing retreats.

About Lisa & Cami:

Lisa Dailey is an avid traveler and writer. In 2015, she traveled around the world with her husband and two teenage sons visiting 14 countries and nearly 100 locations. In her time abroad, she unearthed new ways of looking at her life through her discoveries in remote corners of the world and she continues to enrich her life through travel. Lisa is a voracious reader and writer, and has published more than 20 titles and 200 authors at her company, Sidekick Press, including her own travel memoir, Square Up. A native Montanan, Lisa now makes her home by the ocean in Bellingham, Washington, but returns to her roots every summer for a healthy dose of mountains and Big Sky.

Cami Ostman has traveled to all seven continents and to twenty-four countries. She’s run 25 marathons and zillions of races of other distances, always at the back of the pack. She is the author of Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents and co-editor of Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religion (Seal Press). Cami holds a Bachelor’s of Education in English and Theater from Western Washington University and a Master’s of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University. She has a special interest in helping women live more authentically and freely. She is also a dog lover, a wine connoisseur, a runner, and a blogger. She runs a program for writers called The Narrative Project and has a passion for changing unhelpful narratives so people can be in charge of her own stories. She coaches people into their truest expression of themselves. Cami lives in Seattle, Washington.

In this episode, we covered:

  • Adventure Writing – Why Travel is THE Way Hone Your Craft
  • Travel is the best thing we know to spark an adventurous spirit and inspire creativity
  • Travel WRITING offers opportunities to be inspired by PLACE and CHARACTER like nothing else.
  • The Wayfaring Writer Retreats –  a rare opportunity for a small group of writers to immerse themselves in their craft while experiencing the food, drink, art, and history of foreign places
  • Writers to step out of their comfort zones and into using all their senses.
  • Together Cami and Lisa have visited nearly 50 countries and know first-hand the impact that travel has had on their writing

 

The Wayfaring Writers Experience

Wayfaring Writers takes a group of writers to a particular location and goes on adventures from there. The group includes an agent who consults with writers, and mastermind sessions with Lisa, Cami, and an expert on the craft of writing. The writers are given specific coaching and lessons to help them build their skills in observation and incorporating their experiences into their writing.

Key Takeaways

  • Unlock the creative potential of travel for boosting your writing prowess.
  • Delve into off-the-beaten-track adventures for a truly immersive cultural experience.
  • Grasp essential tips for women to make their travel escapades safer and more enjoyable.
  • Immerse yourself in specialized writing guidance crafted to address your unique needs.
  • Embrace the rewards of moving beyond your comfort zone to elevate your horizons.

Memorable Moments:

00:02:43 – Philosophy of Adventure Writing,
Travel is about challenging assumptions and opening writers up to new experiences, sights, smells, and sounds. It helps writers hone their observational skills and become better at incorporating those experiences into their writing.

00:14:23 – Favorite Wayfaring Writers Experience,
Lisa and Cami share their favorite experiences, including a doctor who was able to finish her book and get published with Cambridge University Press after coming on a Wayfaring Writers trip. The trips are designed to challenge assumptions and open writers up to

00:16:01 – The Importance of Travel in Writing,
The hosts and guests discuss the benefits of traveling for writers. They believe that experiencing different cultures and perspectives can help writers become better contributors to the collective consciousness.

00:17:09 – Eating Tarantulas in Cambodia,
Lisa shares a story about taking her family to a restaurant in Cambodia that served tarantulas. The restaurant was also a non-profit that helped children from the street find a career in the food industry. The group believes in off-the-beaten-path experiences to expand their sense of the world.

00:27:10 – Setting Travel Intentions,
Alexa shares her intention to travel more and write about her experiences. She believes that travel is important for personal growth and to capture unique perspectives in writing. The guests encourage her to join their travel group and explore new destinations.

