A week from today, I will be writing. Rewriting, actually. (Rewriting a novel and hanging out with a friend on our annual writing retreat.)
I’ve talked about the retreats here and here (and other times on this blog). I won’t talk about all the things I like about the annual writing retreat again, but its importance is not lost on me.
Why It Matters
Without the annual retreat, I would still write next weekend. During any given weekend, I can dedicate more time than usual to writing and get as much done as I will next weekend. When you think about it, a Friday afternoon, a full Saturday, and a Sunday morning is not enough time to really make a lot of progress on something as slow-going as a novel.
What matters about next weekend is simply making the time — saying that writing is important enough that I’ll dedicate a weekend to going someplace else to do it. Having one weekend a year where a friend and I allow each other to talk about writing matters. (The usual rule is shut up and write because once you talk too much about a story, why bother writing it?)
Keeping It Simple
When talking about the retreat with friends at work and other places, people say, “Man, that sounds nice…” And they’re right: it is. What they seem to really be saying is this:
I’d like to do something like that. I’d like to go away with some friends for a weekend and record music. I’d like to go away with some friends for a weekend and write, make a game, or sit around on a deck carving things out of wood all day.
They talk about it as though a retreat is out of reach.
We pick a cabin in a state park each year because it’s affordable and free of distractions. About a hundred bucks for lodging, 3 – 6 hours of gas money, food we’d be eating anyway, and…it’s a retreat!
Whatever your thing is, there are few things better than grabbing a friend (or five) and making that thing you love important enough that you make getting away to do it an annual thing…
It will be a good, 3rd annual retreat. It’s good that you and Deacon do this. Taking time with and for each other and your writing – nice.
It will be kind of fun returning to Cooper Lake State Park again. Just to see how the lake is, now that we’ve been getting rain. Last time, it was down quite a bit. I guess last year, it was waaaaaaay down. Right now, it’s almost full. (I think it was half capacity last time we were there.)
It looks like the forecast calls for rain all next weekend, which kind of stinks because it won’t be as hot as the first time out there (I was hoping to actually hike this time). But there are worse things than being inside on a rainy day and writing 🙂 Who knows, by mid-week, the forecast may call for nice weather.
I used to want to do sewing/costuming retreats, but aside from the fact I prefer my own schedule and goals for hobbies, I didn’t like that we wouldn’t be able to spend time together at a retreat like that (let’s face it, unless it’s you I don’t really want roommates LOL). Now I just want to do fun stuff with you and look forward to planning our first vacation. Maybe it’ll be a creative/hobby-related thing, but most likely it’ll just be a “for once let’s do something other than the usual.” 🙂