Writing is an isolating endeavor. We do our work alone, behind closed doors, laboring for months or even years before we might have something to show for it. Our friends and family usually mean well, but it’s easy for them to misunderstand us, discount the effort and time required, and distract us.
Does this scenario feel familiar?
Lather, rinse, repeat ad infinitum.
Or maybe you decide you’ll write on Saturday, when you have more energy. Except you go out with friends on Friday night and stay up too late. Or you have a sick kid who wakes you up in the middle of the night. So you sleep in. When you finally drag yourself out of bed, you see the dirty laundry in the corner, a few days’ worth of dishes in the sink, and a pile of mail you have yet to sort and deal with. You tell yourself this stuff matters more than your writing project, so you do it first. But it takes the rest of the day, and once again, you get one or two sentences written before you crash.
We get it. We meet resistance at every turn too. It’s a very real and very strong pull against the creative life and the discipline of writing. And we can hardly blame our friends and family for not taking our writing seriously when it’s so tough to take it seriously ourselves.
So if we really mean to write, if we are serious about this craft, we have to take definitive action to prove it, both to ourselves and to others. We have to get our writer feet hopping. We have to schedule time, pay some money (so we won’t bail at the last minute), leave our regular lives, shut out the distractions of that never-ending to-do list and the well-meaning but unhelpful people—and just write.
Does this scenario feel familiar?
- You set your alarm for 5 a.m.—no one else in the family is awake at that time. Surely then you can spend uninterrupted time writing your book.
- When 5 a.m. comes, you can hardly rouse yourself enough to turn it off, and next thing you know, it’s 7. You’ve lost your quiet window of writing time.
- You decide to write on your lunch break. But coworkers invite you to lunch, or one of them hangs around your desk talking the whole time you’re eating. So much for that writing time.
- You promise yourself you will write after dinner. But a friend texts you to see if you want to grab drinks. You haven’t seen them in a while, so you go.
- When you get home, you pull your laptop out, and then fall asleep on the couch after typing two sentences. Your alarm did wake you up at 5 a.m., after all.
Lather, rinse, repeat ad infinitum.
Or maybe you decide you’ll write on Saturday, when you have more energy. Except you go out with friends on Friday night and stay up too late. Or you have a sick kid who wakes you up in the middle of the night. So you sleep in. When you finally drag yourself out of bed, you see the dirty laundry in the corner, a few days’ worth of dishes in the sink, and a pile of mail you have yet to sort and deal with. You tell yourself this stuff matters more than your writing project, so you do it first. But it takes the rest of the day, and once again, you get one or two sentences written before you crash.
We get it. We meet resistance at every turn too. It’s a very real and very strong pull against the creative life and the discipline of writing. And we can hardly blame our friends and family for not taking our writing seriously when it’s so tough to take it seriously ourselves.
So if we really mean to write, if we are serious about this craft, we have to take definitive action to prove it, both to ourselves and to others. We have to get our writer feet hopping. We have to schedule time, pay some money (so we won’t bail at the last minute), leave our regular lives, shut out the distractions of that never-ending to-do list and the well-meaning but unhelpful people—and just write.
What if we could do that AND meet others who get just how hard AND how important it is to write? Who also need to get out on that roof and move their writer feet?
If you don’t live in a place with a dedicated writing organization, or if the one in your area isn’t a good fit for you, finding your people can be hard. Imagine if you could surround yourself with people who support you and your writing and also take time off-grid to write. Imagine a whole crew of writers on a hot tin roof, tapping away with you.
Impossible? Hell no.
You’re invited to spend a weekend with us in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. You’ll get your own room (unless you want to bring a friend—or make a new one!), delicious food, writing workshops if you want them, and social activities with other writers who take their writing as seriously as you do.
If you don’t live in a place with a dedicated writing organization, or if the one in your area isn’t a good fit for you, finding your people can be hard. Imagine if you could surround yourself with people who support you and your writing and also take time off-grid to write. Imagine a whole crew of writers on a hot tin roof, tapping away with you.
Impossible? Hell no.
You’re invited to spend a weekend with us in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. You’ll get your own room (unless you want to bring a friend—or make a new one!), delicious food, writing workshops if you want them, and social activities with other writers who take their writing as seriously as you do.
This November 18-20, Red Pen for Rent is hosting an all-inclusive writers’ retreat at Providence Lodge in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina (not far from Asheville). We’ve reserved the entire lodge, so everyone around will be writers like you. If you want to participate in workshops on developing dynamic characters, writing memorable scenes, writing in ways that guide your readers’ imaginations, and preparing for the business side of writing and publishing, you can. If you want to walk around the lake, hole up in the library, or retreat to your room for hours, you can do that too. Join us for social activities or take a nap. It’s up to you. The only rule is that you take time to write.
In addition, when you register for the retreat, you can also sign up for a private face-to-face consultation with Founder and Senior Editor Alissa McGowan and Marketing Director Joy Bennett. We'll answer any questions you have about writing, editing, self-publishing, marketing, and selling your book.
Join us! We’ll be writing our fingers off this November. We’d love to meet you and help you succeed.
In addition, when you register for the retreat, you can also sign up for a private face-to-face consultation with Founder and Senior Editor Alissa McGowan and Marketing Director Joy Bennett. We'll answer any questions you have about writing, editing, self-publishing, marketing, and selling your book.
Join us! We’ll be writing our fingers off this November. We’d love to meet you and help you succeed.