Write: Doe Bay – Writer’s Workshop on Orcas

Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island is known for its rustic charm, world class farm-to-table café and its annual music festival. For the past two years, something else has grown on the resort’s pristine 38-acres: a boutique writing workshop drawing first-class talent to aspiring and seasoned writers. And, like the annual music festival, tickets always sell out.

Event creators Jesse Michener and Jennifer Furber met at Doe Bay Fest in 2012 and put their talents to work crafting a workshop that’s as heavy on inspiration as it is on technique. Michener is a nationally-published photographer and Furber writes a popular blog chronicling her life on San Juan Island with her family.

Write participant Alicia Lawver of Tacoma, WA, offered this about her experience in 2013, “Sometimes the best destinations are the ones we never intended to find. We set life plans and goals, try to plot out story lines and characters, and desperately schedule creatively. But, magic cannot be dictated. Write: Doe Bay empowered me to question my storytelling status quo, gave me a space for taking creative risks, and defied all my good intentions.”

Through shared meals and housing, Michener and Furber’s vision for a new kind of writer’s workshop stresses finding community and support through close connections with the teaching artists and fellow participants. The workshop size is limited to fewer than 30 participants and the diverse schedule keeps writers emotionally and intellectually charged the entire weekend.

New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy, author Matt Logelin recounts his experience at Write:

“I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at Write: Doe Bay. I have written, and I continue to write, but I don’t like to think of myself as a writer. I’d never before attended any sort of writer’s retreat/workshop, and I’d long ago decided they weren’t for me. The prospect of attending and presenting at a workshop geared toward writers was something that sounded as appealing to me as soaking in rubbing alcohol after having been administered thousands of paper cuts. I’ve never been so wrong about something in all of my life.

What I found at Write: Doe Bay was a bunch of storytellers, all of them as genuinely humble and wonderful as anyone I’ve ever come across. Few of us had anything other than our storytelling in common, but that weekend created a bond for many of us that will last forever. And you know what? I saw lives changed that weekend. And at least one life saved. (Maybe more.) I know I’m forever changed by that weekend.”

This fall, Write brings two New York Times bestselling authors Claire Bidwell Smith (The Rules of Inheritance) and Jillian Lauren (Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, Pretty), along with popular Homemade Living writer Ashley English. Seattle’s own singer-songwriter Erin Austin of the band OK Sweetheart completes the artistic team.

Also this fall, Write will partner with The Orcas Film Festival (orcasislandfilmfest.com) for a special workshop with independent screenwriters and directors from this year’s festival line up.

Write: Doe Bay (Fall Workshop) takes place on October 9 – 12, 2014 at Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island, WA. A few tickets remain. For more information about the workshop, visit http://writedoebay.com.

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.