WRITER'S RETREAT....
Last weekend was our yearly writer's retreat. For some reason we tend to go away in the chill of autumn/ winter (probably because it takes that long to find a weekend we are all happy with).
It's a weekend where we take so much more food than anyone can eat...where we bring laptops and note pads....magazines and books.....pens and highlighters....and walking shoes.
These weekends are usually spent with lots of talking and walking.
This year however the weather didn't play ball. There were a few walks, when the weather decided to behave....but mostly there we were, spread out on the couch or dining table, fire lit and inspiration flowing.
That is what the weekend, for me, is all about.
When we first began going away I would feel so guilty. Guilty that I was out there going for walks and doing anything BUT write. Oh I would scribble some ideas down, perhaps work on a poem, or maybe edit a bigger piece of work...but there was none of this 'I will now put down three chapters of the novel in progress.'
That was then.
I've learnt that guilt is useless. That these weekends away are not for writing. I even call them the 'writer's retreat'...not writing retreat.
Don't get me wrong, writing is done, and done quite seriously.
In fact I loved when I was going back over some notes I made about previous retreats and there was the year we workshopped one writer's picture book idea (now a published book!) and another's poem she was preparing to read for a major competition (she won the prestigious event).
I however dabble. And I listen and I wait.
Wait for my creativity to be rekindled...for my energy to be topped up.
Two of us evenran away spent a few hours blissfully relaxing at the Peninsula Hot Springs. It was divine.
The long weekend went way too quickly. It always does.
Some of the group came back with new ideas, pitches to propose, novel plots planned, with inspiration set and goals clearly defined. Some created guidelines for their own writing and a good understanding of what needs to be done so that this can be achieved.
I came back relaxed, and eager to get into my writing again. I spent a good many hours going over a novel I had written a few years ago...and I actually enjoyed myself. I really liked what I had written, I want to carry on with it, work on it and get it out there.
Sometimes that's all it takes. A time away from the usual. Away from home and loved ones (no matter how loved)...away from chores and the mundane.
To fill up, reenergise and allow yourself to simply be.
Vicki
It's a weekend where we take so much more food than anyone can eat...where we bring laptops and note pads....magazines and books.....pens and highlighters....and walking shoes.
These weekends are usually spent with lots of talking and walking.
This year however the weather didn't play ball. There were a few walks, when the weather decided to behave....but mostly there we were, spread out on the couch or dining table, fire lit and inspiration flowing.
That is what the weekend, for me, is all about.
When we first began going away I would feel so guilty. Guilty that I was out there going for walks and doing anything BUT write. Oh I would scribble some ideas down, perhaps work on a poem, or maybe edit a bigger piece of work...but there was none of this 'I will now put down three chapters of the novel in progress.'
That was then.
I've learnt that guilt is useless. That these weekends away are not for writing. I even call them the 'writer's retreat'...not writing retreat.
Don't get me wrong, writing is done, and done quite seriously.
In fact I loved when I was going back over some notes I made about previous retreats and there was the year we workshopped one writer's picture book idea (now a published book!) and another's poem she was preparing to read for a major competition (she won the prestigious event).
I however dabble. And I listen and I wait.
Wait for my creativity to be rekindled...for my energy to be topped up.
Two of us even
The long weekend went way too quickly. It always does.
Some of the group came back with new ideas, pitches to propose, novel plots planned, with inspiration set and goals clearly defined. Some created guidelines for their own writing and a good understanding of what needs to be done so that this can be achieved.
I came back relaxed, and eager to get into my writing again. I spent a good many hours going over a novel I had written a few years ago...and I actually enjoyed myself. I really liked what I had written, I want to carry on with it, work on it and get it out there.
Sometimes that's all it takes. A time away from the usual. Away from home and loved ones (no matter how loved)...away from chores and the mundane.
To fill up, reenergise and allow yourself to simply be.
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