As a writer and writing coach, I have always been a big fan of writing retreats. We all need retreat time to turn within, connect to the muse, recharge our batteries and take our creative work or journaling deeper.
It’s great if you can go away to a formal writing retreat where everything is organized for you and you have a writing teacher leading you. I teach retreats like those, usually in places of great natural beauty, and it’s a joy to see how participants can truly let go and relax into their writing when they are away from the duties and demands of home.
But sometimes it’s just not practical to go away. As a working writer, I’ve found ways to create mini home retreats so I don’t have to take a big trip away. Home retreats are easy to slip in to a weekend or other short period of time so you have access to this wonderful creative nourishment anytime!
Here’s how to set up a writing retreat for yourself. A day is a good way to start if you haven’t done one before.
CREATE THE SPACE
First, we need to set a boundary around our retreat time. Whether it’s a day, a weekend, or longer, the whole point is to retreat. That means stepping back from our interactions with the world and our availability to others. Tell friends that you won’t be socializing or answering phone messages and texts. If you are a parent, ask your partner or family to take the kids away for the day. They can have their own fun trip or sleepover while you are holing up at home – that way it’s a treat for everyone.
PREPARE FOR YOUR RETREAT
Obviously you will buy any writing supplies in advance, but also think about what else will support you. Would you like some incense to create a retreat atmosphere? A beautiful bouquet of flowers in your writing area? Perhaps you’ll splurge on some fancy ice cream or special chocolate.
Definitely shop for food in advance. I always think it’s important to have food that is delicious and nutritious and something I enjoy, so my retreat becomes self-nurturing on many levels. Plan what you are going to eat but keep it simple so you don’t spend all day cooking and cleaning up. Maybe you’ll make a pot of soup in advance or have the slow cooker filled with ingredients and ready to rock on the day of your retreat. Either way, enjoy feeding yourself with healthy food and also make sure there are a few treats thrown in!
THINK ABOUT YOUR SCHEDULE
It’s unrealistic to think that if you are going to do a writing retreat, that you will actually write all day and do nothing else but write all day. It’s too much. Of course, there are those rare occasions when the creative impulse is so strong that actually you might find yourself writing for a straight 9 hours, looking up at the end with a dazed expression and realizing that you just skipped several of your superbly planned meals! But most often we need to spend chunks of time doing different things around the writing.
It’s nice to have a balance. Maybe get up, write for an hour in the morning when you are still in that glorious space between dream time and the so-called real world. Then eat, write, schedule time for a walk, watch the birds, take the dog out or do your yoga, your exercise, your meditation, or play some loud music and dance, then another writing session, and so on. So often, creativity strikes when we are doing something other than writing, some activity where we connect with nature or move our bodies, and it’s great to mix it up. But make sure these activities are quiet and contemplative activities, or exercise and movement. Don’t fall prey to the lure of technology, which leads me to my next point…
UNPLUG FROM THE WORLD
Seriously, turn off the phone, unplug the internet, unplug everything. You can’t retreat if you are tweeting, texting, talking or playing video games. These do not replenish us nor allow us to fall into the sweet spaciousness that a retreat provides.
As a writing coach, I’ve seen in the last few years how much harder it is for writers to turn off their technology and communications and settle into their creative exploration. This is one of the reasons that writers need retreats now more than ever. The 24/7 communications lead to distraction and a pressure to keep multitasking. Studies have shown that multitasking decreases attention span, empathy and emotional IQ…. all things we need to be a creative person.
So for your one day or one weekend or however long you plan your writing retreat, allow yourself to unplug, turn away from the demand to be doing five things at once, and just allow yourself to be you, now, in this present moment, writing your heart on the page.
It might feel strange at times if you are used to a full-speed-ahead life. But the stranger it feels, the better you are doing in creating this sacred space for yourself!
CREATE A RITUAL
When we go away to a retreat, the event automatically feels special because we are in different surroundings, we are being catered for, we are being led, everything is different to the way it is at home.
When we take a home retreat, it helps to have some rituals that also create an atmosphere to lift us out of our ordinary life. This can be as simple as lighting a scented candle or a type of incense that we only light when while on a writing retreat. The aroma creates a sacred space and reminds us… oh, now I’m doing this, not my regular life. Or play a piece of music to signal the start of your retreat, or sip a special delicious tea or take a bath with essential oils… any sensory experience that marks a boundary as you exit the everyday world and enter your inner creative time.
