My first ever DIY Writing Retreat is over and I’m very positively surprised how much I got done, how quickly the time went and how much I enjoyed the weekend!
When we last talked on Friday, I had decided what should be part of the day and had a template schedule. Before I went to bed, I filled in the boxes with the specific activities. The only thing I didn’t fill out was the topics for focus for the sets of 3 x 30 Writing Sessions on Sunday. I wanted to see how things went on Saturday before deciding what I would do on Sunday.
On Friday night, I had created a playlist on YouTube for the weekend, different meditations, writing exercises, yoga videos, etc. that I would pull up during that block. I didn’t want to waste time looking for something when the time came.
I also planned out the lunches and dinners. I still made dinners and had prepped meals/leftovers for lunch. Most of the advice was to have it catered or have everything prepped but I actually enjoy the time spent making a meal (when I have the basics pulled aside and prepped) so I thought making my dinner would be a nice break in the day.
I wasn’t sure if I’d find the structure too restrictive but it worked really well. Even though I had a later start to Saturday than I had planned, it was easy to get back on schedule. Having everything determined ahead of time (the YouTube playlist, other resources marked or printed and ready), I just flowed from one thing to another. It was helpful to have everything queued up and ready to go because I didn’t have to think or find things (and risk getting distracted) and having made the decisions ahead of time left all of my mental energy for the writing.
Even the significant blocks of writing were easy and I wrote an average of 1,000 words in each 30 minute block. It was helpful to have “lighter” activities before and after the significant writing blocks. They happened before and after lunch, mindfulness preceded the first and yoga followed the second. I also strategically put these “heavier” blocks in the middle of the day rather than starting and ending with that writing.
I was happy to find the Reedsy Write In videos on YouTube. These are a great DIY writing exercise. I used one each evening to end the day of writing. The videos include some instruction, discussion and then have timed, guided writing sessions. The sessions are a great way to find some new ideas and just to have some free writing to let thoughts and words flow.
I will definitely do more of these in the future and they are a great way to create the illusion of a community or “live” lesson.
If you haven’t checked out Reedsy, the email and other courses, YouTube videos, writing contests and other tools, I strongly suggest checking them out. Their lessons are very focused and very accessible. They are all done in done to earth language with lots of examples and links to other learning.
It was a great weekend and I look forward to doing it again! I would follow a similar schedule, it worked really well. I don’t think I’d make changes to the basic framework. I’d also make sure I had the bottle of wine again, I had a glass of wine with the final writing of the night and it was a nice treat.
There are a few things I would do differently or have more prepared:
- Make sure you let the people in your life know that you’re “out of commission” for the weekend. I had a family member pop by, not knowing what I was up to. It worked out all right, they understood and I was able to get back on schedule after a quick visit.
- I would prep more of the food and have some healthy snacks ready. What I did worked well but it’s just one more thing that I wouldn’t have to worry about and one more way to reward/pamper myself during the process. I think that it’s important that the weekend doesn’t just feel like a forced write-a-thon.
- I’d like to find more guided journaling videos. I happened to have one in my email from a previous course that I hadn’t done and it was such a great way to start the day. On Sunday, I created one from a video I found on YouTube but it had poor audio and some things I knew wouldn’t work for me. It worked but having something guided helps balance the blocks of independent writing with the feeling of having someone on the journey with you.
I’m mixed on the thought of pairing up to do this if I did it again. I do find that the community, company and accountability would be helpful but I also enjoy maintaining control of the schedule and activities and not having to be right on time. Not quite sure where I land on this yet, guess we’ll see as I do more of these.
Have you done something like this before? What did you learn? What would you do again? Or not do again?
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