Take Me Away

Should you go on a writers retreat?

Hey friends,

What a week last week was!!! WRITE THROUGH IT came out and everyone had such nice things to say. I’ve been grinning all week. I also spent much of Saturday sitting on my couch eating chips because I was exhausted from peopleing and being on and being perceived. This is pretty normal for me—for anyone!—and I needed a little time to recharge. It had me fantasizing about having a lot of time to recharge, so I reached out to my friend and former editor and current author Christine Pride, who’s hosting her own writers retreat called WRITE WITH PRIDE. Have you ever been on a writers retreat? Should you? Will it do everything you hope it will do? I asked Christine the tough questions.

KM: What's your dream writers retreat?

CP: The one I’m creating! And that’s not by accident. I’ve taught at dozens of writers retreats over my career as a book editor and author and each of them have various elements that I’ve come to appreciate. It’s a little bit like recipe testing and innovating (I mean, who I am to use this metaphor since I don’t cook at all, but bear with…) Each person can have their own slightly different take on baking a chocolate cake based on their personal preferences. Less vanilla, more cinnamon. Writers retreats can be a bit like that—a question of what works for you. I’m fortunate to have tasted a lot of cakes, as it were, and have distilled the key ingredients that I’ve observed work best as both a teacher and participant, which I’ve incorporated into WRITE WITH PRIDE.

• A beautiful destination. People tend to be more creatively inspired when they leave their comfort zones and routines and can enjoy nature and in particular for me, water.

• A carefully curated group of participants. Building community is such an important part of being a writer—and thus retreats. Keeping the group small (8-10) allows people to get to know each other and build lasting connections. It’s key to be thoughtful about the type of people who come, which is to say, kind folks only. It really helps to have a retreat leader who can foster positive group dynamics by setting the right open and collegial vibe.

• A workshop component. I believe strongly that you become a better writer by becoming a more critical reader and learning how to give actionable feedback. Helping others improve their work and craft not only serves your fellow writing comrades, but has returns for you, too, in the form of a better eye for craft principles and techniques to apply to your own work.

• Strong, clear takeaways from the experience. Ideally, you leave a writers retreat armed with more concrete information than you arrived with—that might be some specific information about how to get an agent, or a new approach to creating characters, or a way to think about what it takes to have a writing career. But a workshop should offer lasting dividends for your investment.

KM: What kind of writers retreat do you think is best for actually getting work done?

CP: The trick is balance. It’s perhaps not worth the investment to participate in a writers retreat where all you’re doing is spending time completely alone, writing. You could do that in your own home, or by getting away to a hotel solo. (And I have done that, and highly recommend for some super charged focused time). But when it comes to a retreat, you get more bang for your buck if you’re also getting helpful instruction, information and reactions to your writing from a professional/expert and from other attendees, ideally both, on top of time to connect with others, if that’s over dinner or through an activity of some sort. Writing is a solitary endeavor and you don’t want to risk being subsumed with social distractions, but I also think building community is a part of the work, and so giving and receiving feedback or even talking about process with another writer to get tips is itself productive. It can be looked at the same way as meeting a word count goal.

KM: How much work should a writer expect to get done on a (let's say) week long retreat?

CP: An important distinction to make before I answer this question is between a writers retreat and a writing fellowship, like MacDowell or Yaddo. Writers retreats usually offer a mix of free time to write, time to workshop with other participants as I described above, and lectures/talks about craft or publishing. While fellowships are usually application based, involve longer stretches of time, and are designed with a lot of free time to focus on your work. You may just emerge for meals (though often lunch is delivered right to your room so you can keep working). A fellowship is designed to allow for maximum creative output during that time. But of course, that output will still vary and depends so much on individual’s level of focus.

When it comes to productivity for any retreat experience, though, I recommend setting a realistic goal before you go that doesn’t have to be word count related necessarily. It could be: I want to focus on finally nailing this difficult chapter, I want to do a full read through of my manuscript, I want to connect with one potential new beta reader, I want to come away with an understanding of my next steps to getting an agent and a sense of how ready I am to query. After you define what you’d like to get out of a retreat, a little research will help you find the right fit for your specific needs, desires and goals.

KM: At what stage in the process should writers consider a retreat?

CP: Again, this is a question of individual goals, but I’ve seen writers benefit at various stages of their journeys. Maybe you have the proverbial “shitty first draft” complete and are ready to focus on kicking off revisions, or maybe you’re still building the structure of your story and have questions about that that could benefit from focused time workshopping. Maybe there are too many distractions at home and a getaway is just what you need to clear you head to *start* a new project. Really, there’s no bad time, just different benefits depending on where you are in the process.

KM:What elements of a retreat do you think writers can take with them to practice at home?

CP: A retreat is all about focus and commitment, and carving out time for writing. When you’re at a retreat you’re saying, “this is my time to focus on this work before me.” You can carve out that same mental space at home. By going to a new coffeeshop for the day (breaking from your usuals and routine!) and turning your phone off, for example. Or by inviting your writers group or writer friends to your home or backyard for a day and sharing your work with a special menu or theme—just something to make it feel different or special. Or dedicating a day to take a break from writing and instead focus on reading a book about craft, like your own personal editorial workshop. I can think of a great one to check out! (Ahem. 😊)

It’s no surprise my questions to Christine were all how much work can I get done there??????? and she’s all ok, yes, but also maybe slow down a bit and learn something new? Yes, I will be talking to my therapist about that this week. Writers retreats aren’t for everyone, and aren’t in everyone’s grasp, but I encourage you to think about whether one might benefit you, just like attending a conference or investing in technology. A better computer doesn’t make you a better writer, but it can smooth over some bumps in the road. If you’re nervous about sharing your work or hanging out with strangers, just try to remember that most writers are just like you—anxious for validation and a little awkward, too. 😊 Remember, though, writers retreats are not extractive. You don’t go in thinking cool, someone there is going to introduce me to their agent and I’ll be represented by the end of the week. I mean, maybe! But probably not. It’s also not a token to collect or a badge to display. You shouldn’t think oh, if I attend this retreat I can put that in my query and agents will know I’m a Serious Writer. Again, maybe! But that’s not the point. The point is to learn skills and advance your own writing in community with other writers so you all can learn. That will pay off way more in the long run than a tip that someone’s agent is “really hot for horror” right now. Maybe a retreat isn’t in the cards right now. But maybe it will be one day. Whether it’s in your backyard or in Santa Barbara with Christine, I hope you find the rest, community, and knowledge you need to write your best book.

XOXOXOXOXOX,

Kate