Testimonials
Thank you to every Haven alum who has taken the time to write a testimonial. I’m eternally grateful for your thoughtful words. If you attend any of my Haven Writing Programs, my promise to you is that the friends you make, the support you find yourself surrounded by, and the voice you discover in yourself all create a life-altering experience. We hope you will become one of the over 1000 alums that are part of the growing Haven community.
"If you have always wanted to share your ideas, thoughts, stories through writing or become a better writing coach/teacher Laura Munson’s Haven Writing Retreats are for you. I can honestly say that in all my years as an educator, and as a learner, I have never had such a loving, giving, and deeply moving learning experience as I did under Laura’s expert instruction. Being a writer is such a complex task, and Laura breaks things down so expertly, creates safe spaces, and ensures that you are given the kind of feedback that lifts you and makes you a much better wordsmith than when you first entered her magical place in the Montana mountains. I highly recommend this experience for anyone, no matter where you are in your writing path. What an experience that I will never forget. Thank you, Laura and your Haven!"
"Attending Laura Munson’s Haven Writing Retreat fulfilled a bucket list item for me. The Haven experience gave me a new level of validation and confidence I’ve been needing over the last several years. The connection I was able to make with my Haven group was both healing, enlightening, and inspiring. We wrote and read and ate and laughed and cried together. For the first time in my writing life, at Haven, I heard my own voice clear and distinct because I also heard theirs. I understood how and why the way I choose to communicate is not only unique but also important. Laura’s program and approach also helped me make significant progress in solidifying my next writing project. I have a million ideas daily, which is often overwhelming. Attending Haven set me firmly on my current path; now I’m going forward. I highly recommend Haven not only to writers, but also to anyone who needs to take a true beat, to re-connect with who they are, and where they are going."
"My experience at Laura Munson’s Haven Writing Retreat was indeed life changing.
I signed up at a point in my life when I wasn’t quite sure if I was a writer, but I knew I loved it and decided to take a leap of faith. I am so incredibly glad I did! I left the retreat knowing I am indeed a writer and with a newfound commitment to tell my story. Laura is a fearless leader, a visionary, and a brilliant teacher. Each day was intensely focused and I found myself having an “aha” moment nearly every hour as, with her guidance, I figured out who I am as a writer and how best to express my story. The sense of community was immediate, and the opportunity to sit in a room of supportive people was a first for me, as I’m sure it is for many. Laura leads critiques with a fearless and positive tone, carefully considering each person’s individual needs.
I am so incredibly grateful for the beautiful Montana location and for Laura’s grace and open hearted joy in lovingly leading a group of writers to the next page in their journey. No matter where you are as writer, at the very beginning, or published multiple times,
the Haven Writing Retreat will expand your soul and stay in your heart forever."
"Whoever declared “Haven is an MFA in five days!” was bang on. This surprising retreat delivers a wealth of publishing information, writing sessions that inspire, sage guidance on narrative structure, gentle while exacting feedback, and, to boot, ongoing writerly support. The setting is a stunning expanse of land, cared for in a sacred way. And all led by Laura Munson, twice over bestselling author, with her fierce command of how to teach writing (by every eclectic means thinkable). What fun we had! And how hard we worked!
If you want to open up your future, I urge you to jump in (and there’s often financial wizardry for those of us penniless, through the Haven Foundation).After five days retreating, a little solo steeping time is suggested before reentering family and community. But when you emerge, words will come with you—words and words and words!"
"I went to Haven as both a writer and a health and wellness coach, and I was thrilled with my experience from both points of view. As a writer, my creativity was reawakened, nurtured, and honored. As a coach, Haven provided me with several powerful new writing tools to use with my coaching clients and a new perspective on the important role creativity plays in a healthy, vibrant lifestyle. In addition, Laura’s abilities as a facilitator were remarkable to witness—from her careful choices of evocative writing prompts to her skillful leading of the group. I wholeheartedly recommend Haven to my fellow writers and coaches."
"Laura’s retreat re-ignited my creative spirit. Her intuitive guidance, along with imaginative writing exercises, group readings and individual feedback, helped me re-focus and re-energize. I am more committed than ever to my craft."
"If you are an ambitious manager and/or leader hungry for inspiration, change, and personal growth, Laura Munson’s Haven Retreat will inspire you to motivate others, build positive change, set your direction and calibrate your compass, manage others with tough empathy and dig deep. My experience with Laura and my participation at Haven Retreat in Whitefish awakened the woman, the leader, the writer and the quiet and tired person inside.
Haven builds confidence, provokes positive change and growth around ideas, setting direction on a personal course that compliments every avenue in life (career, family, relationships, conflict, pain and happiness). Laura’s retreats also included elements that require individual introspection, group teaming, personal health and very valuable excursions locally that tie personal and professional growth like a beautiful holiday bow and leave you forever changed."
"Laura cracked me open in ways I so needed- both personally and as a writer- and created a space that was both safe and challenging at the same time. I left Montana forever changed."
