There was a running theme to many of my conversations during my week in Seattle. My lovely writer friends and I would be chatting and catching up, and at some point, they’d ask me, “So, what exactly are you doing in Seattle, anyway?” And now that I’ve done this twice, I thought I’d share my own recipe for having a personal writing retreat.
Many of the writing events I know of place an emphasis on giving and receiving critique. This is great, and a lot of value can be had at these events. However, for the past year or so, I have found myself wishing for a different kind of event, where the focus instead lay on the writing. So this March I attended the Rainforest Writers’ Retreat in Washington, which seemed to (and did!) fit the bill.
Unfortunately, the Rainforest Writers’ Retreat is only once a year, so I decided I’d try to have my own retreat in Seattle. It’s fairly simple to arrange: I pick a week, arrange my flight and hotel, and then send out an email to the writer friends I have in the area, letting them know I’ll be in town and available to hang out. I know what I’m going to be working on ahead of time, writing-wise. And that’s it.
The view from my hotel window in Seattle.
Here are the benefits I get from these retreats:
1. Focused time to work, away from all “daily life” kind of distractions. I didn’t think this would make a big difference, but for me, it really has. I simply get more work done in a hotel room than I do when I’m at home. I’m less likely to waste huge chunks of time. And I’m also less likely to allow myself time to wallow in any writerly anxiety about my project I might be feeling.
2. New perspective. In a different place, my thinking becomes slightly more flexible, and so I’m able to see my work slightly differently and embrace new ideas and directions with slightly less resistance.
3. Motivation. Because I have spent the money on the retreat, I feel deeply motivated to make sure the time counts and I get as much work done as is both possible and reasonable. It doesn’t hurt that I’m seeing writer friends the whole time, and I don’t want to have to tell them I’m not getting anything done either.
4. Connection. In some ways, my retreat is like a convention in that I’m surrounded by like-minded writers. But in this case, I get to spend more time with these writers one-on-one and in small groups, which means we get to know each other better.
5. Inspiration. Also like a convention, because I’m spending time with writers, I get to talk a lot about writing and books, and our enthusiasms tend to feed off one another, making me feel more excited and ready to write. And if I need a little extra shot of brain juice, I’m in a big city full of museums, cultural events, and people-watching opportunities.
So far I’ve found these retreats to be a successful experiment, as well as something I look forward to. I hope I can do more of them in the future.
What about you? Do you have an ideal retreat or workshop scenario?
The Practical Free Spirit 
This is a great idea! I’ve done mini-versions of this – staying a weekend in a hotel to write while my husband does a race, but never something where my writing is the main focus. Your way sounds very fun – thanks for the tip!
Oh, no problem. It’s nice to share something I’ve had such good luck with. 🙂
Sounds like a great idea to me! Also a big fan of the writing-focused retreats. I’ve started working in coffee shops more and more (becoming a cliche, I know!) and it does help to get out of my regular workspace. I find that I buckle down and write more – and better – when I’m not at home.
Hotel rooms are so great for me. There just isn’t much to do, especially since it would never occur to me to turn on the TV. So I get a certain amount of auto-focus.
The MUG Writing group had its own little retreat in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago, and we all thought it was a great experience – we’re talking about doing it again soon.
Two other things we did (in addition to the things you mentioned): we had a list of upcoming contests and open submissions that we could talk about, and we did a writing prompt (an oulipo technique). We gave ourselves a few minutes to come up with a first line, and then 45 minutes to write something; then read what we’d come up with out loud.
I think it would be great to do it with a group of people as well (a la Rainforest, which definitely encouraged me to write more than I would have otherwise). The writing prompt thing would kill me though. I’ve never had an easy time with improv and on-the-spot creativity.
Part of my problem with not writing more is how easy it is to get distracted. Especially nowadays nearly all writing takes place on a computer which means the internet is RIGHT THERE.
I’ve used mini-retreats for reading, both to avoid distraction and because I don’t really have a “reading chair” at my apartment. When I really need to get some serious reading done I head to the library.
I have several friends who use Freedom to lock their internet access so they can’t be distracted by it. I haven’t needed it so far, but it’s nice to know it exists.
[…] that I pretty much only saw the hotel, I don’t think that really counts. However, I fell in love with Seattle, got to see Chicago for the first time, and faced down a hurricane in New York, so the year […]
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