Snapshot Of A Writers' Retreat

The Romance Queens in their element! 

The Romance Queens is a group of writers who chat online about all things life, love and writing. Whilst chatting is one of their gifts from God, they’re also good at making plans. 
Plans to meet.
Eat Tim Tams. 
And steal time away from the ordinary for a few days of solid writing. I know this because I am one of the Romance Queens, and the only one who couldn’t make it to their recent writing retreat in glorious Queensland.

But because the Romance Queens are generous souls, they kept me up-to-date with their mischief progress on an hourly basis. Between the four of them, Andrea Grigg, Catherine Hudson, Skye Wieland and Nola Passmore, I heard FOUR daily points of view, often contradictory and always hilarious.

My inbox pinged all day and most of the evening with the latest version of their merry making and such high adventure should never be contained. I decided to interview these four and share with our ACW friends a little of their writing retreat, hosted by the lovely Andrea Grigg in her beautiful home by the sea.

Andrea ~ The writers' retreat was held at my home on the Gold Coast, Queensland, the second week of the Easter school holidays, April 12-19. Being together was terrific, but the perfect weather made it even better. We made the most of it and walked along Currumbin Beach, over beautiful Burleigh Hill and around the lake system where I live. There was even swimming involved! 

Once we'd exercised and breakfasted, it was straight into writing. Basically, we ate and wrote and ate and wrote. We went out for dinner at the local surf club on Cat's birthday and again for kebabs on Thursday night (a tradition in the Grigg household) but we'd always have another writing session afterwards. What a dedicated bunch!

Dotti ~ Dedicated, indeed. I don’t know what I envied the most. The morning swimming report or the writing sessions! Both, I’m sure.

Now tell us, why is dedicated writing time alongside other authors so important to you? 

All smiles at the Romance Queens' writing retreat

Andrea ~ I got a kick out of watching the others at work. Nola was totally focussed, but Cat and Skye were much more like me ... easily distracted! The best part about being together (other than having fun of course! ) was being able to discuss things then and there, bandy ideas around, brainstorm solutions. Nothing can beat that.

Catherine ~ Writing is such a lonely job - and one prone to make you a little crazy due to the nature of the craft. There's so much to learn, but stories burn in your heart, urging to be put on paper. Being with other writers reminds you you are not alone in doubting yourself - not alone in occasionally thinking "hey that scene I wrote is pretty good!" (And hating it the next day, loving it the day after that, then thinking it's award winning...You get the picture)

Skye ~ I love spending time with other authors! It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer, there’s always something new that can be learnt from networking, hanging out, and just having a good laugh with fellow authors. Who knows what could transpire? In between bouts of Tim Tams, morning runs, lamenting over the fact that I don’t have a paddleboard or kayak, something amazing could happen - even collaborative works…who knows?

Nola ~ When you commit to writing with others, it's like that time is sacred. You can't not write. You can't make excuses, you can't procrastinate until the muse strikes. You have to put derriere in chair and write. Since you're with other authors, you know they share the highs and lows with you. They know this is important and they're going to encourage you. They "get" you in a way that non-writers don't (no matter how supportive those non-writers are). The bonus of being with other Christian writers was that we were also able to pray for each other's projects and discuss controversial issues relating to Christian and mainstream markets. Plus it was fun being able to bounce ideas off of other people who are as crazy as you.

Heads down for hard work

Dotti ~ Did you set any personal writing goals before, during or after your retreat, or were you happy to see what came of it once you arrived? 

Andrea ~ I figured I wouldn't get a whole lot of writing done seeing as how I was the host and there were things to be done. I edited instead, so, while Nola achieved 10 000 words over 4.5 days, I lost 1500! I didn't mind at all - I got a kick out of seeing three happy campers.

Catherine ~ Before retreat I was really considering giving up writing for a multitude of reasons, perhaps none of them very good reasons but it felt real to me. I could not seem to get my first novel's introduction to flow right, and the standard I wanted to attain seemed too hard. I set some tasks for the retreat but didn't know what I would achieve out of the list.

