Plan Your Own Writing Retreat

Writing retreats can be a rejuvenating and valuable experience. If you know yourself well enough to know what you really need, they can pump up your productivity as well as your creativity. The key is to know the difference between what you need and what you want.

Here are some things to help you decide what you want and need in a writing retreat so that you can find – or create – the one that best suits you. Do you NEED or WANT:

• Time with other writers to brainstorm, plot, etc.
• Some instruction as well as some writing time
• Time alone to write/rewrite without distractions
• Fun time with friends, hanging out with people who don’t think you’re weird
• Pampering – spa time, massage, shopping, dinners out, etc.
• Internet, TV, DVD player, fitness center
• Location you can drive to, or someplace different

Let me tell you how I ended up creating my own retreats. First, I prefer to go to writers conferences for instruction because I think I get more for the money, and my brain is in learning mode the whole time. So I never looked at any of the “retreats” available longer than it takes to find the cost and keel over from sticker shock. (I’m from the Midwest; we’re born cheap.)

When I thought about what I really needed, what I felt I didn’t have enough of at home, it was simply uninterrupted time. For me to be comfortable writing for days in a row, I realized that I need a clean comfortable room with no pests (Lauraine and I shared an ant-infested room once for a weekend conference – yuck!), hot and cold running water (I don’t camp – shocking to most of my Midwestern friends and family!), a mini-fridge and a microwave (though I’ve survived without), and enough electrical outlets to plug in my computer and my printer.

One of the best values for my money has often been the TraveLodge! For less than $100 per night (much less, depending on your location), you get one or two beds, a desk, a TV, sometimes a DVD player, a full bathroom, a mini fridge and microwave, and often a pool! If you share the room with another writer, you’re looking at less than $400 for the week! Keep in mind, I need a place to sit and write, to sleep, and to shower. I’ve survived without my wants before when I had to – no TV, no fridge or microwave, no Internet. Times when I couldn’t even afford the TraveLodge, I’ve found a way to at least get my needs met.

Since purchasing a timeshare, almost every week used has been by me for a writing retreat. (John and I are going on our first vacation together using the timeshare next month!) I often go by myself because my biggest need is writing time. But many times I’ve taken a writing friend – Stephanie and Shonna have both shared with me, as well as other writing friends. This is great for brainstorming and plotting. Less great if one of you is focused on getting away to write, and one is focused on just getting away. (I can barely force myself to write if my friend is watching a movie I want to see!)

But you don’t need to own a timeshare or rent a hotel room to find what you want. You can housesit. You can combine visiting a relative who works during the day with the vacation aspect of visiting them. You can find a friend with a larger house and have everyone come there. (Stephanie has been trying to get Shonna and I to “retreat” at her home in the country. We both want to, but it hasn’t worked out – yet!) You can even talk to the religious retreat centers and monasteries that offer silent retreats and ask if you can bring your computer and write.

The point I wanted to share with you is that you can find a way to take some writing time for yourself once you put your mind to it. It may be only for a weekend. It may only be every couple years. Or maybe you’ll find a group of writers you click with so well that you have to see them every year. I was in one of Lauraine Snelling’s Fiction Intensive classes at her home, and every summer everyone who was ever in that class is invited back for Reunion Weekend. We spend some time focusing on a particular aspect of writing, some time actually writing, and some time focusing on the spiritual side of the writing life. Oh, and a lot of time cooking and eating and laughing together!

Start making your list now! What do you NEED? What do you WANT? How can you get it? Let us know how it works out for you!