Build A Book – Mini Workshop!

by | Sep 23, 2022

As a book coach, Heather constantly sees writers make predictable (and 100% avoidable) mistakes. And, sadly, these mistakes often prevent writers from creating publishable manuscripts. They wind up with a novel that lacks depth, clarity, and oomph. They write 300 or 500 pages—and waste years of their lives—creating a manuscript that goes nowhere.

In Heather's experience, writers have one or more of these core issues in their manuscripts:
  • They’re not clear on the point they are trying to make with their novel.
  • They forget to create a character arc for their protagonist (and tie it to the plot).
  •  They lack a clear cause-and-effect trajectory in their novel.
  • Their characters don’t make meaning of the situations that arise throughout the novel.
These problems generally result in 1) negative feedback from beta readers/editors/publishing houses, and 2) a subsequent fortune spent on developmental editing. All the while, many writers still don’t understand what they did wrong or how to fix the problem before it wrecks their next novel.This often prevents great stories from ever finding their way into the world.  Heather's signature Build-A-Book Method breaks writing/editing down into simple, actionable steps that will ensure writers build a solid foundation for their novels.Why? So writers will confidently finish their work and readers will remember, rave about, and recommend their novels.
The Mini Build-A-Book Workshop includes the following 5 topics (with workbooks): 
  • How to find the point of your novel.
  •  How to work backwards from story idea to protagonist character arc.
  • How to master the simple elements of an engaging character arc.
  • How to create a flexible blueprint for your novel that ensures a cause-and-effect trajectory in your plot.
  • How to understand and master the age-old “show don’t tell” story writing advice. (Hint: it’s not what you think!)

Register Today: https://writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/mini-build-a-book-workshop/

Writing Compelling Nonfiction with Jackie Haley

Writing Compelling Nonfiction with Jackie Haley

by | Jun 8, 2022

There's a world of readers out there that need your nonfiction book.

You may think of nonfiction as being dry or boring, but creative storytelling isn't just for fiction writers.

 What do popular nonfiction authors like Brené Brown, Michael Lewis and Malcom Gladwell have in common? They use storytelling to engage their readers and effective communicate their message. 
In this workshop, you'll hear about the best strategies to write your nonfiction book that will hook your target audience from start to finish. You'll learn:
  • Strategies to hook the reader from the first line.
  • How to effectively write your message compelling enough for your target audience.
  • The best strategies to polish your manuscript and have it ready for publishing.

Register today: https://writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/writing-compelling-nonfiction/

 

Jackie Haley is a nationally recognized, award-winning author, speaker and entrepreneur. She's appeared on CBS, NBC, among many other major media outlets and traveled the country representing her books. Her first novel, Crystal Beach received many powerful endorsements following it's release in 2012, including one from the Des Moines Register, but Jackie didn’t stop there. In 2017, Jackie published her sequel, Truce Island and continued to speak and hold book signing events across the country. ​ Shortly after, was approached by David Schmitz to write his family's truly inspiring story about his late wife that left a gift for him which he received two years after she passed from ovarian cancer. Brenda's Wish was released in 2020 with several excellent endorsements including two national foundations and many incredible reviews. Jackie has a passion for writing, for making a difference and for helping others with similar passions. ​ Jackie launched a new entity Dream to Author to help aspiring writers become published, providing assistance through online training and coaching services. Besides speaking engagements and her writing career, she has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and began her own consulting business in 2012 doing strategic planning projects and more for nonprofit organizations.

Elements of a Scene with Ines Johnson

Elements of a Scene with Ines Johnson

by | Oct 26, 2021

Vital Scene Elements that Every Story Needs

Just like every movie needs a scene, books need a scene with a few other key ingredients too!

Strengthen Your Story by Learning How to String Together Scenes

Every good story needs a few key ingredients: characters, actions, and descriptions. When writing a book it’s important to take into account individual scenes and how they add up to build plots and storylines. Ines Johnson, an author, screenwriter, and teacher for story development and media history is going to show us how to seamlessly string together stories using her GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) method. Ines has authored over 38 books, and she’s here to tell us some of her secret ingredients!
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 1PM EST