Writers' HQ joined Freedom Works in 2017 and began using the Worthing Event space for their writers retreats before growing to feature in Hove as well. They are the people you see around the space on a Saturday or a Sunday (if you are in!) and who some of you know from attending their retreats! Sarah from Writers' HQ did what she does best and answered our questions with a florish, here's what she had to say:
About Writer's HQ:
We have been running the business for six years, we put on retreats and online courses for serious writers with no time or money. Our demographic isn't really quantifiable because lots of people want to write, but we do see a huge number of working mothers who either feel like they need permission to explore something that's for them and not their family, or need someone where to escape from the constant demands of their family. Our unique selling point is that we swear more than every other writing school in the world. We have no time for literary snobbery or elitism and we don't have time to waft around talking about inspiration. We advocate chasing the muse, rubgy tackling her to the floor and demanding your creative dues. While we recognise the vagaries and peccadilloes of the creative process, we are also very goal-oriented. If you want to write your novel, you have to sit down and write your novel. The only real piece of writing advice anyone needs is in our strapline: stop fucking about and start writing.
Writers' HQ is run by Sarah and Jo, two micro-sized writers from the South Coast who couldn't find what they needed from other, more conventional writing courses and retreats. Jo is the John McClane in the air vents to Sarah's Sgt Al Powell yelling instructions down the radio. Our core team also includes Natalie, queen of social media and community, and Lexi, boss of all retreats everywhere. We also have a number of reps who run our retreats across the country and they are all excellent humans who we love a lot.
We currently run 12 retreats across the UK every month and we're launching one or two new ones every month this year. In 5 years we hope to have a solid overseas operation, and for our online community to be in the tens of thousands.
About Using Freedom Works:
We use Freedom Works to run our monthly retreats in Brighton and Worthing, and we're looking at launching in Chichester and Gatwick too. The spaces are perfect for what we do, and allow us to run our events at the right price in the right locations. We were suprised as we've had ongoing issues with finding the right venue in Hove and Worthing so it was great to find you guys!
About Sarah:
What inspires you?