Two Thumbs Up for a Mini Writing Retreat

I just returned from an informal, three day writing mini-retreat that energized me and set the water in my creative well 

a-bubblin'.

What made it so successful?

WRITING BUDDIES AND DAILY GOALS

Grab members of your writing tribe that you click with and trust. Layout a timetable for discussion, critique, craft, and most of all WRITING. We began our retreat by sharing where we were with current works in progress and what we hoped to achieve before heading back to real life.

LACK OF DISTRACTION

We gave ourselves permission to banish the everyday "have to" list that intrudes on writing time. We also picked a locale that didn't crook a finger to lure us out of the writing cave.

PREPARE CRAFT TIDBITS

Yes, I'll share...

We each brought a favorite tool or inspiration. My contribution was the video: 

 RICHARD PECK MASTER CLASS 

His brilliant insights and generosity of spirit were gold.

AUTHOR JULIE MUSIL shared a wonderful CHARACTER WORKSHEET that Author Jody Hedlund makes available on her blog.

AUTHOR LISA GAIL GREEN introduced us to a rousing brainstorming exercise to find a shiny new title for a work in progress. We poured a river of words and phrases associated with the manuscript onto a piece of dry erase paper (yes it comes in poster sized paper) and then traced links between ideas to discover a title that reflected the spirit of the story. I learned this technique in a poetry workshop years ago and never thought to apply it to a title search. It really works!

 WARNING: Many word associations may lead to uncontrolled fits of laughter. 

MAKE IT EASY ON THE BANK ACCOUNT

Book a "suite" instead of separate rooms so you have space to write and share the cost. Choose an area that isn't in high demand, like the desert in summer, to take advantage of seasonal discounts. Use booking services for more possible discounts. Snag a venue with a kitchenette and bring food or do a grocery store run to save on eating out.

It never hurts to pick a place with some nice views.

Any plans for a writing getaway this summer?