Do All Writers Want to Retreat?
All my adult life I’ve dreamed of cabins tucked away in the woods or the idea of running a retreat center. As Sally Field said after a divorce, “I have a high need for alone time.” The extroverts in our lives are clueless.
The past six months have brought a new level of desire. I’m not just day dreaming about cabins. I’m designing them in 3-D, researching optional heating sources, looking at construction methods. It seems an impossible dream. My city-raised husband thinks our town of almost 200,000 is too small. There’s no way he’ll move to that cabin with me, especially if I plan to live off the grid.
I’m not sure what generates the desire for a retreat. I mean, obvious introverted behavior aside, I have a job, electricity, running water and the internet. Why the drive to give it all up (well, except the running water) and retreat to write in the woods?
Part of it may stem from the distractions of life. The job, the internet, even the husband, can distract me. I have no quiet place to go for my writing time and can’t always work another location into my schedule.
I am never alone except in the car for ten minutes twice a day. I’m sure this has caused stress for my introverted personality as well.
I dream actively and often of getting away for a week, two weeks, or a month. Just me and my notebooks, though I’d prefer electricity for a laptop. I imagine all the writing I could get done and how relaxed I would be. The truth is I’d probably do a lot of sleeping!
Is this yearning common to all writers or just the introverted ones? Have you ever taken a writer’s retreat? Was it worth it?
I think it would be great to be able to go retreat, hasn’t happened yet though and not likely to for a few years! Certainly that craving for some solitude is something I feel, though, like you, I imagine I’d probably end up sleeping a lot rather than actually getting a lot done
BJ – I dream about it ALL the time too. My daughter bought me a model cabin and I stained it and painted the roof. It sits near my writing space. Like you, I don’t seem to have a designated space and I get easily distracted; kids, dog, wildlife, internet. While I don’t see a real cabin of my own in the near future, I have researched renting one in a State Park here in Fl. I’ve been to one park that has cabins on a lake (near Orlando) and I plan to get away for 3-4 days some time in 2010 (maybe more if possible). It’s way cheaper than cabin rentals in the mountains.
I like your article. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one distracted by this wonderful idea. Best of luck,
Vicki
Wouldn’t it be great if a bunch of writers timeshared a cabin somewhere? It could be loaded with bookshelves (and books of course), writing utensils, and lots of coffee! Also, a cabin journal would be cool to leave there so they can all share their experiences.
—-that’s me dreaming again.
Vicki
Now that would really be nice. A cabin in each 100 mile radius, too!
I dream of winning the lottery and converting an old office building into individual writing offices that writers could rent at really low prices. And, I also dream of my cabin far off in the woods or by a lake. To find somewhere to be alone and guilt free about it is my dream of dreams.
yes, I definitely want a retreat and you have actually spurred me on to organise one for myself – the novel really needs some attention
Hi again. Just rebuilt my site and added you to my Links page. So I clicked it to make sure it took me here and well… here I am, so I guess all is working well. I’ll be around to say hi more often.
Even Virginia Woolf said writers need a room of their own. And I don’t think a weekend cabin rental from time to time to write is such a bad idea at all!