What’s So Great about a Writers’ Retreat?

Hi everyone, today we welcome author Patricia Stoltey as she tells us about Writers Retreats.

For the third year in a row, I attended the fall writers’ retreat for members of Northern Colorado Writers . Each year I go with a project and a goal, and each year I put my nose to the grindstone, stay off the Internet, and get more productive writing done in one weekend than I usually accomplish in a week.

The great thing about a retreat of this type, or a well-run conference, is that a writer’s energy is contagious. When many writers gather in the same place, the energy grows and spreads. Everyone feels it and works even harder. We writers spend plenty of time alone. An opportunity to absorb the shared enthusiasm and excitement by working alongside others is worth the price. In this case, meals included, the cost was $385 plus the writer’s contribution to the wine and snack supply. It seems like a lot until you discover how much work you get done.

The retreat begins mid-afternoon on a Friday and wraps up around lunchtime on Sunday. This year we were once again at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch near Loveland, Colorado. Sylvan Dale is a working dude ranch in gorgeous surroundings. The Wagon Wheel bunkhouse, located by a river, has a separate bedroom for each participant, and private bathrooms for most. We took our main meals—two excellent dinners and two unbelievable country-style breakfasts—in the Antique Dining Room.

Kerrie Flanagan, the director of Northern Colorado Writers, sets up a schedule for us to follow. That includes the opening round-up, during which we declare our writing goals, and a closing round-up, where we report on our accomplishments. There are designated quiet writing times plus a few optional opportunities for chatting, playing games, or watching the Saturday night movie. If a writer wants to escape his bedroom, he can access common rooms, balconies, or porches, or he can sign up for a horseback ride or take a hike. Coffee, hot water, and snacks are always available in the bunkhouse kitchen.

Everyone respects quiet writing time, even when getting one more cup of coffee or raiding the goodies. A writer perched on a rock by the river with a pad and pen or hanging out in one of the common areas with his laptop is still safe from distraction. I tend to do most of my writing in my room, but I try to get up every hour or so and take a walk (usually for coffee, but sometimes to do a few dishes or go outside to listen to the river rushing over the rocks).

The first year I attended this weekend retreat, I added 13,000 words to a work in process. Last year, it was closer to 15,000 words. This year, I printed out a completed manuscript and did a full read and final edit. I even had time to enter all of my corrections into the file copy on my laptop and format the partial for submission to an agent.

I didn’t log my time this year as I’ve done in the past, but I estimate I spent eighteen hours on my project. I participated in the Friday night games (the Bananagrams word game is a lot of fun). I skipped the movie on Saturday night—Freedom Writers, which I’d already seen. I didn’t skip any of the meals (that would never happen). Like all of the others, I was very happy with the work result.

There is one really bad thing about the NCW retreat, though—it ends way too soon.

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Patricia Stoltey is the author of two mysteries published by Five Star/Gage and Harlequin Worldwide, The Prairie Grass Murders and The Desert Hedge Murders. She is searching for an agent for her new manuscript, a historical women’s novel called Wishing Caswell Dead. Patricia is the Member Liaison for Northern Colorado Writers. To find out more about her books and her activities, visit her Website and her Blog .