Good morning, Writers!

After last week’s post, I received tons of private emails asking me about planning a retreat. Thanks for your interest!!  It seems clear that writers (especially far away from the East Coast) want to know how they make their own events.

So today, I’m going to give you a few tips. (at least, the important ones)

Note:  If it sounds like too much work, you can always call me! (I love planning these events and I don’t mind traveling!)

For those who are ready to dive in and organize, let’s talk!

Tip #1:

Give yourself some time.

For the last nine years, I’ve been a co-organizer of the Novel Writing Retreat at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  I am a big believer in the power of a safe, inspiring writing community, and it is one of the most humbling things I do—making this experience happen for others. But even with all this experience, we need time to plan. We need to contact faculty. We need to talk about lectures. We need to reach out to potential participants. Every year we take many months to plan our event. We think about everything that could happen. We stay flexible.

If you are not flexible, this is HARD work.

Tip #2:

Start with a mission.

What do you want to happen at your event? Do you want quiet time? Or lectures? Critique opportunities? Time to read out loud? Do you want to unlock the subconscious? Talk marketing?

When I began planning the novel writing retreat at VCFA with Cindy Faughnan, we decided to offer the retreat to advanced writers. (For us that means: published writers, writers with MFA’s, or writers who have completed a draft.)  We wanted our retreat to be a time to talk craft ONLY.  Over the years, we have added a writing track to the traditional critique track. It allowed us to include more writers who might want to come hear lectures and write. Every year we evaluate what we offer and what we could offer. We look at our area and the other events. We find a time that doesn’t compete with other events.

If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, it’s hard to market your event!

Tip #3:

Know your strengths.

As an organizer, it’s good to know what you do well.

Not good at making a schedule? Hate talking to a group? Understand what you can offer to a group and then find someone else with different skills to help you.

I like chatting.

Tip #4:

Location, location, location.

Place is important in books. It’s essential for a retreat.

If your retreat is a small group or sleepover, a big house or hotel works fine. But for large groups, you may have to rent a space. This is a big expense, and it makes a big difference. A good facility can make add comfort or personality to your event.  It’s important to keep track of your budget, knowing you will have to pass on this expense to your retreaters.

It’s okay to rough it, but then the retreat should cost less.

Most important Tip #5:

What do you want????

And I don’t mean your characters. I mean…you. As an organizer, you can think about the other classes and conferences available to you. And you can plan your event to fill a niche. That includes bringing in faculty that YOU want to learn from.

Be honest!

Don’t like getting out of the house or even your PJ’s? I also teach online classes for writers.com. And I think that community is just as potent and supportive. (There is nothing more exciting than teaching! I learn so much from all my students.) If you are willing to communicate often, an online retreat can also be a great experience. For LOTS of writers.

The final word: remember: making a retreat is a big responsibility. People spend hard earned money to attend. Writers are people with dreams and hopes. Writers often work without any feedback or recognition. When you step up to plan an event, you will have the honor to meet new people, to inspire them, to help them take the next step. This is an amazing feeling. I hope these tips inspire you to try it!

Have a happy writing day!

If you are looking for a great online class, registration is open for Sarah’s Manuscript Review at writers.com. for this September. It’s a WONDERFUL experience. Email me with q’s!

Good morning from my lonely kitchen table!

The kids are gone. The coffee’s hot. It’s time to write!

Writing is mostly something I do alone (and I don’t think I’m alone on this). Although occasionally, I go out into the world to write at a café (my favorite is the King Arthur bakery, because it smells so good!), I mostly stay home. At my desk.

I’m VERY lucky to be able to work from home–there is not a day that I don’t appreciate my husband for making this possible–but  sometimes . . . sometimes . . . a girl needs to get out of her PJ’s and hang out with some other writers.

(This is also an example of how NOT to sit at a desk…..)

About three times a year, I go to retreats, organized gatherings of writers specifically designed to unlock the subconscious and kickstart my WIP.

Some of these retreats are loose and casual. No lectures. No planned discussions. Others are highly organized. Today I’ll talk “in the general.” Next week, we’ll get to specifics.

WHY RETREAT???? 

Obviously, we writers need feedback. We need to talk about the craft of writing. That’s why critique groups form. But getting together for an overnight with a few writers ALWAYS breaks me out of my shell.  At my favorite retreats, I have to do something scary…like share my work.

Great idea #1: At every retreat I attend, we organize an “open mike.” Each writer reads out loud for a short period of time. These readings are useful for a number of reasons: they provide recognition. (You’re a writer!!! You’ve been heard!!) Plus, there is NOTHING like reading your work out loud to understand what you have and haven’t done. A few weeks ago, I read a piece and realized that I forgot to insert the main character’s name. Hearing myself read helped me figure that out fast.

