Appreciating the Little Things + A Future Writing Retreat?
Sometimes you need to just pack up and get away for a couple of days. So, on Saturday we loaded up the car, and the dogs, and headed out to the lake for a night!
I would have loved to get some writing done while we were out there, but we did have a couple friends and their kids join us, so the writing had to take a backseat. That was okay, though, I don't want to become one of those people so focused on squeezing in every ounce of work to the point that I miss out on the little things. Like, watching our friend's son go fishing for the first time and the joy on his face even though he didn't actually catch anything. Or seeing our dog Mya (who, when we first adopted her, was terrified of strange sounds) loving the different noises and smells that came with the campsite.
It was one of those trips where I never knew what time it was, never looked at my phone (except to snap a few pictures), and got to spend some real quality time with the husband, our friends, and the pups. When night fell, we were able to look up and see the stars in a way that just isn't possible from our backyard.
So while I didn't get any work done over the weekend, the spot we chose for our camp out did give me an exciting idea: A camping writer's retreat!
I know several authors who attend writing retreats each year. These retreats are a chance for writers to get together, unplug from social media/the outside world, bounce ideas off of each other, and get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Once a writer friend of mind outlined three whole novels during a retreat, and had them all written within the next two years!
We may be roughing it a bit, but a camping weekend would be much more affordable than going in together on a house or hotel room for a weekend, not to mention the added bonus of the natural scenery. I think it would be an excellent chance to unplug for a few days, leave the computers and tablets for later, and do any plotting or writing by hand. Research has shown that, along with keeping you mentally sharp, handwriting can stimulate creativity much more than typing on a keyboard ever will, so why not?
Have any of you, dear readers, been on a writing (or some other type of creative) retreat before? If so, I'd love to know where you went and what you thought of the experience!
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| A little camping compilation! Harley is a habitual "foot-sitter", while Mya tends to be more mellow. |
I would have loved to get some writing done while we were out there, but we did have a couple friends and their kids join us, so the writing had to take a backseat. That was okay, though, I don't want to become one of those people so focused on squeezing in every ounce of work to the point that I miss out on the little things. Like, watching our friend's son go fishing for the first time and the joy on his face even though he didn't actually catch anything. Or seeing our dog Mya (who, when we first adopted her, was terrified of strange sounds) loving the different noises and smells that came with the campsite.
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| Behold! The husband's "biodegradable fire pit"! |
So while I didn't get any work done over the weekend, the spot we chose for our camp out did give me an exciting idea: A camping writer's retreat!
I know several authors who attend writing retreats each year. These retreats are a chance for writers to get together, unplug from social media/the outside world, bounce ideas off of each other, and get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Once a writer friend of mind outlined three whole novels during a retreat, and had them all written within the next two years!
We may be roughing it a bit, but a camping weekend would be much more affordable than going in together on a house or hotel room for a weekend, not to mention the added bonus of the natural scenery. I think it would be an excellent chance to unplug for a few days, leave the computers and tablets for later, and do any plotting or writing by hand. Research has shown that, along with keeping you mentally sharp, handwriting can stimulate creativity much more than typing on a keyboard ever will, so why not?
Have any of you, dear readers, been on a writing (or some other type of creative) retreat before? If so, I'd love to know where you went and what you thought of the experience!
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