Design Your Own Writing Retreat

Spring is a great time to escape distractions and write. But with high gas prices and other constraints, it’s hard to find a retreat package that fits your time and budget. So why not design your own writing getaway. Here's how.

Know your purpose and goals. The first step in designing a retreat is knowing why you want to get away and what you’d like to accomplish. Let’s take that in reverse order, goals first. List the goals you feel are most important at this stage of your writing life. Do you want to start, develop, complete a writing project? Would you like to plan an article or event, teach a class, develop a seminar or workshop? After listing your goals, arrange them in priority order. For the why question, knowing (and admitting) why you want time away is key to accomplishing your goals.

Select the appropriate duration, venue and setting. Estimate how much time you can spend away. Decide what facilities you need, for example, outdoor creative space, inside writing area, en suite private room. Also decide where you'd like to go. Would you like an urban, suburban or rural setting? Do you mind roughing it, or do you prefer room service? Now consider these elements based on your budget. Knowing what you can spend will help the decision-making process. You don’t have to go far to accomplish a lot. Just getting out of the rut of routine can be refreshing. The key is envisioning the location and deciding if you can see yourself there.

Consider the results your retreat will bring to your skillset. An outcome is different than a goal. Looking ahead to the results of your time away helps you decide what you’d most like to gain from your investment of time, energy and budget. To that end, consider your existing skills and accomplishments, and note the gaps. Then determine how the retreat could help provide what’s missing.

Record and remember your experience. Journaling your retreat and evaluating its results offer a sense of accomplishment. They also help you assess how well the retreat went, whether to repeat the experience, where to make adjustments. You can use the guidelines in this column to create a questionnaire to plan and record your trip.

Consider these tips. Be realistic about what you can manage. A retreat should be a benefit, not a burden. Research the venues in advance, check the reviews and ask others if they know the area and venue. Ask writer friends for recommendations. If the location is nearby, make a brief visit. Fold your retreat results into a current project, for example, an article or post on the venue.

As with all good things, spring seems shorter each year. For all the more reason, it's important to take time away. So design a retreat that's right for you and record your experience. You can blog about it, do a podcast, add it to your website and CV, post it on social. Memories can rekindle the enjoyment and keep you writing.

Happy writing!

Adele Annesi is an award-winning writer, editor and instructor. Her bestselling cultural heritage novel is What She Takes Away (Bordighera Press, 2023). Adele coauthored and coedited Now What? The Creative Writer's Guide to Success After the MFA. Her MFA in creative writing is from Fairfield University, and her long-running blog for writers is Word for Words. Her podcast is Adele Annesi on Writing.