by Deborah Walker
It’s the liminal space between Christmas and New Year, and I’m dreaming of a writing adventure for 2025. There are some wonderful opportunities such as Clarion, Milford, Odyssey, Viable Paradise, offering residential and online experiences: workshops, retreats, residencies in faraway places—on the seas, in European castles, on cowboy ranches—with famous and fabulous writer-mentors and a dozen new writing friends.
I want to do them all.
Imagine, a week of writing immersion and friendship. My stories improving in leaps and bounds. In a few years, my sales are through the roof, I retire my other half, there’s a movie in the works, (but I’m not famous). I want to level up. I want transformation. If I go to one of these events, my writing will finally be everything I want it to be.
But transformative writing experiences are often expensive, selective, and have significant time and travel commitments. Like many of us, I’m pushed for time and troubled by the cost-of-living crisis. This is going to be another year when the opportunities pass me by. I’m disappointed. It seems like these workshops are out of my reach and will always be so.
So Many Writing Choices
Downhearted, I do what I always do in these situations, I complain to my writing friend, Sylvia.
And one of us, probably Sylvia, because she’s much smarter than me, suggests a DIY writing retreat. I’m all over this idea. We need to decide what kind of experience we want and how to do it on the cheap.
- Retreat: Go somewhere different; write on your projects. In your free time, talk with other writers.
- Workshop: Learn craft, often from a famous writer, through lectures, workshops, and feedback, and from peer-led critique.
- Residency: Go to a special place and write, often with a commitment to create work for the host.
A DIY experience is undoubtedly different, but in some ways it’s superior. We can tailor our writing adventure to our whims.
Join me in a snapshot tour of our writing retreat, and let me suggest ideas for planning your own.
An Idea Is Born
It’s a week later, things are moving fast. I’m in a mini panic. I’m hosting the retreat, and it feels like a lot. I take a deep breath and start planning. Planning is work. Decide who’s going to do it. Consider travel, budget, and time restraints. Also, how many days will this particular retreat be?
Snapshots from Our London Libraries Retreat
It’s early January 2025, and we’re embarking on our London Libraries Retreat. It’s exclusive, just me and Sylvia, using resources I previously didn’t know existed—all for the cost of a week’s public transport. We’ve planned a real-life, seven-day retreat visiting free libraries and other free writing spaces.
We begin at the National Art Library in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Take time out of your day-to-day schedule—it may be a few hours, a day, a week, a real-life or online retreat, on your own or with others.
We’re at the Wellcome Library, sitting in the foyer. I’m thinking about the curator talk I’ve just listened to, thinking about the transformation of lead into gold, eating my packed lunch, and drinking Bovril from a flask. How much is the retreat budget? Who’s going to do the cooking?
The next day, we’re in Wetherspoons, a British pub, enjoying breakfast. We worked for a couple of hours at my dining room table, so this is our second venue of the morning. Moving to a new place gives me a surge of energy. I must remember this when I get back to real life.
We’re in the British Library, which is free, like all the writing spaces we visit. London is a great place for writing, but you can do this anywhere. Google free places to write in your location. Libraries and museums are good places to start. Consider a spot of travel to widen your net. Write in nature. At a writing friend’s house. In a cheap cafe. On public transport with your rucksack as an unsuitable desk. Do you have a room of your own? (I have a settee of my own. Sadly, my family doesn’t acknowledge this.)
We’re on the tube. I’m reading a craft book. If you want to work on craft elements, consider this unsurprising detail: Writers write books. Pick your favorite craft book, work through a chapter, do the exercises at the end. And we’re part of an incredibly generous community; there are lots of free craft resources on YouTube and on podcasts.
We’re marveling at the neoclassical clutter in the Sir John Soane’s Museum, listening to music in The Guards’ Chapel, we’re in the Tate Modern. If you’re out and about, seek inspiration in your new surroundings. Attend free events, visit special places. Fill the creative well.
We’re walking fast along the dark Southbank. We’re late for a concert. I can see the Shard, but I can’t seem to get to it. I’m worried, but, wow, the view of the Thames at night is mighty pretty. Not everything is going to go perfectly, and that’s fine.
I say goodbye to Sylvia for a few days. Flexibility is our superpower. Sylvia takes the weekend off to visit other family and friends (and possibly to get respite from me).
We’re walking through a park. I’ve only a vague idea of where I’m going, but that building looks a bit familiar. Hold on a minute, isn’t that Buckingham Palace? Don’t forget to enjoy the location.
We’re walking along Holborn Viaduct, chattering like mad about writing. Sylvia really gets it. Find your writers online or in real life and schedule some time with them.
We’re alone in the National Archives study room. Sylvia is critiquing my pitch to Planetside (how very meta). Schedule critiques, co-working, or discussion sessions with other writers. Receive feedback on your work, and develop critical skills along the way.
Planning the Next Retreat
What a fabulous week yomping around London libraries. Writing can be hard at times, but it’s also a gift. Let’s have some fun with it.
We’re at the Quality Chop House, it’s been a very successful week, we’re celebrating our final day and already planning the next retreat. I wanted to attend a special writing event, but I couldn’t afford it until I realized just how rich I was.
We created a writing retreat that was everything we needed it to be, without breaking the bank. It makes me wonder what else we can do.
Editor’s note: Have you tried building your own writing retreat? What worked for you? We’d love to hear about your experiments, whether they were successful or chaotic. Pitch us your DIY retreat stories, and let’s keep the conversation going.
Deborah Walker lives in London with her other half and her two grown-up children. She’s published hundreds of short stories and a half-dozen novels. Her stories have been translated into a dozen languages. Find Deborah in the British Museum, trawling the past for future inspiration.