Several months ago, I wrote about the concept of an artist date. Championed by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way, an artist date is a period of time that you set aside every week to do some activity that will support, and even kickstart, your creativity. It doesn’t have to involve spending a lot of money – or even any money. Checking out a museum or gallery exhibit, going to a concert or play, browsing in a store for supplies, even taking a walk – all can be considered artist dates, as long as you go by yourself. That’s the one non-negotiable thing. Nobody can invite themselves along, or talk you into doing something with them instead of your artist date; you pick the activity and the time, and you do it by yourself. The aim isn’t to turn into a hermit, or isolate yourself from family and friends; we’re only talking a couple of hours of solitude a week. Instead, the aim is to give your inner artist permission to come out and play. You might very well stifle that playful side of yourself if you have someone else along with you.
Two hours a week is great, if you can get it. But sometimes a writer needs solitude for a longer period of time – and I’m not talking about handing the spouse cash and the car keys and telling him/her to take the kids and get lost for the rest of the day. No, sometimes a writer needs a whole day to recharge those creative batteries. Maybe even two. I propose we call this kind of artist date an “indie author retreat.”
sometimes a writer needs a whole day to recharge those creative batteries… an “indie author retreat.” wp.me/p26xCM-6Gd
— The Indie Exchange (@IndieExchange) May 25, 2013
It’s not that weird an idea. I’m sure you’ve heard of a group of friends renting hotel rooms or a cottage together for a weekend of fun. This is along the same lines, except that it’s just you and your inner author in attendance.
And just like a regular artist date, an indie author retreat can be done inexpensively. For example, lodging at a state park is typically pretty cheap, and you can’t beat the scenery. In 2007, after I dropped off both my kids at college, I treated myself to a long weekend away at Pipestem Resort State Park in West Virginia. I wanted to do some hiking and appreciate nature. But I also knew that I wanted to start writing a novel, and so I made sure I spent some time that weekend planning it.
The eventual result was The Maidens’ War, my first published novel. I even used Pipestem as the setting for part of the book.
Granted, a retreat is harder to schedule than a couple of hours a week, particularly if you have family responsibilities. But I wouldn’t suggest that you go on a retreat every week, either, or even every month. My West Virginia retreat was six years ago, and I haven’t done another one since then.
That is, until now. I’ve just published the final book of the Pipe Woman Chronicles and I’m not quite sure what I’m going to write next. Conveniently, I had already planned a solo vacation in Alaska for the end of May. So I’m going to spend some time on this trip doing the preliminary planning for my next writing project. I don’t intend to start writing it yet – but who knows? Maybe I’ll be inspired.
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