October events with Women Who Write Edinburgh
Write your own murder mystery, totes, autumnal writing challenges, early morning writing, and more!
Dear writer,
Welcome to Women Who Write Edinburgh! We have a bumper edition of our newsletter this month, so let’s get straight into it.
BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS!
We have totes!
We had so much fun doing these flat lays, you can see one from Dominique, Lauren, Abbie, and a womenwhowrite member!
We are so proud of our tote bags. They’re chic, minimal and match any writer’s outfit! (They also fit a lot of books, just saying.) You can grab a tote at one of our events, so do come along! We’re asking for a donation of £5 for a tote, which will be used to run and facilitate our events and ensure we can continue to provide free places at our paid retreats and more.
What events have we got coming up in October?
As usual, we are busy, busy, busy!
5th - Writers’ Trip
We’re heading to Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott – for our October literary-themed trip. We’ll be having lunch at Ochiltree's café and possibly going to the Witch’s Corner! There will also be time to write, of course.
7th - Critique Session
If you’re keen to have a fresh perspective on your writing, this is your opportunity. Our critique session is a friendly, safe way to get valuable and constructive feedback. Most people submit a piece of writing up to 2,000 words, but you’re welcome to come along just to read and listen in on how a critique session runs.
13th - Women Who Write at Flare the Fair
The Fair is a community wellness market focusing on product and 1:1 service stalls, mini workshops, talks, and sauna and cold water therapy. We’ll have a wee stall talking and sharing about who we are and what we do.
14th - Monday Evening Writing Session [waitlist only]
We meet every other Monday evening in our gorgeous library. This is an evening to focus on your writing and get to know your fellow writers. We provide creative writing prompts for those creatively challenged; however, feel free to bring your own work!
All tickets are currently sold out. However, you can add yourself to the waitlist. When we get a cancellation, we release tickets in the order writers signed up. You’ll have an hour to claim the ticket, so keep an eye on your email in the days and hours before the event!
18th - Rise and Write
We have our monthly early morning session where we meet from 7 am until around 9 am (you can stay longer!). This month, we’ll be meeting at 7 am at Cairngorm Coffee. Keep an eye out here and on our Instagram and WhatsApp for a ticket drop!
If you have suggestions for independent cafes opening from 6 am that will welcome between four and ten writers, then please get in touch at womenwhowriteedinburgh@gmail.com.
23rd - Late Night Write
Some writers are night owls and work best writing late, long after the sun has set, so we’re hosting a monthly late-night write. We’ll be sharing the venue closer to the time. Keep an eye on our Instagram and WhatsApp for the ticket drop!
27th - Murder, She Crowed [NEW EVENT]
Do you love autumn, Halloween, being creatively inspired, murder, or afternoon tea? Then join us for our inaugural Murder, She Crowed event. We’ll be getting autumnally creative by writing our own murder mystery, then coming together over afternoon tea. We’ll be sharing more details on what this event will entail soon but if you’re keen put the date in your diary.
28th - Monday Evening Writing Session [waitlist only]
As above!
For most of our events, we put tickets on our Eventbrite page. We try to get tickets up as early as we can, but bear with us; we’re all volunteers and arrange everything in our spare time. If you’d like more information or have questions, then you can get in touch at womenwhowriteedinburgh@gmail.com
Looking beyond October
We are so excited to announce our 🍂Write into Winter Challenge ❄️! This is your opportunity to come together and hit your writing goals before the year is out. Read on for more details and how to sign up.
🍂 Write into Winter ❄️Challenge
We know this time of year is a popular time to put pen to paper. The weather’s dreich enough that you want to curl up in coffee shops, and the new year approaches with its promise of fulfilled goals and new ones to be made. It’s also, of course, a time of year when many global writing challenges run.
But those challenges aren’t for everyone – whether the goal is too rigid or the events are not local enough, it can be hard to keep motivated! So, we thought we’d run a challenge in our own community with the writers you already write alongside to cheer you along. This is a chance for you to hit your 2024 writing goals, establish a new writing practice, or just meet new writer friends!
Here’s the plan:
When:
The challenge starts on November 1st and ends on December 21st – 50 full days leading us into the longest night of the year and the start of winter. We’ll be meeting on November 1st to work on deciding what our goals are and what support we might need to get there.
On goals:
You set your own goal. It could be spending five minutes every day working on your Substack, editing a chapter a week of that project you said you’d finish this year, or writing a whole novel. You decide.
Check-ins and support:
On Friday, 1st November, we’ll hold an in-person kick-off event with goal-setting, discussions about what kind of accountability works best for you, and a chat about your projects. (Also, wine.) We’ll provide more details on this in the next few weeks.
There'll be a By The Beach Writing Retreat on 3rd November if you want to kick off your challenge with a bang! We will expand capacity this month with up to 24 spots. Again, we’ll share when the tickets are available in the next few weeks.
We’ll do virtual check-ins once a week, plus run a tracker sheet you can update daily, so you can see your progress and cheer along others, too. We will also aim to arrange casual evening and weekend coffee shop meets to write, in addition to our usual events.
Cost:
As little or as much as you want. There may be a charge for the kick-off event, and our retreats start at £10. Free spots are available to those who need them.
November 3rd - By the Beach Writing Retreat
Join Women Who Write Edinburgh for a day of guided writing alongside your fellow women and NB writers! We sprint throughout the day, socialise in the breaks, and take an afternoon walk on the beach to recharge our brains. Tickets for half-day spots start at £10, and a full day at £20. We always make free spots available for those who need them. Keep an eye out here and on our Instagram and WhatsApp for the ticket drop!
Looking back at September
Oh wow, look at us WRITE! Below is a gallery of photos from our September events, including our writing retreat, library writing evening, late-night write, and early morning writing session.
Keep the words flowing, writers, but be kind to yourself if they don’t,
Dominique, Abbie, Kadie, Lauren
Our mission is to give women and NB writers the time, space and support they need to write.
We interpret the word 'writer' broadly. You might write fiction or non-fiction, novels or short stories, scripts or poems, blogs or newsletters, theses, love letters, journal entries or restaurant reviews. It doesn't matter. If you write, you're welcome to join us.
We host free and paid events, including biweekly writing sprints, day retreats by the beach, early morning writing sessions with coffee and late-night writing with cocktails, critique sessions and literary-themed trips in and around Scotland.
We also recognise that other writers face significant hurdles to writing in community, including older persons, persons with disabilities, parents and guardians, those from ethnic minorities and those who identify as LGBTI+. Inclusion lies at the heart of what we do: our goal is to create safe and accessible events for writers. We are committed to fostering our diverse membership, and we welcome all feedback to ensure we meet the needs of anyone looking to be a part of our community. Please email us at womenwhowriteedinburgh@gmail.com if you have any comments or concerns.
So excited!