Announcing the next
Five Days of Focus
A five-day immersive writing experience — from the comfort of your own home.
Upcoming Sessions
• January 27 to January 31
• March 10 to March 14
• May 5 to May 9
Jump to registration. ⇣
Five Days of Focus is exactly what it sounds like: five full days of supported, focused writing —
with the bonus of writing from the comforts of home.
It’s a virtual writing retreat or intensive, writing alongside other writers as you move your book or script toward done.
Here’s what you’ll love about Five Days of Focus:
You’ll focus deeply on your main writing project for five full days.
As writers, there’s usually one main book or script holding our attention, and it’s often the hardest one to get to.
Resistance, perfectionism, performance issues, fear, and self-doubt get in the way. These make us struggle with giving the work the dedicated time and space it needs to come to fruition.
Sometimes we have to make the time and space.
With Five Days of Focus, you’ll dedicate yourself to a significant burst of progress with the support of other writers and a coach. You’ll strengthen your commitment to writing and give yourself permission to pursue your calling as a writer.
You’ll write with writers who want what you want: Progress.
For five days, you’ll immerse yourself in your current work-in-progress with the company and the support of other writers.
We’ll meet twice each day in video meetings (it’s okay to keep your camera off!) for short inspiration sessions, and we’ll be able to check in with each other throughout the day in our dedicated private online chat if desired (it’s also perfectly okay to stay focused on writing).
At the start of each day in our first video meeting, we’ll share our writing plans, then dive into the solo writing we’re each doing.
At the end of the day, we’ll share our progress and our plans for the next day, celebrating (or commiserating, as needed!) along the way.
The structure and support to show up for the whole day are key.
You’ll clear the decks and plan your writing before we begin.
Five Days of Focus is designed to help you make time and space to write without distractions.
Before our five days begin, I’ll send you a Clear the Decks preparation checklist to help clear distractions and obstacles so you can make the most of your writing time. You’ll also plan ahead for food and beverages to help yourself stay focused on writing.
I’ll also send you a Writing Plan worksheet so you can get clear about exactly what you’ll work on and be able to get right to work.
These tools will help you make sure you have a clear goal and writing plan, beverages, meals, and snacks at the ready, and a week free from distractions so you can focus, focus, focus.
You’ll follow your own innate flow each day.
During our day’s writing time between our video meetings, you’ll decide when to take breaks and how long to write, so you can follow YOUR own flow and writing pattern.
Sometimes writing to a strict schedule of a certain length of time can be a blessing. Sometimes it can feel like it interrupts our individual writing flow.
This open day structure will allow for some of both — a container of time to write in, bookended with a connection with other writers — but without rules or anyone infringing on your flow.
You’ll plan for what comes after our five days together.
Writers can struggle at the end of a writing retreat to continue writing once you’re home or back into “regular life” when the structure is lacking.
As we wrap up our five days together, we’ll put our focus on next steps so we know exactly what we’ll be working on the next time we sit down at our desks to work.
We’ll also celebrate our progress made during the week together.
You may also want to consider joining my online writer’s community to help yourself keep moving forward.
“When I participated in the April Five Days of Focus session, my goal was to complete edits on the very rough first chapter of my first novel. I knew I needed Jenna and a community of supportive writers to hold me accountable to my commitment.
“I also knew I needed a set period of time with daily check-ins. With a little preplanning, I set my space and calendar to replicate a much more expensive in-person writer’s retreat. The results were amazing!
“I completed the edits on the first chapter in those five days. When I shared the edited chapter with my critique group they were thrilled. Not only did I have a completed first chapter, but I left the session with a stronger self-confidence. I can write this book!”
— Mary M.
“During the April five-day session, I reverse-outlined one full script and completed a reverse outline for more than half of a second script, in order to submit them to my mentor for feedback (I finished the second on the Monday after the session).
“It was hugely productive, because I could focus so deeply on the work, and it was all the more fun because I had such a supportive group of writers to connect with each day. It’s hard to quantify how motivating it was to start and end each day chatting with my fellow writers, bookending my writing work with connection and celebration. I was also impressed by how well it worked for so many different types of projects for different writers — we had non-fiction writers, novelists, screenwriters, and a zine creator all working side by side. Very fun! I can’t wait for the next one.” — Jenna
Writers who will love Five Days of Focus
- Writers who want to make a sustained burst of progress on a long-form writing project, like a book or script.
- Writers who want help to cut out distractions and make writing happen.
- Writers who want to make time for “dreaded” writing-related marketing tasks — like querying or working on their websites.
- Writers who want camaraderie and connection with other writers.
- Writers who love having dedicated and supported time for days of focused writing.
- Writers with a collection of short-form projects they want to complete, such as batch writing blog posts or newsletters.
“For me, the April Five Days of Focus session created a huge amount of momentum — knowing that I had a spacious timeframe to work within and that I was doing it with others who were also making the same commitment of time, attention, and energy — it was completely mind-blowing in the amount of focus it provided.
“There’s something about the spaciousness of the longer period of time, over five days, the sustained attention, while being with other people — there’s something about that container that enhanced my creativity, my determination, and my desire to make progress.
“This isn’t an ‘I’m going to spend a week wool-gathering’ experience. This is ‘I’m going to spend a week getting sh*t done on something that matters to me.’ That sentiment, that distinction, is really important.”
