Haven 2 Writing Workshop
Move from voice to structure in an intimate montana setting
Experience the Intimacy of Haven 2 at Laura Munson’s Farmhouse
located in breathtaking Whitefish, Montana
Haven 2 takes place at Laura’s farmhouse in Whitefish, Montana, just 45 minutes outside of Glacier National Park. The setting is an intentionally small group—typically 4–6 writers. The scale is deliberate: sustained attention, thoughtful dialogue, and the focused feel of an artist’s salon.
Participants stay off-site and are brought to Laura’s farmhouse each morning, spending full days together in the library, at the table, and in the Montana light—surrounded by breathtaking views.
With only 4–6 writers, Laura can track your manuscript closely, and you get consistent eyes on the same pages across the workshop. That continuity creates faster breakthroughs, deeper trust, and feedback that builds on itself day after day.
Most of your time will be spent gathered in Laura’s library—warm, book-lined, and anchored by the fireplace—where pages are read aloud, craft is explored, and Laura’s instruction unfolds naturally in the way it only can when people feel safe and unhurried.
Mornings begin with good coffee and tea, the crackle of the fire when weather permits, and that quiet Montana stillness that makes it easier to hear your own work again.
Meals are part of the experience, too: intimate dinners shared together, nourishing and simple, where the “work” continues in the best way—through laughter, honesty, and the kind of connection that turns a retreat into a haven.
“Laura Munson is a genius at guiding structure and offering writing suggestions—and in glorious Montana, my heart awakened. Writers sharing words, laughter, and tears, too. A dynamic experience that changed me.”
What Haven 2 is
You’ve already done the brave part. You came to Haven 1, you found your voice, and something in you said: there’s a book here. Haven 2 is where that book gets its bones. It is an intensive, workshop-centered retreat at Laura’s farmhouse in Whitefish, Montana — small by design, deep by necessity — for Haven 1 alums who are ready to stop circling their manuscript and start building the structure that will carry it to the finish line.
Who Haven 2 Is For
Haven 2 is for Haven Alum who know, honestly, that they won’t finish alone. Not because they lack discipline, but because the structural work of a book is genuinely hard, and because accountability inside a trusted community is not a crutch — it is how serious writers have always worked. If that sounds like where you are, Haven 2 was made for you.
What You’ll Leave With
You’ll leave Haven 2 with a structural map for your manuscript that is clear enough to work from and honest enough to trust, and with sharper instincts for giving and receiving feedback — skills that outlast the retreat and serve every project that follows. You’ll leave with renewed confidence in your ability to carry this book to its end. And perhaps most unexpectedly, you’ll leave with a cohort that is genuinely invested in your book. That investment doesn’t end when the retreat does. Support continues remotely as cohort members stay connected, using the Haven Worksheet to hold one another accountable across the finish line.
The Structured Work We Do at Haven 2
The structural work of a book is where most writers get quietly stuck — not for lack of talent or dedication, but because structure is its own discipline, and one that is almost impossible to see clearly from inside your own manuscript. At Haven 2, this is exactly where Laura’s attention goes. Together, the group works through the central tension that gives the book its spine, the emotional arc that runs beneath the narrative one, and the moments where momentum stalls or the writing loses its nerve. Openings are examined. Turning points are found. Endings are tested against the promise the book made at the beginning. What emerges is not a formula, but a living architecture — one that is unique to each manuscript and each writer in the room. And because the group is small enough to hold every book in sustained attention across the full retreat, the feedback builds on itself day after day, going somewhere that a single conversation — or a year of solitary revision — rarely can.
The Haven Worksheet
A key tool in Haven 2 is Laura’s trademarked Haven Worksheet, designed to keep feedback clear, respectful, and useful—so workshop time doesn’t drift into opinion, ego, or overwhelm.
Writers learn how to read and respond to each other’s work with discernment, generosity, and precision—skills that last long after the workshop ends.
We use the Haven Worksheet throughout Haven 2 to name what’s working, identify what’s in the way, and think-tank the rest of the book. The result is steady, honest momentum—supported by nourishing meals, real conversation, and a cohort that becomes deeply invested in each writer, and each book.
A Note From Laura
“Finding the structure of my clients’ books is one of my greatest skill-sets, and the Haven Worksheet is the key: it’s a distilled, comprehensive study in how to write a book, based on what I’ve learned over three decades giving and receiving feedback. This worksheet is an excellent tool for you to use as you move forward in writing your book.”
For Haven 1 Alums Ready to Go Further
You’ve already found your voice. Now let’s build what carries it.
If your book has been waiting — patiently or not — this is the conversation that begins the next chapter.
A call with Laura is a chance to talk through where your manuscript is, what it needs, and whether Haven 2 is the right next step for you and your book. She will listen carefully, and she will tell you the truth.Haven 2 is small and selective — to protect the depth of the work for everyone in the room. If the timing isn’t right, or the fit isn’t there, Laura will say so. That honesty is part of what makes the work trustworthy. Click the button below to fill out the form and let Laura know you’re ready to schedule a call.
