Writing Retreat Recap: Unforgettable Journey with Incredible Characters

A few weekends ago, I actually took a "real" writers retreat.

By this, I mean a retreat that I did not structure and one that included other writers - as opposed to my one-person, at-home writing retreats that I have taken in the past.

This was also a retreat that I paid to attend. When I participate in a "just me" at-home writing retreat, I don't charge myself - although I do draw up goals and task myself with attaining them. I just don't plunk down any cash. I don't even treat myself to coffee that's not already in the cabinet.

Anyway, I wanted to take a week or so to distance myself from the retreat, reflect on the experiences, and then share my thoughts in this blog.

For background on the retreat and why I signed up, read this post.

Note: Ralph Walker, our retreat master, is hoping to offer this retreat to other grouips. For that reason, I will be vague on the particulars.

But I will say we worked on characterization and plotting. 

Also, ee all had to be currently working on a novel. For me, that was Call of the Siren, the second novel in the new BryonySeries trilogy Limbo.

OK, here are my thoughts.

1) The retreat master was highly organized and invested into making this a fun and informative experience.

The weeks leading up to the retreat consisted of prompts and a few pieces of "homework" that needed to be completed in advance. This wasn't drudgery. It was more like passing the appetizer tray in the waiting room.

Ralph also asked us for our goals, so he could build the retreat around us being able to meet them. 

And he did not bite off more than he could manage. He capped the retreat at twenty or so and left it there. So if you wanted in, you had to commit in advance.

The price was reasonable for two days (Friday night into late Sunday afternon): around the $120 mark.

A week or so before the rereat, we received a box with the a large binder with all the Zoom links, topics, discussion questions, additional resources for characterization and plotting, index cards, graph paper, and quite a few DO NOT OPEN envelopes.

The box also contained a variety of swag: stickers, beads, candy, coffee, tea, coffee mug, all of which delighted Rebekah, who likes suprise boxes.

But even Rebekah respected the sanctity of the marked envelopes.

2) It was fun.

By "fun," I mean Ralph had the event so well-structiured I forgot I was on Zoom.

On Friday night, we met as one large group - and we did the same on Saturday night and at the closing. It was a mixture of information, sharing, and very casual networking. 

Alcohol was allowed Saturday night.

Except for me. Because I can't drink alcohol with the medication I take.

But I had so much fun, the dark roast coffee sufficed.

This sounds bland on paper (computer), ugh.

But we joked, laughed, did silly exercises to break the weird ice of  introverted writing strangers meeting other introverted writing strangers on Zoom.

It worked.

We got loud. We got animated.

We really, really, really had lots of fun.

3) I met some really awesome writers.

On Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon, we'd meet in "homeroom" and then Ralph broke us into small groups.

We worked on exercises and applied various techniques to our writing.

We opened the mysterious envelopes and answered questions and pop prompts that put us on the spot and challenged us and stretched out abilities - and we did all this together.

We shared elements of our work and gave feedback on the work of others.

We exchanged emails and Twitter handles. (Note to self: I now need to be better at being more present on social media. So - I have some work to do).

4) I relearned some things.

I don't know everything there is to know about writing. But I do know a lot because I have studied craft and dilligently worked on my craft.

But before I sound like a Miss Smartypants, I also must stress that no writer can call up every technique at every time and apply it at the right time to every writing situation.

Also, hearing a certain tip in a new way forces writers to look at their work with fresh perspectives.

And this is what happened to me.

In random bursts, we were instructed to do "this" or "that" to our writing in terms of characters or plots. 

Now sometimes I had just written a scene that accomplished the goal.

But most of the time, I could apply the instruction somewhere else.

So before I "wrote off" the prompt, I examined my outline to see where the current instruction might fit.

This resulted in the creation of new scenes and the shifting of others as a result of Ralph's prompting. 

And it gets better than that.

Since the retreat, some of these prompts will pop up in my head. My mind then immediately asks, "Where can I apply this?" 

As a result, I've added even more new scenes and expanded still others in ways that really impact the structure of Call of the Siren in very satisying ways.

Side note: As Ralph walked us through one very simple plotting technique, I kept thinking, "I wish other members of WriteOn Joliet were here." No lie. 

Perhaps it's because I have read an impossible number of fiction in my life, I have an almost instinctive feel for structure. But "instinct" doens't go very far when a writer is looking for concrete direction.

I now know one way.

5) The Finale

Just before the retreat ended, we had one last DO NOT OPEN envelope to open. I won't tell you what it was.

But I will tell you, it was anything but random. And that was the one moment where I nearly cried.

Now any writer reading this blog post that attended this retreat might think that I blundered on the name of the retreat when I titled this recap blog post.

The name of the retreat was "Unforgettable Characters and Incredible Journeys." And the retreat delivered it.

But, for me, the retreat itself really was an "unforgettable journey with incredible characters."

Because I really did embark upon an unforgettable journey with some incredible characters - Ralph and the other writers who shared their works, their thoughts, their very valuable time, and some honest vulerability in order to perfect the common thread that tied us all together.

The telling of really good stories.