— Kris C.
“The Five Days of Focus session helped me get momentum back on a project that I hadn’t worked on in a few months. I definitely would not have been able to push myself into action on the work at this level without the container of the Five Days of Focus.“
— Rebecca B.
2025 Dates
- Session 1: January 27 to January 31
- Session 2: March 10 to March 14
- Session 3: May 5 to May 9
Details
Here are the details for each session:
- Video meetings (approximately 30 minutes) at 8:30 am PT and 3 pm PT | 11:30 am ET and 6 pm ET.
- Access to a private online chat space so we can connect off-camera between check-ins.
- Early access to the Clear the Decks checklist and Writing Plan worksheet to help you prepare.
“During the Five Days of Focus session, I set out to achieve a tedious but necessary production task for my creative small business. I used the week to produce copies of my zines (independently published booklets) to fulfill a restock order for an independent bookstore that sells them. I was kept on track by the gentle yet effective accountability of sharing my goal for each day and reporting my progress.
“It really helped to have a group of fellow writers and creators cheering me along. I loved being able to pop into the chat to leave an update or call for support. It felt like a little self-timed break/treat to have this space to visit for a quick uplifting exchange or to leave words of encouragement for the others.
“The Zoom meetings and chat space made the time on my one-woman assembly line of zines less lonely and kept me motivated. The opportunity to follow along with the projects and progress of the others was energizing. I looked forward to sharing my growing stacks of completed zines at the end of each day and feeling a sense of achievement.
“By the end of the week, I completed the printing, folding, cutting, folding again, and packaging needed (130+ zines) to restock the store. Having this container of time set aside to accomplish my goal with great company and support from the other participants worked wonders. I’m looking forward to working on a more creative goal making new content during the next Five Days of Focus.”
— Sarah N.
“During the Five Days of Focus, I pushed forward on editing my second novel. I took breaks during the day to do my other ‘beginner work’ of learning to play tennis. so it was a wonderful week of a tired brain and body! Focusing on writing was a dream.” — Nancy N.
Register Here
To join the upcoming Five Days of Focus session, please enroll using the Add to Cart button below.
When you register, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the program, and you’ll receive a welcome email including the online and video meeting links, the Clear the Decks checklist, and the Writing Plan worksheet.
Your writing retreat awaits you.
Save the Dates
Session 1: January 27 to January 31
Session 2: March 10 to March 14
Session 3: May 5 to May 9
“Five Days of Focus really helped me get back on track with my writing. Despite my days being rather hectic that week, the course helped me to do exactly what it promised, stay focused on my writing, even for short segments of time.
“And as always with the Called the Write courses, the camaraderie — knowing that there are others sharing your journey — was super helpful.” — Aina J.
“Jenna is an expert navigator, cheerleader, supporter, brainstormer, companion, and guide. A person who understands what it’s like to be on your hero’s journey with your monkey mind and your hero’s heart, and fun to work with, too.
“I recommend this for anyone with a project or a vision who’s not getting started in a way that they would like to, who has a project they want to create a timeline they feel accountable for with other creative people, anyone looking for support and sustainability, or anyone looking for community and who doesn’t want to do it alone.” — Kris C.
Questions & Answers
Here are answers to possible questions about Five Days of Focus.
Click the small triangle on the right to open.
May I join from overseas?
Yes, of course, though the schedule is designed for writers in the U.S. This means that we’ll be ending quite late in the day for EU writers, for instance, as late as 1:30 a.m. Central European Time. If that works for you, or you’re okay with missing part of the day, you’re more than welcome to join us.
May I join for part of each day only?
Yes, (and see also the question about joining from overseas), if you have a conflict for part of the day or the schedule doesn’t work perfectly for your life, you’re welcome to attend for whatever part of the day works best for you.
Will the live video meetings be recorded?
In order to protect everyone’s privacy, we won’t be making recordings of the live sessions. Especially since the focus of the live sessions will be on personal sharing rather than me teaching content, this feels like the respectful and most appropriate choice. We will aim to collect resources shared during the sessions, if appropriate.
Do I have to be on camera?
Absolutely not. :) I’m not a huge fan of being on camera myself. You’re more than welcome to keep your camera off and participate by voice or even online chat only. My goal is for this to work for you and be motivating for you, so please do what you need to do to be comfortable and able to write.
Will my writing stay private?
Yes! In this five-day session, we won’t share our writing with each other for feedback or critique. We do this to keep a safe, focused space for writing. If you’d like feedback on your work, I’d be happy to discuss my editorial, script notes, and coaching services with you.
Will you offer more of these five-day sessions this year?
The October 2024 session is the last Five Days of Focus session for 2024.
Stay tuned for dates to be announced for the first half of 2025, coming soon! Plus we’re working on a special “three-pack” offer to help set you up for a positive start to 2025.
Sign up for my mailing list to receive announcements about dates for 2025.
Will there be any Deep Dives or Wednesday Retreats this year?
At the moment, there are no current plans for any Deep Dive Writing Intensives this year. We may explore bringing back the Wednesday Writing Retreats, however. Make sure you’re on my mailing list to stay in the loop about this and other upcoming courses.
More Questions? Contact Us Here.
Please reach out with questions and we’ll respond as quickly as possible (generally on weekdays during normal business hours Pacific Time).