"Laura Munson can help you break through writing blocks, make your writing sing and pull those stories out of you —and she does. I left Montana inspired and on fire to write."
"I ventured to Haven, a wannabe writer without a clue how to begin. For years a story, my story, fermented just beneath the surface emerging on rare occasions only to remind me of how overwhelming and intimidating my prospects were. With Laura’s gentle encouragement and belief in my potential, I was inspired to begin. I put pen to paper on that gorgeous first day at Haven and have been writing almost every day since. I feel something missing when I don’t. I am a writer!"
"This is the power of Haven: For one year, I hadn’t written a word. Not a one. I was stuck in a place in my manuscript, couldn’t figure my way out, and signed up for Haven in a last-ditch effort to find the problem before I threw out the whole thing. But on Day 3 of Haven, after working one on one with Laura, I went out into the Montana wilderness with my computer and typed out 600 new words that unlocked the problem in my book. I’ve been back home for four days now, and am 10,000 words into a new draft with no sign of slowing down."
"What Haven provided was an outlet of dedicated time for me to reconnect with my own self-expression through writing. Laura’s passion for writing and the love for her work made me feel comfortable amongst a diverse group—some professional writers, some just starting out, some with project ideas, and others who had only written in personal journals, like me."
“I learned more about the craft of writing and the art of reading in five days with Laura than in my entire experience as an MFA student. I would be annoyed by that if I was not so blown away by my experience at the Haven Retreat.
If you are reading this you are a real writer and you absolutely deserve to do this great big thing for yourself. I promise from the bottom of my heart that you will not regret this.”
"Working with Laura as an editor has proven educational, fun and magical. I now know what a true editor is, one who both improves your skills but is also able to pull your words, your story, out of you in a way that may at first feel very uncomfortable and challenging but quickly morphs into something almost spiritual."
“This was by far the best money I have ever spent on a workshop for my career and I’m deeply grateful. The writing instruction was epic and I left with a renewed love for the craft of writing.
The thing that surprised me was the high level of skill Laura has as a facilitator for both the individual and the group. I have been facilitating groups for years and it is something that takes often hard earned skill, insight, passion and a touch of magic. Laura has an abundance of each and made a full-day, learning- packed workshop truly feel like a retreat!
I can’t wait to come back for Haven II.”
“Laura has everything you can ask for in a writing mentor. But, what blows me away the most is her ability to edit other people’s work. I think it’s because she genuinely cares about what we create and because she’s just got this freakishly deep insight into what would make your story richer.
If you listen, I guarantee, you’ll go back into your work and say ‘Did I really just write that?’ She’s that good."
"Never in a million years had I pictured myself attending a “Writing Retreat.” The experience, though, was amazing for me! I learned so much from each person in the group, and also about myself. And, I found what I needed to find. So it is with much thankfulness and a big open heart that I return home. Thank you, Laura."
"Laura is a pro at teasing out the most essential elements of each of our works and voices. I left Haven brimming with ideas. My heart soul and mind were all better having attended a Haven writing retreat.
Laura gives deeply of herself to each of her retreat attendees. I feel honored to have spent four days in her care and my writing is much better for the experience."
"To attend one of Laura’s retreats is to be swept into a magical writing world. Enveloped in the majesty of Montana, there is no criticism, no competition, no judgement. If you have any self doubt, it fades away as she weaves her spell of delight with her approach to writing. As a beginner, I was hesitant to enroll in a writing course. Visions of my college days came back to haunt me….then I read the description of her retreat and was hooked…you just need to be a seeker!
I have been a teacher for a long time and Laura’s ability to reach her students on their individual level, all while keeping a class on task, is unparalleled. She does it with a grace and warmth that is rare in the teaching world. The value in what she has to offer is very hard to find in other places. So go to Montana, go to a Haven Retreat. You won’t be sorry and you will wonder why you didn’t go sooner!!!"
"I am not much of a “joiner” so I took the leap of faith to attend Haven. It was the best decision I have ever made to move through resistance and get on with telling my story. By delaying, I was denying. Laura Munson opened a portal for me. She is a genius at guiding structure and offering suggestions for alive writing. At Dancing Spirit Ranch in glorious Montana, my heart awakened. Writers sharing words and laughs, and tears too. A dynamic experience that changed me. Now I believe in myself, Fruit Loops and all."
"Getting to attend Haven I proved to be many dreams come true. Not only did I receive encouragement to move forward in my writing, I came away so highly focused I could see the publication! Laura has definitely mastered the retreat experience. So much care has gone into food, extracurricular fun things, the writing exercises and the opportunities for sharing.
What I have come to admire most about Laura is that she walks her talk. She has been there just like us, but now passes on her learnings with such passion you can not help but be motivated. She possesses the rare ability to keep the learning experience superbly safe and nurturing even when people come from different walks of life.
And now that I am going to Haven II, I get to partake in a dream I never imagined! I’m writing this book! How cool is that."