Here’s why writing retreats work: they allow you to focus on nothing but the story. There’s no distraction, no responsibilities, nothing. Just the chance to sit and write. For me, because I was there to write (and I was paying for it), that was all I wanted to do. There was never a time where I thought about turning on Netflix or wished I could do something else. If anything, it boosted my creativity and my productivity.
It was magical.
That being said, you do have to actually… write. When I went on my writing retreat at Highlights Foundation, I used Pomodoro trackers to maximize my efficiency and ensure I didn’t get burned out. (You can read about my experience at Highlights in a different blog post!)
I asked for a writing retreat at Highlights as a birthday present. Specifically, a birthday present while I was about twenty-five weeks pregnant with my first child. It was a special experience: Highlights takes care of everything you could need (the food was amazing), and it was a bucket list item for me. That being said, it was something I paid for and I had to travel to. So if that’s not feasible for you (and no judgment there, either!) there are plenty of other ways to make a writing retreat happen.
The basic requirements are simple: a place to go and for your story to go with you. A library. A cafe. A park.
Once you’ve figured that, make a plan:
- What’s the goal for your retreat? What do you want to accomplish?
- How will you accomplish it?
- What’s your time limit?
Happy writing!
