What I intend to achieve on my writing retreat.

by Addy Farmer

Into the writing cave

retreat

verb

1.
(of an army) withdraw from enemy forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat.
"the French retreated in disarray"

synonyms:
withdraw, retire, draw back, pull back, pull out, fall back, give way, give ground, recoil, flee, take flight, beat a retreat, beat a hasty retreat, run away, run off, make a run for it, run for it, make off, take off, take to one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, make a quick exit, clear out, make one's getaway, escape, head for the hills;

2.
change one's mind or plans as a result of criticism or difficulty.
"his proposals were clearly unreasonable and he was forced to retreat"

synonyms: change one's decision, change one's mind, change one's attitude, change one's plans; More

noun
1.
an act of moving back or withdrawing.
"a speedy retreat"

synonyms:

withdrawal, pulling back, flight;

"a counteroffensive caused the retreat of the imperial army"

Sometimes running is a sensible option

So, you get the idea that this is about a retreat and why not? Well, I can hear all three of you SHOUTING, "Actually there are quite a few reasons why not!" Steady on. I understand. There are:

the children ...

I swear there were only 3 children ...

the job ...

work is fairly full on

the money ...

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery." Mr Micawber

Fair enough but if you can scrape together the means and you have the organisational skills of someone RIDICULOUSLY well organised (I do), then a retreat is a Good Idea. Why?

Sometimes you just have to go far far away in order to find the head space to get the job done and I have a job to do. That's my excuse anyway. I have been to 'writing' retreats with other people and found myself just having nice chats or admiring bees or thinking about what's on the menu. Because whilst there is time to write and often the stimulus to write, there is still too much going on for my tiny brain to actually get down to some Sustained Serious Writing. So I am retreating alone for seven days of no-one else and no bothersome other jobs tugging on my thoughts. I can eat when I want, write where I like, grow a beard, dispense entirely with personal hygiene and there's NO INTERNET. That should just about do it.

Sitting on top of a pillar in the desert could be your thing but poor old Simeon Stylites still had visitors

So, I am going to North Wales to sit inside a cottage and complete the first draft of my mid-grade VERY funny novel. Or, I am going to North Wales to sit inside a cottage and have nice chats with the bees, admire the walls and wonder where the next meal is coming from. In the meantime and to make you happy, I leave you with advice from lots of writers about writing. Which you may wish to read when you are not writing.

Wish me well and I'll see you on the other side of story mountain.

The Ninja Art of Writing

by Paula Harrison 

At this moment, around the country, writers are creeping ninja-like to their desks. They sneak downstairs early in the morning before anyone else is awake. They lurk at the computer late at night when the house is quiet. They smuggle notebooks into hand bags and rucksacks and hide them in bedroom drawers ready for that moment at 1 am when a really great plot idea will burst into their brain.

I should know. I've done most of the above and more.

There's no doubt that writing fiction is a little bit addictive. Maybe it's the experience of being in control of a fictional world the way we're never really in control of our real lives. Maybe it's the pull of trying to produce something beautiful or powerful or completely hilarious. Most of us pursuing these dreams need to create as much as we need to breathe. During times when I've taken a break from writing I've found myself *trying* to make music, throw pottery or paint pictures instead. The muse never sleeps.

Where does this urge to create come from? I've no idea but to me it feels like it's something divine. Before I wrote I felt as if something was missing from life. Once I began it was hard to understand why I hadn't started sooner! Since then I've been writing pretty consistently and only tried to give up once in 2010. The Undiscovered Voices competition (run by SCBWI) is an amazing thing and hats off to all those involved in running it. But for me as an unpublished writer, 2010 was the second time I'd failed to get anywhere and when the results came out I made a serious effort to give up writing entirely.
I was tired. I was fed up with form rejections and frustrated with not knowing whether I was any closer to getting published than I'd been ten years before. I was working mornings with young children who had just started school and I'd been spending every afternoon writing. Suddenly I had so much time! Housework was done. Phone calls got returned. Family members were fed new and delicious meals. I lasted two weeks until the itch to write became overwhelming and I gave up on giving up. I'm so glad I didn't succeed!

Why must we be ninja in our writing? When we're unpublished, people  - especially people who don't know us well - may cast doubt on our identity as a writer. Well you can't be a writer if you haven't got a book out, can you? Of course you can. If you're writing then you are a writer and no one can take that away from you. However, to avoid doubtful looks and comments of "So you want to be the next J.K. Rowling" it's good to be a bit ninja. Our nearest and dearest will usually be supportive but occasionally that's not the case. Most people have no idea how long it takes to hone our writing skills and get published. (For most people, including myself, it takes a really long time.) Also, if you keep your writer identity a secret from more casual acquaintances, it becomes easier to listen in on conversations and pinch snippets for your story. All the better to improve your dialogue with, my dear!

But how much time should we steal for writing? This can be an incredibly tricky judgement. Many of us have children or other family commitments. Many of us have day jobs. How can we take time away from our loved ones to write? I've struggled with this for many years. I think in the end, if we listen to our internal voice, we'll know whether we're either short changing our loved ones by writing too much or short-changing ourselves by not prioritising our own needs.

Ninja writing has many advantages.  If all you have is half an hour writing time during a baby's nap or an office lunch break, this can make you extremely focussed in your writing. Being able to pick up where you left off is a great skill and one I'm not so good at now that I have more time to write. Ninjas are masters of the surprise attack. This was very much my writing style in the early days when I had no more than a handful of minutes to scribble at a time. There was a definite thrill to it. Being able to write anywhere is also a skill to be nurtured. Train and car trips turn into an opportunity for scribbling and being out of the house can be very freeing. Stories that seemed stuck can be given a kick start by simply going somewhere else to write. New sights and sounds stimulate the imagination.

Various places I have written:
In a field, in a car park by a lake, in an airport, in a shopping centre, inside numerous cafes, on trains, in soft play venues (until the laptop battery ran out), on a ferry, on a hay bale, inside an ice sculpture (chilly) and in a royal palace.

So consider being ninja in your writing. You never know where it may lead. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a computer I'd like to sneak off to.

Paula Harrison has published 25 books including the Robyn Silver series, the Tiara Friends mysteries, the Red Moon Rising trilogy and The Rescue Princesses.

Blogger deleted my post so here's a video

I wrote a long, long post about how I'd just pressed SEND on my next book and what I had learned about the author I was and wanted to be.

It was a long, thoughtful post.

And then I pressed 'save' ... and the post was deleted.

I couldn't possibly remember everything I wrote this morning, but hopefully some of it will seep into my future writing. Sigh.

So in lieue of any wisdom, here is beauty.



I was watching these gorgeous birds from the deck of our holiday lodge in Coldingham Bay, Scotland.

Have a wonderful summer.