Retreats help you learn the craft!

I write better when I’m learning, when I am engaging in the “conversation.” When I can stay up all night talking about craft, it always works to unlock some idea I’ve been avoiding! Although I’m a girl who usually needs her sleep, this marathon of discussion always works to weaken my resistance to some new idea. It helps me reconsider what I need to make my draft work.

Great Idea #2: Can only get away for one night? Have a writer sleep over! Even two other writers (and a good meal) will do the trick. Do you have a writer friend who can get the conversation started? Even better.

At this year’s Novel Writing Retreat at VCFA, Bruce Black talked about the connection between yoga and writing. It was amazing! That theme helped me figure out a lot of ideas for my WIP.

When you retreat, you find out you’re NOT alone.

As writers, we all face the same problems: we edit too much. Or we experience fear…fear that our writing won’t measure up, won’t sell, won’t be reviewed well, won’t be read . . .

FEAR is a big problem. Every day we walk into the unknown. Our internal editors put us down.

When I retreat, I get to hear how EVERYONE feels that way.  We talk about it and figure out ways to deal with it.

Great Idea #3: Use your retreat to SET GOALS. Make yourself accountable not just to yourself, but to your work. Look ahead at your year and acknowledge when it will be hard to write (daughter going to college, family events), and when it will be easier. Know WHO YOU ARE….what are your other responsibilities? By setting short, medium, and long term goals (and that includes movie premiers….) WITH YOUR WRITING FRIENDS, you say

I CAN DO IT!!!!!

It means you are saying:

I AM A WRITER!!!!

(Remember: every time you meet a goal, you get to celebrate!)

Next week, I’m going to write about a few specific retreats that are open to writers. In the mean time, let’s discuss: how do you create community? How do you stay connected to the writing world??? What tricks do you have for meeting with other writers???

Sarah Aronson teaches online writing classes at writers.com and organizes seminars and retreats. She believes that getting out of the house can help you stay motivated!

Many of you Mixed Up File readers are teachers, parents and/or writers yourselves so you are familiar with the concept of PAGE FRIGHT. You may have heard your students or children complain “I don’t know what to write!” You may have even said those words yourself. Writing a story is a daunting task – as much for the seasoned writer as it is for the fourth grader in Language Arts class. Writing a novel is even more so. There is so much to think about! Currently I am halfway through a historical novel and there have been several (many?) days where I’ve felt overwhelmed with the task I’ve set out to accomplish.

“Why can’t I just write a nice, short picture book?” I lament.

Because you don’t write nice, short picture books, my subconscious says. Not well, anyway.

It’s at this point that I pull out two great tips from two great middle grade writers. These two tips have been, to me, like life preservers in the rough seas of novel writing. The first is from Lisa Yee, writer of MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS among others. A writer friend took a novel-writing workshop from Ms. Lee and passed on her idea of only thinking about writing one scene/chapter at a time:  I can’t write a whole novel! But I can write one chapter.  It’s kind of like the new-age mantra of ‘living in the now’ versus worrying about the future. I don’t know what’s going to happen to my characters at the end of the story, but I can be with them right now, in this one chapter and write that. Little manageable chunks that, added up, will eventually become a novel! Hooray!

The second helpful idea comes from Bruce Hale, writer of many humorous MG books, including the CHET GECKO series. He spoke, via Skype, to our SCBWI chapter on writing humor and at the end, had time for questions. I asked him if his first drafts were as funny as his final works. “OH, no,” he replied. “My first drafts are filled with placeholders that say ‘SOMETHING FUNNY HERE.’ I fill them in on following drafts.”

This idea was eye-opening to me. No longer did I have to struggle to get every word, every phrase, every fact, worked out in my first draft! If Bruce Hale could use placeholders, why couldn’t I? How freeing to write (WEATHER DESCRIPTION HERE) and (CONVERSATION WITH MOTHER HERE) and (NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HERE), knowing I would get to those things at a later time. Meanwhile, I can stay with my characters in my current chapter and keep the momentum moving forward. Double Hooray!

Now it’s your turn – what helps you or your students conquer that dreadful condition of Page Fright? I’d love to add a few more tips to my toolbox!

Beverly Patt is hard at work on (HISTORICAL FICTION TITLE HERE) in her suburban Chicago home.

 Note: There is still time to win a Skype visit with Rosanne Perry. CLICK HERE to post a comment and enter into the drawing. (The winner listed towards the end of the post is the winner from a previous giveaway, so don’t be fooled. Enter your comment now!)