Gayle Johnson Writer

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Gayle Johnson Writer

Creative-reflective writing groups for living the life you want to live. Values-driven copywriting for coaches and therapists.

Wordspill online writing community open to new members, DM for info.

21/10/2026

Wordspill Works is weird.
It's not training.
It's not a workshop (not really).
It's not (just) co-working.

🍎It is structured, creative freedom to figure out what needs figuring out
🍎in a small group of up to five
🍎 in my kitchen in York (magic always happens in kitchens)
🍎 with structured, guided writing prompts
🍎 and discussion - but never pressure to share
🍎 and wonderful cross-pollination and synchronicities
🍎 with delicious lunch, cake, snacks, endless coffee, tea

It's for:
😍 anyone who needs a warm, quietly nudging, fun space
😍 to figure out what next
😍 or simply regroup and get inspired

And it's happening for the last time this year on Friday 20 November.

"It was really helpful and the gut reaction I got to different things which I thought were what I wanted to do was so strong, it really made me think. Such a fun, playful session fuelled by tea/coffee biscuits and brownies with a serious purpose. I think it made me realise that I'm on the right track I just need to think more about how I'm mixing things together so that it works for me."

Kathryn

£100 for the day, including allergy-friendly luscious lunch and loads of treats

2 places available.

DM me for more info

14/10/2026

Just me and this little scurrier in the house today

13/10/2026

Today was all about autumn treasures and gathering, but mostly it was about Simba.

Just gorgeous. Nature writing in Rowntree Park happening again Friday 13 November. DM me for details

06/10/2026

Debbie Thurlow and I are finalising arrangements with Parcevall Hall tomorrow (Wednesday 7th) so if:

💙big sky
💙a place to rejuvenate
💙time in nature
💙 no pressure creativity
💙 a supportive circle

Is your idea of a good time, and your 2026 could do with more of that sort of thing, get in touch pronto!

The Light Retreat runs 6-8 November in the Yorkshire Dales. Full board for the weekend (4pm Friday to 3pm Sunday) plus all the retreaty goodness is £475

DM me for link/to chat x

06/10/2026

More glimpses of cosy loveliness from the Howsham retreat weekend, thanks to Jen.

Coming together in creative, welcoming spaces, immersed in nature, with invitations to write is perhaps my favourite thing.

Howsham is the medium sized version. A whole day, with lunch, an ebb and flow of coming together. 2027 dates coming soon.

Nature writing in the park is the bite sized version. Monthly sessions on a Friday (and Tuesday but that's full) for 90 minutes to notice nature in our notebooks and eat flapjack. That's happening next on Friday 9th, and there are three places available.

The Light Retreat is the big version. A whole weekend, full board, with comforting home cooked food, cosy nooks, big skies and so many trees to hug. That's happening 6-8 November and there are two places available.

Info about nature writing and retreat in the comments - and do message me if you think you might like it but have questions. There are never any daft questions!

04/10/2026

Yesterday was the last Howsham of the year, and what a corker it was.
Howsham is a special place and unexpected things happen there. On the page and in the room and by the river. Yesterday a mermaid showed up.

Most importantly, these retreat days are a chance to leave behind the burly burly of life, settle into some creative rest or gently focussed writing time and let what’s important move front and centre.

Big thanks to Karen McMillan for stellar wingwomanning

We’re back in April, July and October 2027. Places will go on sale soon - DM me if you want to be included in the email.

01/10/2026

Debbie Thurlow and I are running The Light Retreat for the third time on 6-8 November.

It always feels like a minor miracle when these things happen. Each time in previous years Debs and I have had stuff going on in the background that we thought might trip us up. Each time some of the women who came weren’t sure whether life happenings would mean they’d actually get there.

But they did, and we did, and that’s what it’s all about out really. Clearing out time for ourselves, determined to have these precious days and nights that are set aside just to be and see what the trees and the stones and the notebooks have to tell us when we’re not peddling furiously in the mayhem of life.

We have two spaces left for November, which is unusual, but, then, we’ve not been super on it with telling people.

If you want some creative, restful breathing space where the only person’s needs to need to consider are your own, please do join us. Link to book in my bio, or DM me.

29/09/2026

Nature writing for wellbeing is a chance to come together in a small group, once a month, notice nature and play with words.

You don’t need to ‘be a writer’. You don’t need to know botany. It’s just time to see what happens when we spend time under the trees and have invitations to write.

These sessions run all year round, and the idea is we come back to the same place through the seasons and pay attention. But if you can only fit in one or two, that’s fine too.

Three places available on 9 October. Come and give it a whirl as the leaves whirl awhile.

DM me with questions or book via the link in the bio

21/09/2026

Due to a cancellation, there's now a place available on the Howsham Mill writing retreat day, Saturday 3 October.

I've been hosting these day retreats for 9 years now, and people keep coming back, which I take to be a very good sign.

It's a day for you to get on with whatever writing or creative projects are bubbling/rusting away, and just step away from the fray and see what inspiration the trees and river have to offer.

DM me if you're interested in this last minute place! I'm emailing all the retreaters about dietary requirements today too x

21/09/2026

This, from Joseph Earp in The Guardian.

I am feeling this, more and more. I don’t want life to be quicker, cheaper, more convenient. It brings to mind a memory nugget from my American West history lessons in the 90s (funny what sticks, isn’t it?) about how barbed wire was a raging, transforming success because it was ‘cheap, quick and effective’.

I don’t want barbed wire living. I want imperfect, doing it for the sake of doing it living. Giving it a go living. Noticing the world around me living.

Address

York Central Library, Library Square
York
YO1 7DS

Website

http://www.gaylejohnsonwriter.com/

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