Writers' Retreat

This weekend I'll be away at a writers' retreat. It's one I go to every year with members of a crit group I've been with for more than a decade. We're all friends as well as crit partners. 

We go to the same place every year and the weekend follows a similar pattern: walks, workshops, writing. We stay in the same block of apartments near the beach. It's very comfortable and familiar now. Some years we've focused on the workshops and had very little writing time. This weekend, we'll have two workshops and lots of writing time.

So, why go on a retreat and not just spend the weekend at home writing?

1. If I'm at home, my head is full of all the things I need to do at home and in my life. If I go away somewhere, those things can't be done and I can focus on something else.
2. Spending time with other writers on a weekend specifically for writing means most of the conversations are going to be about writing. My focus narrows.
3. Having a program to follow, keeps us all focused on what we're there for. The workshops are both specific and general enough that we can use them for our own wips or create a spark for a new plot.

Therefore, the retreat means I'll write a lot more than I usually would on any given weekend. I really need that at the moment because my writing time has become sporadic and that achieves nothing. I need a push-start to get it back to routine.
(The pics are from last year's retreat.)

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