You can also take a walk around the block at the beginning of the retreat and then as you re-enter the house and close the front door behind you, you say out loud, “Now I’m on retreat!” Or as you walk into the writing area you are using for your retreat, deliberately choose to leave behind your ordinary world and responsibilities (they will still be there later!) and again state: “This is my writing retreat.”
SHARE A RETREAT WITH FRIENDS
It’s also lovely to create a writing retreat with a partner or friends and I often do this. Everything is the same as a solo retreat, but we all agree to keep silence during the day and do our own thing, perhaps with a shared meditation or yoga session or a group silent walk if that feels right. Then in the evening we meet up over dinner and share our writing, share our process and how the day has gone for us. This is a really sweet way of doing a retreat with the support of a group.
You might be surprised at how just a day or weekend of writing retreat can refill the well of your creativity and also replenish you on a personal level. So if you are at all tempted to take a writing retreat, I encourage you to do so. Start with just one day… and enjoy!
Tania Casselle is a writer for magazines, book publishers, and online media. She also coaches writers and leadsonline writing seminars including the successful Write to the Finish online course by phone and email for writers working on a book. She leads in-person writing workshops and retreats in beautiful places, usually teaching with her husband, the Hemingway award-winning author Sean Murphy. See more WriterMuscle posts or sign up to receive future Writer Muscle updates – down-to-earth advice from a seasoned writer.
“The Times are Urgent. Let Us Slow Down.”
This is a quote from Bayo Akomolafe, and it speaks perfectly to my heart. The message might sound counterintuitive, but for a writer — or any kind of creative or contemplative soul — this is exactly the heart of things.
I had a chance to meet Bayo at the Spiritual Directors International 2019 conference, where we both presented. He is a poet, philosopher, and the Executive Director of The Emergence Network.
I have often heard Buddhist teachers say something along the same lines when referring to meditation. The schtik goes something like:
QUESTION: “What do I do when my life is so crazy with so many crises to juggle that I can’t even find 30 minutes a day to meditate?”
ANSWER: “Meditate for 60 minutes a day.”
I’ve heard that Mother Teresa said similar things. She was apparently once challenged about the fact that she and her sisters took an hour a day to stop work and pray, in the midst of caring for the many suffering souls they tended to.
The challenger objected: “More people than ever need your help… the lines are long and the halls are full of people seeking aid. Surely Mother Teresa you should adjust your schedule instead of withdrawing to pray for an hour?”
“Yes, you are right,” Mother Teresa replied. “There are more people to care for than ever. We really need to pray for two hours.”
So what does this have to do with writing? I would say that the busier your life is, the more important it is to slow down to attend to your soul work… your creative work.
We cannot keep putting energy out – taking care of the logistics and business of life, supporting our friends, our family – without pausing to refill the well inside us.
When we slow down to write, we are essentially slowing down to listen. We listen to the inner voice that whispers truth to us. If you are spiritually inclined, you might interpret this as hearing the soft breath of God, or the pulsing heartbeat of the universe. We can step out of the bustle and into the flow, the Tao, being present in the moment.
So, I can hear you saying: “That sounds fabulous Tania, but what does that actually mean? What do I do? I have a busy life, bills to pay, everyone needs me, I don’t have time to write!”
I would suggest that if you are THIS bogged down, then you do not have time NOT to write.
This is all assuming that writing is your creative call. If photography is your call, or painting, or knitting, or playing the flute….. well, you get the picture.
How to slow down? Start simply. Slowing down is not meant to be a burden, but a gentle relief.
1) Make an Intention to Slow Down
Decide that you are worth the time, the step back, the pause. Realize that actually if you don’t get the time, the step back, the pause, you will soon be so burned out that you won’t be any use to anyone.
Sometimes this requires some internal discussion and discernment – usually we are our own worst enemies when it comes to our sense of duty. ESPECIALLY women! You women know what I mean. We think the whole world turns according to how much energy we put into keeping the globe spinning. We have to sacrifice ourselves! But this is such faulty thinking and not in the best interests of the people we love and who love us. We are better spouses, parents, and friends when we are rich and refreshed with our own soulful connection to our writing.
2) Make a Commitment: Retreat into your creative work for a few minutes a day.
Block out 15 minutes a day to start with. Perhaps just 4 or 5 days a week. And use that time to write. Sit down and let yourself relax into a freewrite or stream of consciousness write on this prompt:
* “Everything I really want to say.”
The next day do a freewrite on * “Everything I don’t want to say.”
Or pick a prompt from a book like Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg, or choose a line from a favorite poem, or just start writing and let whatever is waiting inside you pour out.