I discovered I need to RELAX. This was my key word. I am the boss of my writing and since I've already decided I want to self publish, and I generally take constructive criticism well, I don't think I'm at risk of producing works I'll be embarrassed about. I just need to RELAX and enjoy the process.

Skye ~ I was really excited leading up to this retreat - and it wasn’t just because Andrea lives near the beach. :) I have been working on editing my work-in-process for some time, and I’ve struggled to find the motivation to pick it back up again after going through a stage of feeling that it was rather - well, lifeless in many aspects. Just prior to the retreat, Cat introduced me to a new teaching program geared towards helping authors with deep editing techniques. I went ahead and bought the first module. This started me on a whole new journey with my manuscript and brought back some of the excitement for the story. My personal goal before the retreat was to both continue studying these modules, as well as applying it to my work. During my retreat, I found myself someone distracted at times, but I was still able to plod through with moderate levels of success. Since returning back to the “real world” I am still excited, but need to discipline myself now to find that work/life balance so I can make the time required.

Nola ~ I had a goal to write 10 000 words on my novel during the four full days I was there.  The reason I was so specific is that I've applied to an Editor's Boot Camp being run by the Queensland Writers Centre in August and I need a full draft for that.  Not only would writing 10 000 words boost my word count, but it would also let me know whether I really could get this draft done.  I met the goal with time to spare.  It really boosted my confidence and showed that I can do it when I set my mind to it and have help from above.  

Happy Birthday, dear Catherine

Dotti ~ Taking yourself away from family and other commitments for a writing retreat often feels like logistical gymnastics. What did you achieve during the writing retreat which made it worth the sacrifice? 

Andrea ~ Hosting the retreat was easy. I planned the menus in advance and shopped the day before everyone arrived so it was all good. I have to say, my husband and daughter were wonderful about having three extra women in the house - mind you, they both worked during the day so they were only subjected to our craziness at night. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat which is just as well because apparently they're all coming back next year!

Catherine ~ Peace, relaxation - and more laughter than I've had in months. Need I say more? Oh yes I do - it was worth my husbands gratitude upon me returning to our kitchen, he he he. 

Skye ~ I can honestly say that regarding my work, I got several chapters through some deep editing techniques during the retreat, but spending time talking about these techniques with friends and being able to spend that time sharing about our journeys with our work was something that I found the most valuable.

Nola ~ It was definitely worth it.  I met my personal goal of writing 10 000 words, but I also learned from the others.  It was great to be able to throw ideas around with other authors.  I was the "ring-in" because the others were more in the romance genre, but we were all working on such different things. We spent some time one afternoon reading some of our work to each other and getting feedback. That was really valuable. Whether you were writing adventure, suspense, romance, historical or contemporary, I think we all learned from each other. It was also helpful to hear about different tools and strategies that others have found helpful. Plus it was a whole lot of fun. We had designated writing times, but we also swam, walked on the beach, watched movies, ate great food and generally chilled out. I'd love to go again and would definitely recommend it to others.

Dotti ~ So there you have it. The wrap up of a highly successful writing retreat with goals met and kindred spirits stirred for what we must all return to when the fun is over… the solitary world of writing.

Have you attended a writing retreat? What impressed you most about the Romance Queens’ week-long gathering?

Blessings

Dotti 

*****

Dorothy Adamek lives in Melbourne with her Beloved and their three gorgeous kids. 

She's the winner of the 2013 FHL ~ Touched By Love Competition, 
and the 2104 Inspirational Category Winner of the TARA Writing Contest. 

Enamoured by all things 19th century, she writes The Heartbeat of Yesteryear, Historical Romance - Aussie style. Come say G'day at her blog, Ink Dots. 

Where It All Began

By Elaine Fraser

In 2010 my husband and I traveled to Tuscany to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. We stayed in the wonderful Le Fontanelle in the Chianti region and lapped up the joy of being under the Tuscan sun.

One afternoon, overlooking a valley with terraced vines and pines, I sat on a lounger and wrote. Inspired by an incident I witnessed in a piazza in Aix-en-Provence, I wrote the opening scene of a novel.

