A Sea View

I wrote everything by hand first; it has to go through my body before it goes on screen.

The breaks were so long, I couldn’t wait to get back to my text – but I wrote more.

I told my reader I was writing something for her to read now, so I had to write.

So many texts need my attention – there’s polyamory in academic writing.

Writing is not a task – it’s communication.

Community supports us in this labour.

These are some of the things people said on my last writing retreat. People work in such different ways, but being in a room with a sea view for two whole days helped us find a way of talking about it together. And maybe try a different approach. It gave us fresh perspective.

At key points, especially at the day’s end, I often ask the writers what they want to say to their text. Out loud. I do it too – it helps you to see what’s going on and how you feel about it, to let go and get going. We said – “I hate you right now, you’re ugly.” But also “you’re good enough” and “I feel much better about you this morning.” Or “you’re ready for some other readers now” and “you will be great.”

The sea view really helped. Outside the window, we could see the ferries going to Sweden, and the sailboats, and the gulls. But we were so high up, we couldn’t see or hear people doing things. Standing on the balcony as the clouds scudded by felt like being on board ship.

Myself, I got something written that had no particular deadline but I’d promised to do months ago. I sent the draft, and the recipient shot back across the ocean: “gotta love writing retreats!”

new retreat dates – seuraavat retriitit