How to Host a Solo Writing Retreat
BYO Writing Retreat
Despite my deeply held beliefs about the importance of regular writing practice, I am definitely, in my heart, a feast-or-famine type of writer. I love week-long writing sprints, all day write-a-thons, AcWriMos/NaNoWriMos, writing retreats. I dream that one day I will win a writing residency that pays someone else to watch my kids so I can go live on a mountainside for a month and write stuff.
Until then, what I love most of all is the oft-overlooked solo writing retreat. I’ve had people ask lately how to make these successful, so here is my recipe for a solo writing retreat.
This weekend, my husband is taking the kids to his folks, and I am going to get my book edited before I come up for air. I think you should too! Find a weekend between now and when school starts to spend cozied up with your writing project. You’ll love it. Here’s how.
Logistics:
Where: I’ve done solo writing retreats all different ways over the years - flying to conferences a few days early or leaving a few days late, and using those bookended days to focus only on writing. I’ve taken myself to a hotel room a few blocks away from my house. I’ve rented beach houses off season and invited my family to join me for the second half.
My favorite, though, is to send my husband and kids packing and be alone, in my house, to do nothing but write.
How much time: For me, the ideal amount of time is 3 nights/2 full writing days. Less than that, and I never get much started. More, and I start needing to have a conversation with another human.
Food and drink: If you Buy all the snacks. Sweet and salty finger foods are your friends. I also make sure I have all of the coffee I need (including traveling with a coffee maker if I’m going somewhere new). One time I rented an amazing room, but it had no coffee maker and the cafe was closed for the season, so I had to drive 20 minutes into town every day for coffee. It stole an hour of my life, every morning. I also buy myself a few bottles of wine, and decide on what I’m going to order in.
This weekend: My husband is leaving on Thursday evening and coming back with the kids on Sunday morning, so I’ll have three nights, two full days, and two small days to get writing done. I have wine. Tomorrow I’m getting snacks. And I’m ordering Thai, Thai hot because my kids won’t be here to critique spice levels.
Goal-setting:
Process or product goals? I think it’s helpful to have two lists you’re working from going into a retreat. The first is the work that takes deep thought: what you can give yourself the gift of spending many hours thinking about deeply? I think this is particularly conducive to exploratory writing, deep reading, editing full drafts, and doing high-touch data work.
I also think there needs to be something that you can do when your brain gets tired of that work. Citation checking, journal scans, table formatting are all great things that move you closer to your goals while giving your brain a break (some of this you can even do while binging Schitt’s Creek).
Finally, if you’re at home, I recommend having something small you can do if you need to get up and move that won’t take all of concentration.
This weekend: I will finish reading my book, which I printed out at the retreat and haven’t really revised since. I will clean up footnotes when I get tired. And when I get up to move around, I’m reorganizing closets (which might be the only thing that’ll keep me writing).
Things to do:
Exercise and drink water: stretch, do yoga, walk around the block. Keep your body moving.
Stop when there’s still gas in the tank: There’s a lot of evidence behind starting more than you finish…as you feel yourself flagging, stop writing, make yourself a to-do list, and step away from the screen.
Make it fun: Ordering food, thinking about your favorite project, pouring some drinks - all of this should be fun! Play some 90s music, and let yourself watch a bad movie when your brain gets tired.
Change the scenery: I have four different places in my house where I write, and when I start getting wiggly I make myself get up, drink some water, and move to a new place. I also am pretty good at reading (though not writing) in public, so I may venture out to a cafe over the weekend.
Things not to do:
Overcommit! As soon as my husband agreed to take the kids, my brain started flooding the zone with all the things I could do. Finish editing projects! Start my new writing projects! Meet up with my German buddy! No. No. No. I need to clear the deck, push back anything that is standing between me and writing, and schedule everything for next week.
Similarly, I am of the opinion that this type of time is best spent on one project. It’s too easy to do the low-hanging fruit of an R and R or a co-authored project and neglect the long-suffering book project. Schedule everything else for next week.
Undercommit! Similarly, some folks show up with a blank notebook and big dreams. I think it’s worth mapping out what success will look and feel like at the end of the weekend, and then setting yourself up for that. If you need to read three books, spend the whole weekend doing that, but make sure the books are in front of you. If you need to revise chapter 1, read the chapter again before you show up. You don’t want to spend the retreat planning, you want to spend it making progress.
Rewards:
Spending a weekend writing may feel like a reward in and of itself, but it’s nice to reward yourself for the work you’re doing as well (it makes your lizard brain happy). My reward is dinner and drinks with friends (who also happened to be my beta readers!) to celebrate the book reaching its eventual conclusion.
Accountability:
Next Wednesday, dear readers, I will let you know if I accomplished my goal of making it through this book. And if you plan your own writing retreat, send me a picture and tell me how it goes!
xoxoxo