Ah! Home

I’ve come back down from the mountain (or “down the hill,” as the Idyllwildians say), with my books, my notes, my well-used computer, my drafted pages, my dirty laundry, and whatever leftovers I had from the refrigerator, including, surprisingly enough, a Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate bar and a handful of M&Ms, and so glad to be here.

While I was away, I received an email from my friend and sister writer, Anitra, asking if my experience of a month-long writing retreat might be a productive topic for other writers who might like to go on such a retreat, and asked me several good questions.

Whether my writing about my experience on retreat might be helpful for other writers, I can’t say, but I’m a believer in sharing our experiences, strength, and hope and so following is the first of two parts of my responses to Anitra’s questions.

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Writing Retreat Season

I’m preparing to go on a month-long writing retreat to a familiar place in Idyllwild, a small community in the San Jacinto Mountains not quite three hours from my home in San Diego.

Idyllwild cabinI’ve been to this cabin many times. Most often I go with my good friend Dian. We’ve been writing and retreating together for more than twenty years. But this time, I go alone. Or rather, just me and my Wild Women. While on retreat, I’ll be working on my next book, Wild Women, Wild Voices, which will be out next February and I’m on a sooner-than-later deadline.

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Twenty Reasons to Go on a Writing Retreat

Beyond the idea that writing retreats are good for body, mind, and spirit, you don’t really need a reason to go on one. But with the holidays clamoring for your time and attention, you may need to remind yourself of what your creative soul intuitively understands.

Print out this list of Twenty Reasons and post it on your bulletin board or tuck it in your notebook, paste it on your ceiling or hang it from a skyhook to dangle in front of your weary eyes as a reminder that, even if only for a day, or a half a day, or a half of a half a day, a quiet retreat to reconnect with your creative spirit may be the best gift you can give yourself.

 20 Reasons to Go on a Writing Retreat

  1. To renew your creative spirit
  2. To connect with your inner voice
  3. To begin a project
  4. To complete a project
  5. To focus your attention
  6. To change your perspective
  7. To unkink the coils of your brain
  8. To find connections
  9. To cross-fertilize
  10. To fill your empty cup
  11. To set a place for the Muse
  12. To have time to simply be
  13. To rest
  14. To read
  15. To renew
  16. To reward yourself
  17. To be in solitude
  18. To be with other writers
  19. To honor yourself as writer
  20. To Write

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