Retreat Yourself

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to take part in something new for me: a writers’ retreat. I didn’t attend the first one the Ascribe writers’ group had organized because I figured, hey, I can write by myself at home any time, can’t I? But after listening to the comments made by members when the group met up after the retreat, I realized I had missed the point.

The point of a writers’ retreat is to get away for the sole purpose of doing nothing but concentrating on your writing. Seems fairly obvious, right? What I didn’t think about – until I took note of what I did in the same time the group was away, were all the interruptions that occur in the course of writing at home. Most of them are so automatic you don’t even notice them: making a meal, running to the store for something last minute, doing that chore on the weekend you didn’t have time to get to during the week, gassing up the car, returning library books. The list goes on, full of little weekend projects and chores that stop the flow of creativity before it even gets a chance to get started. All those little jobs that call out to be done, all those little snippets of time add up, and before you know it, the weekend is ending, and once again you never got to work on that blog, short story, or novel.

Here’s where a writers’ retreat is brilliant: you are not niggled by guilt to do any small jobs or quick chores; you have a space dedicated to work; and you need not stop for anything except when you feel like taking a break.

Our place of writerly refuge was Russet Hill, just outside of Owen Sound. This was the same country property our group had rented as a weekend retreat earlier in the fall; the one I didn’t attend.

The house is perfect for housing people with different writing needs and processes. It has a beautiful huge kitchen with a big table for the social types who can sit and work with their laptops and not be distracted by the presence of others. It’s an open concept room, so in sight of the kitchen area is a space with a sofa and table, and outlets for computer and phone chargers.

Down the stairs, two or three sofas are arranged together to make a cozy work area for those who prefer curling up with blankets on deep sofas to work on their literary masterpieces.

Another member chose to write on her laptop out of sight – but not out of hearing- working away in her room with the door open.

There’s more! The house itself was not the only place a scribbler could hide away in during the winter retreat. For those who truly crave the privacy of isolation, there was also a separate cabin where another one of our scribes was encamped.

The perfect writers’ retreat, and what is the nice thing about this particular one situated in the country, is one that offers scope for both privacy and outdoor activities to help with clearing the cobwebs when inspiration stalls.

I liked that there’s a rec building separate from the main house so people needing a break can walk outside a few meters and play a game of pool without disturbing the rest of the group scattered around working. I liked that someone had gone to the trouble to clear a snowshoe trail as another option for clearing the mind.

OK, so you get that the place is pretty wonderful for writers because of its physical set-up. What I haven’t mentioned yet are the times when the writers talked together. Not just about the plots or research points of their own work, but about topics such as writing contests, conventions, experiences with professional editors, contracts, what other writers did to get successful, bad experiences – the whole gamut of writing. This, even more than having such an amazing space to write in, is the real benefit of going off together with other writers. I came away much richer for having had the opportunity to listen to so many different experiences and points of view, and I am really grateful to everyone in the group for that.

I got a great deal of writing done during my time at the retreat, and I felt not a whit of guilt doing it. While going in together as a group made the cost of the weekend very affordable, the freedom to focus exclusively on writing, the chance to listen and learn about the industry and getting published was priceless. I highly recommend you give a retreat a try.