Friday, September 11, 2020

It’s Writing Weekend/ our monthly virtual retreat

 I’m not sure if I’ve written here about two of my very long-time writer friends and colleagues who I’ve been retreating with usually two times a year for 20 years. When Covid hit in March, we knew our time together would be seriously impacted, and I concocted the idea to have a monthly writing weekend where we meet virtually. 

Each month we pick a weekend, I select a location, choose a rental home, and send them photos with an elaborate and fantastical plan for how we’ll get there. It’s all make-believe, but it gives us something to look forward to. When the actual weekend happens, we meet via Zoom, doing the thing we usually do when on real writing retreat: gather for meals and discussion, write in between those times, and end with an after-dinner cocktail and critique session where we read work out loud to one another.

We’ve all come to treasure these weekends and I think we’ve all been surprised at how effective they are in terms of refocusing us on the writing work. We celebrate publications, discuss issues we’re struggling with, read out loud from what we’re writing, and hold one another accountable for meeting deadlines and digging out of stuck places. It’s wonderful.

So tonight I’ll be in the garret, sitting at my desk, with dinner and a glass of wine, ready to Zoom to Key West and a 3-bedroom, 2 bath houseboat. I’ll be sitting here:



But in spirit, we’ll be here:

2 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

What a great idea! The houseboat looks very tranquil. Have a lovely weekend!

billie said...

The little slice of the photo of one of the beds somehow embedded itself and I can’t get it out of the post! But yes, it seemed like a nice virtual getaway - and we had a wonderful Zoom meeting tonight. Thanks so much! Hope you have a lovely weekend as well.