What is a writing retreat and is it worth it?

Do you have a book that you just can’t seem to finish? You might need a writing retreat! 

A writing retreat allows you to separate yourself from your normal life and focus only on your book and your amazing writing ideas. That means, no kids, no work, no spouse, no dirty house, nada!

Sounds amazing right? There are a couple of ways you can participate in a writing retreat. 

1. You can create your own writing retreat in your own home
2. Attend a writing retreat at a destination or virtually

Both can be very effective if you know how to set yourself up for success! 

The purpose of a writing retreat is to create an unusual scenario for yourself to allow you to just… write. Your normal scenario doesn’t allow for endless hours of writing.

I know what it’s like to try to write books when you’re gone all day, come home to take care of the kids, get them to bed, want to stay up to write but feel mentally and emotionally exhausted and end up thinking, I would rather sleep. 

Writing a book as a busy woman is like swimming upstream in the rapids. You’re more likely to drown. 

Trying to find the time is hard. Trying to find the energy can be harder. This is why writing retreats are so valuable!

If you’re interested in attending a small writing retreat for women only, check out this retreat happening 2024.

Let’s pretend that you are creating a writing retreat at home. Here are some things to consider:

1.) Pick a date

The best way to develop an EFFECTIVE writing retreat is to find a day or weekend on your calendar where you have NOTHING else going on.

You need as much time as possible to just focus on writing. If you have Dr’s appointments, parties, or work events, this will take away your focus and your time. 

PIck a day where you get to hog all your focus to work on something you’ve probably been dreaming of for a long time, which is writing a book. 

2.) Pick an idea

The best way to waste your time at a writing retreat is to use it for deciding which book idea to write. 

You should use a writing retreat for writing the book, not deciding what book idea to choose. 

To help you decide which book idea to go with, you should pick the idea you are the most excited about, the book idea that fits in the genre you like to read most and the idea that you already have a plot for in your mind. 

If you still need help deciding, enroll in the FREE Writing-Program. In this course, I take you from organizing your book ideas to choosing a book idea and how to execute your writing. Check it out! There are tons of valuable tips in there!

3.) Pick a plot

This might be something you could do at the writing retreat, but if you can, try to figure this out before you attend. 

Knowing what happens in the story will make writing so much easier and faster. 

If you don’t have a plot picked out you’ll either take time to map it out or write slower because you’re trying to accomplish two things at once, writing and planning. 

Mapping your story out beforehand will make your writing retreat an effective use of your time. 

Once you have all of these 3 things picked out, you can just write to your heart’s content! And this part SHOULD be FUN! If it becomes stressful, it might be because you don’t have a clear vision of the story in your mind. That’s ok. Keep writing! 

Your creative mind will work it all out eventually!

A writing retreat is the perfect way to write as much as you can as fast as you can. With these 3 things, your writing retreat could totally be productive and help you get your writing done!

Good luck! And hopefully, I’ll have the pleasure of meeting you at the next writing retreat!