5 Steps to Planning a Successful Writers’ Retreat
By Kathleen Bolton | April 26, 2010 |
It’s getting close to Mother’s Day, and while I am a mother and I do enjoy my Special Day, mostly it means that my tight group of writerly friends and I get together for our annual writers retreat. Like NaNoWriMo, the retreat is similar in that we do marathon writing sessions; but we also take time out for connecting about our daily lives, discussing the publishing industry and polishing off a few pitchers of margaritas at the end of a productive day. Our retreat takes place over a three-day weekend at a suitable lakehouse, and many times the immersion in our projects spill into the following weeks. If you can swing the time and expense of a writers’ weekend, it is worth it.
However, planning a successful writers’ retreat takes some thought if you want to get the maximum productivity out of the weekend. After indulging in an annual retreat for seven years now, here are my tips to plan a successful weekend of writing.
Step 1. Get someone else to do the planning.
I’m half kidding. But if someone in your group likes making travel plans, let them run with the ball. We are lucky to have one person (ICU Jeanne!) who thrives on searching for a suitable house to rent for a weekend. She compares apples to apples for us. Otherwise we go through endless email chains debating merits of available wi-fi connectivity and if it’s worth paying extra to use their linens or if we should bring our own. Hash out a list of must-haves and a list of nice-to-haves, and then let them go for it.
Step 2. Make sure everyone is there to write.
It goes without saying, right? But sometimes potential retreat buddies aren’t interested in working, they are looking for a getaway from the kids or aren’t in the proper headspace to write. That’s fine if they can respect your desire to get work done. But if they can’t, think twice about inviting them along.
Step 3. Have a goal in mind.
I’ve found that if I give myself a doable target to shoot for, say, finishing three chapters of a current WIP, or line editing 200 pages, that I’m less apt to be distracted faffing around with character studies or research. A goal keeps me focused. The weekend will go by faster than you can imagine, and every hour is precious.
Step 4. Divvy up chores equally.
Nothing torpedos the camaraderie faster than someone doing all the work or someone else shirking. Take a couple of minutes to get on the same page. Who is going to make lunch? Take care of the dinner dishes? Spring for that extra bottle of wine? Having everyone on the same page avoids uncomfortable situations later.
Step 5. Respect each others’ space.
Say that it’s dinnertime, but one writer wants to finish a scene or go for a thinking walk. Let them. Everyone has their own journey.
That’s it! My tips for a great writers’ retreat.
Have you participated in a writers’ weekend? What are some tips that you can share for us? Some cautions? Please let us know in the comments.
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
This sounds great. I’d love to try it with some of my friends.
I’ve never done something like this before, but now you’ve got me thinking about it, and who I might want to invite along… ;D
.-= Kristan´s last blog ..On the radio =-.
What a great idea. I hadn’t thought of creating a retreat myself. I have been hesitant to find a retreat because the horror stories that abound about people not getting what they want.
Now I’m thinking about who I can talk to about making our own retreat.
[…] 5 Steps to Planning a Successful Writers’ Retreat […]
Sounds like a fantastic idea. Good tips.
That sound soooo lovely, Kathleen! Hope you have a lovely, productive time! Trying it myself will have to wait until my wee ones are a bit bigger–and especially until I’m no longer my smallest wee one’s sole source of nourishment. So I expect a post with lots of details and good stories when you get back so that I can have a nice vicarious retreat! ;-)
I would love to do one of these right now, particularly if someone else organized it.
The first and only writing retreat I went to had a policy that seemed designed for the way my brain works: While everyone got up and ate breakfast on their own schedule, not a word was spoken aloud until we came together for lunch. People even avoided making eye contact during that time.
It preserved that sort of meditative head space I often wake with – the one where I do my best writing – but that gets driven away with the morning’s rush to get kids out the door.
After lunch, we’d spend a few more solitary hours and then come together for vigorous conversation, until dinner. It was wonderful to have a sense of companionship while working, yet enough privacy to really dig in.
.-= Jan O’Hara´s last blog ..The Tart and a Taste of China =-.
A retreat is great… it takes a lot of discipline, though. I’ve managed it exactly once, or as close as I can get, by vanishing off to the family flat by the sea and turning off my mobile phone.
I did it alone, though.
If I tried to get anyone else to come along, it so wouldn’t have worked – I don’t think my friends would have been in the right head space – lazing about on the beach has its plus sides, but it’s rather difficult to get any writing done on the beach (at least in my experience – waves beckoning, the sun and the sounds of the ocean lulling you to sleep, annoying salespeople trying to get rid of their fake “real brand” bags…).
Come to think of it, I don’t think I brought along the right headspace… came back with a tan, though…
; )
.-= Tessa Conte´s last blog ..The Need to Write =-.
This sounds like a fabulous getaway! Who couldn’t use a few days away, some pitchers of margs, and good friends. Woo hoo!
I’ve wondered about doing a weekend retreat in a business-class hotel with a restaurant that serves all three meals. No worries about cooking, linens, etc. Everyone has separate rooms. Dinners could be used for brainstorming. Far enough away to get away, but close enough where everyone can drive.
.-= RhondaL´s last blog ..2010 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks TV coverage =-.
RhondaL’s idea resonates with me (except I was thinking 5 star hotel). Unfortunately I don’t have enough local writer friends to make it a “retreat” and I think the key is to have alone time for writing and together time for lots of writerly chatter.
.-= amy sue nathan´s last blog ..Mom meets grill – asparagus love =-.
We’ve done retreats at hotels before, RhondaL, and it works great. The key is to carve out that “must write” time . . . and if you’re paying for the space it makes it feel like you HAVE to write.
Thanks for putting these tips together! I am planning to do a solo writing retreat but some of these are still good reminders for that. :)
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..The Perfect Writing Retreat =-.