The long weekend I spent earlier this month at the Highlights Foundation for an Unworkshop writing retreat now almost feels like a dream. Time moved differently there. The words flowed during the uninterrupted hours of writing, my fingers moved swiftly on the keyboard, but in the moment, time went slowly. Yet when it was all over and I was back home, it felt like the weekend had flown by.
Did it really happen? (Yup, I got the bill for the tolls in the mail just the other day.) Did time stand still while I was there? (Nope, I had to go grocery shopping the day after I got home because of all the food the kiddos ate while I was gone.) So not a dream, and I really do have over 5,000 words written for my next middle grade book.
If you have the means and time, I would definitely recommend a writing retreat. And I recommend going with a friend (or five). My writing friend Katlyn Duncan and I went together, and it was so nice to have her there. She created a schedule for us and was a fun driving companion. We ate all our meals together (the food is as good as everyone says it is!), kept each other accountable, kept each other company during most of our writing sessions, and even took a nice hike one day.
Katlyn vlogged about her experience, and it’s well worth the watch to get a feel for what it’s like there. We’re working on planning a group retreat for next fall!
The Highlights campus in October was the perfect place to start the draft of my witchy, mean girls story. Maybe too perfect a place. Another writer who was there for an Unworkshop happened to have stayed in my cabin when she was at Highlights last year for a workshop. She told me of a ghostly encounter she had one night, and it promptly freaked me out. I lay in bed that night in the dark and couldn’t fall asleep. It was just so quiet! And, as you can imagine, with three growing boys, quiet is not something I’m used to.
Unfortunately I haven’t cracked that document back open since being at the retreat. I’ve had freelance work, author events, and this never-ending Elixir book to work on in preparation for it releasing next year. All good stuff, but that witchy story is itching at my mind, just waiting for me to scratch it.
I’m hoping to use the excitement of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November to get back into the draft. Katlyn and I have already scheduled a few writing meet-ups for the month. Anyone doing NaNo this year? My username on the website is ktlc1113.
Thank you for sharing, Katie. So glad you were able to go with Katlyn. I’ve been three times to specific sessions and each one felt magical. I certainly hope to go again. I’m considering NaNoWriMo. xox Donna
Good to hear from you, Donna! They have some amazing sounding workshops and faculty. I’ll have to try to get to one of those some time. Wishing you all the words next month! xo
I added you as a buddy! Thanks so much for sharing my video, I love your pictures! See you for our writing sprints š
Buddy request accepted! Looking forward to our writing sprints, too!
Katie, so lovely that you had this chance to dive deeply into your work. Highlights really feeds and cares for the writer’s soul. No Nano for me, but I hope to have the umpteenth revision of my historical done by the end of this year…before the kids come home for Christmas. Crossing everything for a productive fall and winter, for all of us.
That’s a perfect description of what Highlights does for writers. I think I’m going to be doing a duel editing on one story and drafting of another in November, so a sort of participant. Wishing you a productive end of the year, Vijaya!
Did you mean for the barn photo to be sideways, or did some gobbling play an early trick? š I’m glad you are having productive writing time. Thumbs-up!
Just WordPress being WordPress…for some reason, vertical photos show up sideways on some browsers some of the time. Thanks, Mirka! š
Wow! Sounds like you had an awesome, inspiring unworkshop!
It was awesome, Barb! So glad I went.