Writers love to attend writing retreats. And why not? You schedule time to just write. You may think writers do this all the time--just write and write and write with occasional food, bathroom, and sleep breaks. Unless you make a living as a writer (and even sometimes when you do...) you don't.
Like all of us, we have different interests vying for our time. There's the work that pays the bills. There's things that need doing around the house. There's other issues that you can't plan for that crop up. Don't get me wrong--I love spending time with my family and I'm blessed to be able to spend more time with them than many people I know spend with their families. I can honestly say there's no place I'd rather be than at home surrounded by my wife and kids.
But every now and then, the opportunity to gather at a remote location (i.e., any place that's not your home...) and just write. Break out the laptop and try and wear the letters of the computer keyboard.
I have been fortunate enough to befriend many authors in the past half decade plus. I've been lucky enough to spend time with amazing people in my life and the author tribe takes a backseat to none of them. They're giving, honest, mostly humble (the ones I've gotten to know...) and full of support. For example, my friend Dave opens his house--literally--to a few of us each year. He and his family go out of their way to make us feel welcome, to foster an atmosphere of where creativity can flow. Most years--like this year--I'm unable to stay for the entire week. Maybe one day I'll get that chance, but for now, a couple of days will do.
A sign of a good writing retreat is silence, or very little talking. There's a half dozen of us and for most of the day, all you could hear was typing. Many of us have been here before. We greet each other not only with, "how's your family?" but "what are you working on?" Before dinner we'll compare notes. "How's the writing going?" or "How much did you get done today?" Again, mutual support is something these guys share.
In this particular writing retreat it's customary, after dinner is over, to put away the computers, break out a board game (and we're not talking Monopoly here...) and enjoy each other's company. I have played the games in the past, but last year and this year, I've chosen to keep writing, to continue working on the story. It's mostly because I'm not a huge board game guy. It's fun, but by the time I've halfway figured out the game, it's pretty much over. Maybe one day I'll figure it out, but for now, working on my story will do.
I've been to Utah Jazz games where I ate dinner at a very exclusive club and watched the action from literally the front row--my shoes could touch the basketball floor. I've told people, when they ask what that experience is like. I say I've caught a glimpse of how the other half lives. A writing retreat is like the same thing. No, we don't get unlimited prime rib, steak, and all-you-can-eat dessert, nor can we say things to the referees and players that they can actually hear, but it's the way I imagine the "other half" of writers live--spending all their workable hours writing, creating stories, editing, and cleaning up their creations to make them the best they can be.
Of course, I could yell things at Dave, but really...what's the point of that?
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