My DIY Retreat
When my 8:30 am alarm went off the Friday before Christmas, I turned it off, rolled over, and groaned. It was day one of my DIY writing retreat. Including the Christmas and New Years holidays, I had thirteen days off in a row and planned to focus on the first half of a book. So everyday during the break I ate yogurt for breakfast, had a cup of coffee, then sat on the sofa and wrote.
The first day was nice. There was so much unused material that the words came to me easily. It reminded me of a first date -- when you know nothing about someone, you'll always have a lot of ground to cover. I had my pre-planned lunch (a turkey and pepper jack cheese sandwich on toasted bread with Thomy mayonnaise) and watched tv while I ate. I had dinner at 8 pm, and continued to write until midnight. I finished with 3,000 words, which felt like beginners luck, but I decided that that would be my daily goal.
The following days were similar. I slept till 10 am. Construction on the ground floor rattled the floor boards, and on a few of my retreat days I went to the local coffee shop. Everyone in that place was working, it seemed, and the tick-tack sound of other fingers on other Macbook pros, kept my pace up. For two days the heat was shut off for the repairs. I took hot baths and wore three pairs of pants and covered myself with a blanket. It was cozy.
The big surprise was that I reached my word count goal, but more importantly, I had so much fun. Everyday I smiled and laughed, I remembered what it was like to write for pure fun. I took three small social breaks to avoid being stir crazy: I hosted two friends on Christmas Eve and made everything early so I could still write until the second the doorbell buzzed. On Christmas Day I had a delicious, fun dinner with friends, and after right before New Years I visited with friends on the Upper East Side. As much as I used to fantasize about writing in total isolation, the social interruptions were perfect and it kept me from getting stir crazy.
But of course, the bough had to break. I couldn't be productive without sacrificing something. I got back to work and day dreamed about my characters. Because I am consumed with them my blog focus has suffered. Now it's mid January and I haven't written a single post. All this to say that my first 2020 weekly will come this week. There will be lots to report.