After the trip, I put the notebook away, but kept thinking about how to develop this story into a full-blown novel.

For the next three years, I wrote the beginning three thousand words of the novel and visualised the rest of the story. I worked on three other YA books in the meantime, but in September this year I went back to where it all began.

I attended the Art of Writing retreat in Tuscany. It was fabulous to be in a quiet farming region with twelve others for the purpose of focusing on creativity.

We shared meals, classes and walks along quiet paths as we shared this precious time.

Going back to Tuscany where I had begun this novel was important. The setting took me back to that place where I imagined this story, and I was to be guided by three accomplished and encouraging tutors: Lisa Clifford, Jane Corry and Conrad Williams.

The daily routine of classes in the morning, personal sessions and writing time in the afternoon and evening Skype sessions with agents and publishers was an effective way to develop my novel.

Everyone was at different stages of their projects, and the sessions were designed to help us not only write better, but also to aid us in developing our projects to completion.

A key session, Writing From A Sense of Place, by Lisa Clifford, was fabulous. Lisa used examples from her books and the surroundings to help us develop a sense of place in our own writing. The session keyed us in to the five senses and the exercises helped us to bring life to our writing.

Jane Corry, who writes under four names, ran most of the classes. She is both an excellent writer and teacher. Jane’s sessions stretched us in our techniques and pushed our boundaries. We had a lot of fun as we worked alongside each other and read our work aloud. Everyone listened to each other read and gave encouragement with generous spirits.

The afternoons were spent writing on a terrace outside our room, on a hammock in the garden or in the gazebo. We had access to Wi-Fi, so could keep up with research or social media, however, I found that I hardly checked Facebook, Twitter or whatever. With notebook in hand, I wrote every day and late into the evening.

I had sent 3000 words of my WIP to the tutors and each one gave written feedback and talked through the suggestions they’d given me. In the workshops I wrote some parts of scenes and developed characterisation.

I also had the opportunity to discuss structure in individual sessions with each of the tutors. I was tossing around the idea of having three streams to the story the central character’s past and present as well as another character’s story. 

I was going round in circles trying to figure out whether to write in first person throughout or vary it between first and third.

By the fourth day, I’d nailed down a structure that would work, along with central scenes to develop and the point of view was established.

In the evening, the Skype meetings with agents and editors were interesting and gave us an opportunity to ask questions directly about anything to do with publishing.

Each of the participants had fascinating life stories and discussions around the meal tables were full of laughter and deep conversation. From England, Dubai, Australia, the USA and Italy it was a mix of culture and experience that was uniquely cohesive. Lifetime friendships were birthed in this group.

Mealtimes and aperitifs were times to continue discussions about our writing, however, as we all connected so well personally, as well as professionally, the discussions were a warm mix of exchanging life stories, discussing where we all were in our life journeys, as well as our writing lives.

Being in Tuscany caused us to be more mindful of our surroundings. As we wrote here, we absorbed the inspiration to be found in the landscapes, the warmth of the hospitality along with the local produce and wine. It was a stop in life that had an amazing effect on each one of us as the significance of where we each were on our spiritual, creative and life journeys.

In setting aside a week to be mindful in our writing, we also became mindful of our surroundings. Each moment became an inspiration, a spark and memory that will enrich our lives and creative work.

My primary goal in attending the retreat was to get direction for my novel. The bonuses were that I was encouraged to finish my book and to pursue publishing, along with making some special friends.

I think that’s why it’s worth going on journeys. They take you out of your comfort zone, heighten awareness and open up your soul in ways you never imagined. 

My next writing adventure will be at the Christian Writers’ Conference near Melbourne. Perhaps I’ll meet you there!

Elaine Fraser

Author 

Beautiful: beauty tips for the soul

Too Beautiful: more beauty tips for the soul

Perfect Mercy Book #1 Beautiful Lives Series

Love, Justice Book #2 Beautiful Lives Series

Find out more at: www.elainefraser.co http://www.elainefraser.co