Be patient and loving with yourself. You don’t have to achieve anything. You don’t have to perform. You only have to slow down for a few brief minutes a day and listen to yourself, hearing what your heart has to say.
Our families won’t notice the 15 minutes a day that you are writing. But I promise you: You will.
Tania Casselle is a writer for magazines, book publishers, and online media and also a developmental editor for publishers and individual authors. She also coaches writers and leads online writing seminars including the successful Write to the Finish online course by Zoom and an online learning platform for writers working on a book. She leads in-person writing workshops and retreats in beautiful places, usually teaching with her husband, the Hemingway award-winning author Sean Murphy. See more WriterMuscle posts or sign up to receive future Writer Muscle updates – down-to-earth advice from a seasoned writer.
Insiders’ Guide to Albuquerque (Globe Pequot) by Tania Casselle was a finalist in the 2011 New Mexico Book Awards, and won second place for a nonfiction book in the 2011 New Mexico Press Women Awards.
The 150,000 word first edition of Insiders’ Guide to Albuquerque gives the inside scoop on:
Any freelance writer who spends hours calculating business use of home expenses for their tax return might shout a fervent “hurrah!” when they hear about the new simplified home office tax deduction option. But writer beware – the easy option could cost you dollars.
Read my full article explaining and comparing the two home office deduction methods at The Word, published by the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
My first visit to Taos was during a road trip around the Old West, a world away from my home in bustling London. On my final day, I drove alone to the Río Grande Gorge Bridge, walked out to the very center, gazed into the river far below, and vowed out loud that I would return to Taos one day. “One day” turned out to be a couple of months later…
Read 25 Reasons to Love Taos in full, online at New Mexico Magazine, March 2013.
My series of articles for MSN.com Re:Discover included a Get Involved feature on giving back to the community.
Duke City citizens who come across a wounded baby mule deer in their backyard know exactly where to take it for first aid: Wildlife Rescue Inc. of New Mexico. Since desert, mountain and forest wilderness surround Albuquerque on all sides, wild animals often make their way into the metro area, to their own surprise, as well as the locals who find them…
→ Full Clip: Rescuing the Wild
See all articles for MSN.com by Tania Casselle as part of this series on Albuquerque, New Mexico.
My series of articles for MSN.com Re:Discover included these character profiles as part of the Albuquerque travel guide.
→ Full Clip: Following a Passion, Preserving a Legacy. When tinsmith Jason Younis y Delgado goes to work, he brings Albuquerque history alive.
→ Full Clip: Discovering the Call of the Wild. Albuquerque Wolf Whisperer Stephanie Kaylan left her L.A. life as a professional jazz pianist and studio musician to settle in the mountains. (“And I ain’t moving!”)
→ Full Clip: Inspired by Albuquerque’s Hidden Treasures. Performance poet Carlos Contreras secured his place in Albuquerque history as a member of the city’s winning 2005 National Poetry Slam team.
→ Full Clip: Historical Hospitality at The Spy House. Kara and Steve Grant run the bed-and-breakfast where an American sold atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets in one of New Mexico’s most notorious espionage cases.
Ramblin’ Round Ruidoso
15 Discoveries in New Mexico’s Year-Round Retreat
by Tania Casselle for New Mexico Magazine
First-time visitors to the friendly mountain resort of Ruidoso are often stunned by the dramatic beauty of the landscape surrounded by the Lincoln National Forest, with 12,000-foot Sierra Blanca, southern New Mexico’s highest peak, dominating the skyline.
That’s partly because Ruidoso flies under a lot of people’s radar, even though regular vacationers are intensely loyal—and probably don’t want too many people to know about it. Well, apologies to Ruidoso fans, but this charming town just has too much going for it to keep the secret.
→ Full Clip: Ruidoso travel feature online at New Mexico Magazine, June 2012
Chapter in Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market 2013 (Writer’s Digest Books) by Tania Casselle.
“What’s your best tip for new writers?” That’s a question I’ve asked more than 50 authors in radio interviews, and they’re often quick to reply: “Read! Read a lot. Read with a writer’s eye.”
It’s advice that newer writers sometimes take with a grain of salt, perhaps suspecting that those already on the publishing ladder are just trying to sell more books. And even if we do take their advice, what does it mean to read with a writer’s eye? We don’t want to sound like someone else, we have our own voice and style. So how can reading other people’s work practically help with our own writing?
Chapter includes interviews with authors Pam Houston, Lisa Tucker, John Dufresne, John Nichols, Robin Romm, Tara Ison, Don Waters, Robert Wilder.
