The Long Awaited Writing Retreat!
I’ve been dying for a writing retreat for months. Ever since my last one, really.
I might be addicted. What’s it to you?
People often ask me why I like writing retreats. I’m a full-time writer with no kids at home, so basically my entire life is a retreat. Right?
Not really.
Even sitting in my office during writing time, I feel chores trying to pull me from my chair.
Oh look, the laundry pile is getting pretty high.
How long has it been since I dusted?
Is that a dead bug on the carpet, or a fuzzy thing?
Better vacuum to make sure.
Close your eyes in the bathroom, because those corners look terrible.
Don’t get me started about the baseboards.
Did I take the trash out this morning?
The roses are getting long…
I honestly don’t know how parents get anything done with kids on top of all that. Gold stars for all of you!
Getting away from my house is invaluable. It gets me out of my typical head-space and allows me to focus on whatever I need to work on.
The only distraction is the internet, which I avoid as much as possible.
This past weekend I got about 15k words written. That’s actually a low word count for me for a retreat. Normally that would be disheartening, but I re-wrote the first 10k words of my science fiction story for the sixth or seventh time. My brain whined about it until I got past 10k, and then it took off.
Getting out of my normal routine and surroundings gave me the chance to create a new beginning for this story. I think it’s good.
Not everyone can get away for a retreat, but sometimes just moving to a new room will help.
Here are a few pictures from this past weekend.
That was first winter. It’s all gone now, but it will be back.
What do you do to get out of your own head?
