This past weekend I went on a writing retreat with my local writer's group. I've been a member for a year but haven't had a chance to meet many beyond the few I sit by each month. This retreat offered me that, plus the opportunity to help with my resolution of finishing my book.
The retreat was only an hour's drive, and when I arrived and found the cabin, members were already with their laptops writing. Whoa! This was going to be serious.
We ate three meals a day at 8:15, 12:15, and 5:45. We had to hike to and from the dining hall. This helped with the exercise portion of my resolution, not to mention, with the eating of a fruit and vegetable. Having someone plan and cook my meals was HUGE.
Contemplating a chef for my 2019 resolutions.
The cabin had ten rooms, both upstairs and downstairs and slept, twenty people. My roommate was a woman I'd only spoken to once, and that was when I told her I really liked her hair. I was worried she'd be a bit concerned after my admiration, but she couldn't have been sweeter, never complaining about my snoring. I don't think the woman moved in her bed at all while she slept. But then again, we were tired when we hit those twin beds.
The upstairs group turned out to be fun. We opted to spend most of our writing time upstairs, occasionally venturing downstairs for ice, the exit to the outside, or for flamingo punch and popcorn. We had so many snacks both up and down that there was no way we were going to starve. I had brought almonds and grapes for a healthy choice. I ended up returning home with those items.
My seat was the couch on the left, where I left my laptop plugged into the outlet the entire weekend. I'd go from the couch to the floor to a chair. I don't think I've sat this much in my life, and all my jobs were butt-planted-in-a-chair jobs. We wrote after breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner, and way into the wee hours of the next mornings. Saturday, we had our regular meeting and were joined by those who didn't spend the night. We had a meeting room in another cabin and two speakers. While that took up a good portion of our day, I learned tons.
I got to know most everyone in the cabin. We talked about our families some, but mostly we talked about our craft. It was exhilarating to communicate with like-minded people. No making fun of the genre, no judging, just women chatting about our crazy fantasy-in-the-head lives. After a conversation regarding my plot, I had a breakthrough and have been writing daily like a fiend. If not for anything else, that retreat gave me that.
Now, if I can just see my way to the finish...
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