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| Yachets Beach Oregon |
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the long weekend and eating lots of yummy food, I know I am. :)
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a writer's retreat in Yachets Oregon with four other awesome writer chicks. One of them was my critique partner, Gina, who I love and adore, and the other gal who I planned with retreat with is one of my RWA chaptermates, Ella Zane, who I met at a conference last year. The other two ladies, Lori & Trudy, were new to me, but they knew Ella. We couldn't have had a more fun group of women.
We arrived Thursday evening and went out to eat at a fine local restaurant, who had the best homemade veggie burger EVER!!! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it.) During dinner we talked about our books and what our goals were for the weekend. My goal was to edit the first two chapters and then get to 15K in my YA by Sunday. When we got back to the house we hit the hot tub & a couple of bottles of wine. (Hot tubs, wine, good food, & the beach or any body of water are a requirement for a successful writing retreat.)
Friday, we had breakfast and then started working, except for me. I needed to clear my brain so I went for a walk to do some plotting and planning.
When I got back I was ready to roll. The first day I got my chapters edited and 2.5K in the bag. Not exacting what I hoped, but progress nonetheless.
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| Ella, Trudy, & Lori at work. |
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| Ella & Gina at work. |
The weekend turned out to be a huge success. And now I'm hooked. We're already planing another one in the fall. :) To me this retreat was like a slice of writerly heaven. Drink wine, talk books, write, hangout & brainstorm in the hot tub until the wee hours of the night. Beautiful sunsets...
Writer's Nirvana, indeed.
A couple of years ago, I went on a writing retreat to Newport. There were four of us. I made great strides with my book. I had previously entered a contest and had received useful feedback. I was able to implement many of those suggestions into my manuscript. It was hard work but fulfilling.
ReplyDeleteThere's something about being away in a different setting and sequestered into a hotel room that provides the catalyst for the creativity to flow--or to just hunker down and write through the scenes that are hard to nail. I got a lot done. A writer's retreat is definitely rejuvenating!