How To Plan a Writing Retreat

When I was working on my first manuscript back in 2011, I got by with odd jobs which involved a lot of sitting: babysitting, petsitting, housesitting. Each time I housesat, I used it as a small writing retreat, and treated it like paid writing time. The experience of packing and setting up shop from anywhere between a weekend to a month taught me these tips on planning a writing retreat:
 

Assess Your Time + Location

Where are you going? How long will you be there? You’ll want to set manageable goals that reflect the amount of time you have on your trip. You’ll also want to consider if there’s anything specific to that destination that can help the project you are working on, or your craft in general—is there a sightseeing excursion that would help your research? A local bookstore you’ve been following online that you’d like to visit in person? Is it a place you regularly visit or have access to, so you can just go to write?

Review Your Projects

What are you currently working on? What other projects are on your to-do list? What types of tasks do they require? Do an honest appraisal of their status and project to-do’s to determine what would work best for the amount of time you have and the destination of your retreat.
 

Self Reflection

Similar to reviewing your projects, take a moment for self-reflection. How are you feeling? What do you need to be able to tend to your art? Creative labor is emotional labor, and a retreat is an opportunity for work and self-care. Be honest with yourself about what you need, and what you can do, to make the most of your retreat. 

Set a Simple Goal 

It can be easy while you’re creating at home to think that a retreat will be a panacea for all your project challenges—and then set unrealistic goals for your retreat. The previous prompts can be used to set a simple, manageable goal based on where you are going, what tasks are on your to-do list and how much time you have to tend to them, and what you need as a creator.