LCP Writing Retreat at Hazlewood Castle

The Leeds Centre for Projects annual writing retreat took place at Hazlewood Castle in Tadcaster this year. Writing retreats provide time to write in dedicated writing sessions as well as a framework for working on individual writing projects. During a writing retreat, individuals become very productive, as they focus solely on writing, the content comes sharp and focused and they are inspired by the surroundings and kindred spirits.

Over two days, the LCP team had eight dedicated writing sessions which were balanced with scheduled breaks for socialising, walking or exercising in nature. The calm environment with no interruptions through emails or calls contributed to great progress in writing papers, revising papers and drafting grant applications. It furthermore provided the space for deep thinking, generating new ideas and discussing approaches to research and scholarship.

Dr Mohammed Abdelmegid commented: "Being surrounded by nature isolated from regular distractions finally allowed me to revisit and advance writing projects that had been suspended, providing the ideal environment for focused progression"

Dr Rodrigo Juarez commented: "Having the opportunity to dedicate solely on writing has been fantastic. The writing retreat provided us with a space to focus on our different writing projects and set goals to achieve them at the end of each day. It is also a great team-building activity that everyone at the LCP thoroughly enjoyed."

The surroundings in which we do our work can make a huge difference to our thinking and creativity. This annual writing retreat contributes to our research culture and emphasises the importance of writing for our academic work.