A good writing retreat should offer a supportive environment that will instill a sense of creative well-being, and provide opportunities to learn and reflect. Such a haven allows our minds to unwind, our pens to flow, and affords respite from the distractions of the world and our own surroundings. Saturday I had the chance to attend such a retreat. Friends and fellow authors gathered with me for a time of sharing, reflection, writing and critiques. These women are a wonderful source of inspiration. The picture above is myself, author Wendy Lanier and author Peggy Clement.
We prepared a loose schedule before we met. There was time for sharing some of our favorite articles, books and other sources of information and inspiration. My friends and I set up a session to work on plotting and characterization, a time for formatting and submissions, and some time to flesh out queries and synopsis. We also left plenty of hours in the day for free writing (everyone came with work-in-progress or writing projects they wanted help to initiate) and critique sessions.
Everyone enjoyed themselves so much, plans for future retreats began. We hope to use a local library for single day sessions and are looking into renting hotels or cabins for extended weekend retreats. For more tips on planning your own: http://writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2011/01/7-steps-to-preparing-writers-retreat.html
What do you look for in a retreat?
2 comments:
I like the idea of a design your own retreat weekend. Cool!
It truly was a wonderful day. I'm looking forward to the next one. Lovely post, my friend!
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