As writer’s, the existence can be a somewhat lonely. Also, as writers, we know how important it is to make our meetings. But those are often just once a month. And when life gets in the way, well, sometimes we miss those. So how important is it to you to spend a weekend, or if you’re lucky, perhaps a week, with your writing cronies?
Do you retreat from the idea of a retreat?
Not I! But then, I love to travel. And when I travel, I sometimes like sitting on my ass. And in some cases can be seen 
walking down the street one minute, hit a crack in the sidewalk, and find myself on the ground, the next. (Yes, that really did happen.) Of course, my fabulous friends were right there.
friend 1, “are you okay!”
friend 2, “are you hurt!”
the guy in the car driving down the street. “You all right?” he shouts through the passenger side window.
Once we realized, I was indeed, fine, friends 1 and 2, laughed their asses off. I had to ask for help up. Was I upset? Hell no. I would have done the same.
I suppose my point is this: I got a small story out of the incident. Our retreat was productive, for all of us. Each of us completed something. We relaxed in the evenings and early mornings on our cottage’s very nice front porch. We had tea and coffee in the morning, wine in the evenings. Walks into town in the late afternoon.
So you ever have the opportunity to retreat from a retreat, DON”T DO IT! You must make yourself go. When you come
home, you will be rejuvenated with ideas to write. You will be able to deal with the small, and sometimes larger things, that come about. And this is what keeps us, as writers, fresh, and positively motivated to write more.
Take my advice and don’t retreat from a retreat with friends. You’ll be glad you went.
Happy writing ~~ Kathy L Wheeler
It was a small twinge. Just got back from NYC. So every night I had to ice my ankle. It looks awful. But I survived.
Kathy,
So glad you weren’t hurt! I feel off a bench seat on to the floor on a trip back to Kansas from the OWFI conference…several years ago. Ouch!
I’m doing a week-long retreat in October with seven other women. On the beach. Private Chef to prepare lunch and some dinners. Fabulous restaurants nearby. I’ll be touring a plantation seeking inspiration, and kayaking on one of the nearby rivers. And writing every day. Critiquing in the evening. I can’t wait!
Smiles,
Linda
Hi all…Kathy is having difficulty replying due to a glitch, so she asked me to let you know, and to post this reply:
From Kathy: Cheryel and Susan, that wasn’t even the first time. Last year I was with 5 other people walking (in heels) from the OKC Museum of Art after dinner on our way to the theater, when, yep, down for the count. My knee looked awful. I didn’t want to say anything because my husband would freak out. And he did. Of course, I didn’t have to cook dinner for a week.
I would love to make more retreats, but unfortunately, my time is not just my own these days. Still, I keep trying to make one. 🙂 Good post, Kathy.
Writing retreats are wonderful. Our chapter sponsors one a year, and luckily, I’ve been able to attend each one. Love your blog. I thought I was the only one to face or butt plant. 🙂 Have a great day and thanks for sharing your experiences!
Retreats are wonderful and I love them. I will probably sponsor a few when I get back home as I’ve missed them so much.
Great blog…thanks for sharing!
The only writing retreat I went on involved very little writing. Never again. lol
-R.T. Wolfe
Neat opening Kathy. Don’t know why we so easily talk ourselves out of joining in. We (I’ll) work on that. nice blog.
Friend 1 here…and we will probably remind her for years to come. Sorry. I guess that’s just the kind of friends we are. 🙂 But we did make sure she was okay. And I pulled out one of my ‘never-be-without’ anti-bacterial wipes so she could clean the dirt off her legs. Now THAT’s a friend! We did have a very good time. It was quite productive…I finished a complete, fixable draft of Book 2 in my Vampire Novella series.The setting was very relaxing and inspiring. I concur, if you have a chance to go off for a writer’s retreat, take it! You won’t be sorry. (But watch out for cracked sidewalks) – Nora, getting drunk is for the evenings, daytime is for writing. 😉
Love to get away with my friends–for any reason. And I also love to travel. I hope friends 1and 2 don’t hold the sidewalk fall over your head for very long. Looking forward to seeing you in Red River for our Jodie’s Pioneers writing retreat.
i love writers’ retreats. altho mostly with my friends they tend to be drunken getaways without quite as much writing as one would hope. i’m very easily led astray. i’ll work on that… 😉
First, after reading about the sidewalk, I wonder if we’re related.
Second, you make me want to go to a retreat. Right now. 🙁 I’ve been lucky enough to go to a retreat with a group, and we had a ball (and learned a lot). And I had a retreat once with one other person. We got a lot done and learned a lot.
Retreats are wonderful, recharging, and fulfilling. Great for filling that creative well. Thanks for reminding us of that!