A DIY Writing Retreat by Mona Pease

NOW WHAT?

You’re home from the conference with a writing toolbox overflowing with a plethora of new ideas, workshop material, contacts, and maybe even a great or not-so-great paid critique. You sort it all out and write or revise endlessly. But somehow everyday life takes over and you’re at the point where you just can’t concentrate. What can you do? Plan a Do-It-Yourself Retreat!

A DIY RETREAT

Sounds like difficult planning, or you don’t know where to begin. Or, you’re not an organizer. Neither am I, but someone else had an idea for the first writing retreat I attended. 

My dear friend, Tamra Wight, had to miss the New England SCBWI conference  every year because it always fell on the dates she and her husband opened their campground for summer. So, at the encouragement of a camper writer, (Jeanne Bracken), Tami put a quick note online asking if anyone would be interested in coming to her for a week-end writing “Schmooze”. I responded as did about a dozen other children’s writers. She sent us her plan: rental campers or tent sites at discount prices, a recreation room to meet in, dine together, and read and round table critique if desired. It was a success! Even though Tamra and her husband sold the campground a few years ago, she still keeps the Schmooze going near her new lakeside home.

After that one, another Schmoozer, Valerie Giogas, thought we should have a winter retreat. She found a huge but chilly coastal Victorian home with many bedrooms and writing spaces. We rented it for the off season rate. Each of us grabbed a cup of tea and found our cuddled-in-a-blanket writing spot. If there were a mouse in that house we would have heard it because everyone was so quiet for hours on end. We did hear fluttering in the chimney once and one writer moved rooms because she honestly thought it was inhabited by @@??!! But, we enjoyed that winter retreat until the house was sold.

WHO WOULD YOU INVITE?

Would you be comfortable writing with eight or ten people in the same place? Or, would you want to keep it smaller and more intimate with a critique partner or a few writing buddies? I’ve had the privilege of being invited to a few bonus retreats with only a few people. Another one of my dearest friends, Cynthia Lord, sometimes rents a place in the town where her fictional story takes place, combining her writing with research. Her mornings are spent in deep revisions mode. She stays in her room with editor’s notes and printed pages laid out on her bed colored up with lots of sticky notes. Me? I write, revise, research, whatever it is, in my own comfortable spot. And believe it or not, I stay quiet until lunch time!

Afternoons are often for Cynthia’s local research: walking, boating, taking in the smells, sights, sounds, music, fishermen’s banter, and local folks' activities. When you read her MG novels, you’ll feel everything she felt while writing. As for me, with no editor’s notes in hand, I always manage to write endlessly during those uninterrupted quiet hours. Once, Valarie said to me, “I didn’t think I could write on demand.” I agreed with her then. But now I find that on these quiet writing retreats, words flow. In fact, the last time I went with Cynthia on a revision retreat I came up with a brand new picture book story. 

Now to finish writing it!

WHERE WILL YOU HAVE YOUR RETREAT?

This is where your resources come in. Do you know anyone, family or friends who owns a cottage or camp, or might need a house sitter? Are there seasonal cabins you might inquire about? As you’ve been reading along and getting ideas for your own retreat, you can see that I didn’t have much input into where we’d meet up. One day, my daughter said, “Why don’t you go to the island for a few days to write?” I checked with a few girls, and they were in…the lobster boat with food (no stores there), computers, and the usual baggage. My  son-in-law navigated to the small Maine island and left us! We slept in the open chamber upstairs in comfy beds lined up summer camp style, got up before dawn to the sound of fishing boat engines, and drank our coffee on the dock to take photos of morning sunrises. All before getting down to the business of writing. Late afternoons were for exploring in kayaks, spotting soaring eagles and ospreys protecting their chicks, warning us to go away. A glorious place to fill our minds and souls and write.

WHAT ABOUT MEALS?

With larger groups like the Schmoozers, we have potluck. With long tables lined end for end, one never knows what will appear; mac ‘n cheese, baked beans, chili, seafood chowder, muffins, rolls, cookies, whoopee pies, and berry pies (pies of two different genres!).

For the smaller group retreats, we divide up the meals. For instance, I may bring two breakfasts, lunch, and a dinner. We don’t take time or money to eat out. Sometimes when writing is going well, a quick lunch is all that’s needed. Then back to work until the eyes say "no more"!

READY! SET! GO!

Now I have you all psyched up about going off somewhere with your writing tools and friends. Time to take action. How will you make a writing retreat work for you? Talk to friends and ask for their input. Even if you don’t have a pending deadline or project, you have something to take. And if you don’t think you do, “writing on demand”, might surprise you. And don’t forget to leave time to play.

At our retreats, we chat, kayak, walk, take lots of pictures, or simply gaze at the stars with a glass of wine in hand.