I’ll be honest, I’ve never been on a writing retreat. So as the days got closer to October, my excitement grew. What all is involved? What is expected of me?

Like most gals (I think), I thought about accessories. What do I wear? Which made me think about my suitcase. I hate using the same old black blah suitcase so  I went shopping. I’ll also be going to a conference in November so I’ve been thinking about this. I went to JaCque Penney and found exactly what I was looking for.  I love this color of blue.

I also got so excited that I asked a talented friend to make something to “mark” the occasion. She made AMW book markers and magnets. Aren’t they cute?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I think we should have more of these for prizes at future AMW events)

Friday finally came around, time to get to the cabin! I gathered my notes, computer, and supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got my directions and I was on my way! I arrived in no time at all and was the first to get there. I hunted around for the key, found it and let myself in. It was a gorgeous day so I opened all the windows. Let the magic begin! 

While I waited for the others to arrive I unpacked. I heard a vehicle approaching. Yay! They’re here! Nope, a truck pulling a large BBQ cooker was arriving at the property next door. About ten minutes later I heard another engine. Yay! Nope, another truck pulling a large cooker, followed by a few more trucks.

By the time my cohorts had arrived, five more cookers had passed by. They were planning on some serious BBQ next door.Turns out there was a cook-off planned for the same weekend.

That’s okay because nothing was going to stop us!

 

 

We visited, relaxed, and had a nice time that first night.

 

The next morning we awoke with a sense of business. Time to write! At first this was all I could think about, a keyboard staring back at me.

I’m so glad I have an outline to keep me on track. Once I got started, I was in the groove and made some good progress. Throughout the day, we wrote in writing sprints. They were usually about 30 minutes long with breaks in between. During the breaks I’d go outside and enjoy the cool weather and listen to the music from the cook off next door.   (We never did bet brave enough to see if they needed more judges.)

 

By the time we left on Sunday, all three of us had made quite a bit of progress on our projects. Mine was definitely more than if I had stayed at home. It was nice to share a creative space and have that extra discipline.

I declare the 2014 retreat a success!

Have you ever been on a writing retreat? Please share your ideas and experiences.