When we decided my tween daughter would take a nine-day vacation with relatives, I felt a little giddy about all the free time I’d have and the possibilities. I decided to create my own writer’s retreat and work on two personal book projects – one I’m wrapping up, and another I’m just starting.
I wrote “NO DEADLINES” across those nine days on my calendar, and told my regular writing clients I would not be available.
When a new-to-me editor emailed two days before my retreat started and offered some ongoing, well-paying work, I said, “Yes, but I’m just about to leave on vacation.”
In 18 years of freelancing, I don’t think I’d ever taken a vacation where work hadn’t come along. Here’s what I learned from taking nine days completely off from paying jobs and working only on my own projects.
Nobody batted an eye
Just as I regularly accommodate other people’s vacation schedules, it turns out other people are willing to accommodate mine, too, and without a second thought. (The new-to-me editor said, “Okay, when will you be back?”) It’s an important realization for a freelancer.
Taking a break gives you time to think
I had a couple of breakthrough ideas and realizations about my books. I’m certain both only happened because time away from my routine let me think more deeply about my projects and their next steps.
My writer’s retreat worked best when I left my office
The day I stayed at home because the water heater needed a repair, I didn’t get much done. But the following morning, a friend and I sat with our laptops on couches at the Volcano House Hotel, about an hour from my Big Island home. We sat and wrote before a floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking an active, glowing orange volcanic crater. My laptop and I spent the afternoon in a koa rocking chair next to the hotel’s lava rock fireplace and its lovely, crackling fire (the hotel is at 4,000 feet). I also treated myself to lunch and dinner at the hotel, both meals leisurely and absolutely delicious.
I spent a night and two full, great days at an oceanfront resort hotel on the other side of the island, listening to ASJA conference downloads on the 90-minute drive each way. I wrote in my hotel room, rewarded myself with a break in the pools and Jacuzzi every few hours, and enjoyed room service.
Closer to home, I wrote on a lanai next to a pool and the sound of the ocean more than once, and at two different Starbucks. Away from my usual distractions, I got a tremendous amount done at all these places.
It’s great to meet up with other writers
At writers’ retreats, you meet other creative sorts, so I contacted two local writers I only knew online and met each for coffee.
And someone suggested I schedule a phone call with a different writer on each day of my retreat, and I did. Making friends with nine other professional writers from seven U.S. states and Canada was a highlight. One of them told me I inspired her to schedule her own personal writer’s retreat.
My retreat was a great success, and tremendously rejuvenating, and I will definitely do it again.