A post by AWA Facilitator, Cheryl MacLean
“A writing retreat? What’s that?” asks the non-writer partner.
“Just time to get away and immerse myself in my writing,” the writer replies.
“But you write at home just fine. Case in point, you were just writing. If I hadn’t reminded you, you never would have gotten dinner started.”
Note to self: Google writing retreats far away.
Imagine sitting down to write in the morning with nothing else fighting for your attention. Give yourself fully over to your project without worrying about cooking, dirty dishes, laundry or feeding the dogs.
It’s true, most of us can write anywhere. It doesn’t take any special equipment and can be done in snippets—even ten minutes can produce some words on a page, in a file, on a napkin, on your non-dominant hand. So why are exotic retreats in far-off lands and even day-long retreats just down the street so enticing and popular?
Three main motivators push us to writing retreats: immersion, sustained focus, and shared energy.
Immersion: Writing retreats allow you to do a deep dive into your writing project. This doesn’t mean writing 24/7. It means you can dedicate yourself to your creative project. Fancy a swim, a walk, a beach break? Bring your characters, your plot knots or holes with you and talk them out in your head.
Sustained focus: Imagine sitting down to write in the morning with nothing else fighting for your attention. Give yourself fully over to your project without worrying about cooking, dirty dishes, laundry or feeding the dogs. Forget those ten-minute napkin scribbles and all the everyday minutia that sucks your creative energy and time, this is a time to give yourself over to your creative self in uninterrupted bliss. This is especially true for retreats that include silent times and if you turn your phone off.
Shared energy: Although it’s said that writing is a lonely pursuit, we don’t write in a vacuum. When others are creating in a shared creative space, it spurs on our own creativity. Perhaps it’s guilt? Others are deeply immersed and productive and I spent this money, I should buckle down too. It’s more than that. When you take breaks for meals and writers are talking about writing, they’re sharing successes and struggles that only writers can really understand. Try as your kids or spouse might, if they aren’t writers, they’re most often not understanding your need to talk out your plot holes or the corners you’ve painted your character into. At best, they offer simple solutions. At worst, they tell you, “Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” and dismiss your writing angst. And beyond the camaraderie of other writers, anecdotal evidence tells us there’s something energetic in the ether when we sit and write in the company of others.
Types of writing retreats
If you can imagine it, it probably exists, but not every retreat is the right fit for everyone.
I say it’s a well-deserved immersion in the creative spirit, and a time to get down to the business of writing without distractions.
Workshop retreats: Get away for a week or a weekend and dive into craft. These retreats offer a directed learning model. The amount and type of instruction and participants’ free time vary widely. These are generally full-service retreats, much like a writers’ conference, with meal plans included or available. Prices vary widely depending on the number of participants, access to the instructor, facilities, location, and inclusions.
Guided AWA-style retreats: Generally, these retreats feature a daily generative group writing component where participants write together to prompts and may or may not share freshly generated work for gentle affirmative feedback. Again, the scheduled time for writing together and silent writing on your own, or free time, will vary. Most meals are often included. Prices vary depending on many factors, such as excursions, facilities, location and levels of facilitation.
Self-directed retreats: These retreats provide a quiet, peaceful space to immerse yourself in your writing project. There’s no instructor, there are no prompts, there’s just you and your project, most often in the company of other writers and/or artists immersed in their own work. Meals are sometimes communal, but the common thread is writing. You’ll hear, “How did the writing go today?” more than once. Self-directed writers’ retreats vary widely, from all-inclusive to no-meals-included. The prices, accordingly, also vary widely. Some are structured as residencies with a complex application process and, for the fortunate few, offer a stipend. Others are often low-cost with or without meals.
Self-directed solitary retreats: Rent a beach bungalow, campsite, or cabin in the woods alone and write your heart out. No meals included. This is often the cheapest option but lacks the benefits of a shared creative community.
Online retreats: Covid taught us a few things about community. Although it’s not the same as meeting face-to-face, meeting online can foster powerful connections. Generally, online retreats include one or several online meetings per day with instruction or shared writing time. Benefits: cheap, no fuss, no travel. Cons: You’re still in your house with all those niggly little daily tasks pulling at your apron strings. Also, for meals, you fend for yourself.
So what will it be? A month-long solo residency on a Greek Island in a studio flat overlooking a white village and the azure Aegean Sea? An intensive four-day weekend with that author you’ve been dying to learn from? Two weeks touring the Parisian haunts of American expat writers from the 20s? A relaxing two-week stay at a small retreat centre on a lake, sharing your writing struggles and successes with other writers over delicious meals? What is your perfect writing retreat?
But isn’t this whole retreat thing a little self-indulgent? I say it’s a well-deserved immersion in the creative spirit, and a time to get down to the business of writing without distractions.
Cheryl MacLean is an AWA facilitator and writer from Ontario, Canada. After attending many retreats, she retired early and opened Casa Mismac, a self-directed writing retreat in the mountains of Costa Rica. She continues to be a retreat junkie and has attended various types of retreats throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe and online. www.casamismac.com
Amherst Writers & Artists Online Retreat
AWA Self-Directed Retreat in Ontario (all-inclusive)
Self-Directed Retreat in Costa Rica (all-inclusive)
AWA-Facilitated retreat in Malibu
AWA-Facilitated retreat in Greece
Other wonderful retreat opportunities
Our next monthly online write is Saturday, August 8, at 1 p.m. EDT with ALEXIS M. COLLAZO.
Alexis is a Brooklyn-bred writer living in Pennsylvania. She writes in a variety of forms and genres inspired by a wide range of interests, including horror, music, and other creative arts. Her poetry has appeared in Common Unity: An anthology, Gnashing Teeth's Making Room Zine, and Trashlight Press. She is the PDF designer and a reader for Painted Pebble Lit Mag. In August of 2021, she was certified as an Amherst Writers and Artists workshop facilitator and has offered a variety of online workshops, including Tarot Tuesdays, Poetry As Spiritual Practice, the Creative Chaos Workshop, and more.
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