#WW: On Refilling the Well ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

My friend Shay coined the term (at least in Kristina-Land) "refilling the well". I've used the phrase many times, and a lot of people take it as a vacation - sitting beside a lake or beach or mountain and simply contemplating the silence or a place in the universe. I suppose, in a very literal sense, it could mean sitting back and contemplating.

Every fall, our writer's group takes a long weekend to refill the well. We call it Brainstorming Weekend. Last year we brainstorming 20+ books, wrote a ton (my workcount for the weekend was around 20,000 words), and laughed so hard my cheeks went numb from smiling at one point.

In our sense 'refilling the well' is less about being silent and alone, and more about being surrounded by other writers - talking writing, actually writing, plotting full stories, brainstorming smaller scenes...you get the picture.

I think the key to a weekend like this is to know what you want to get out of the retreat before you leave.

These are questions I ask as I'm prepping for retreat: Do I want to plot a series? Finish a book? Figure out character motivations?

Knowing the answers to these questions helps me narrow my focus. From that narrowed focus, I sit down with my planner and look at what deadlines I have coming up. I look at promotion plans I've started. I look at books I've wanted to write but haven't had time to start working on. I look at my business plan for the six months after the retreat to get a sense of time-frames for contracted and uncontracted projects. From there, I make a list of 3-5 things I want to accomplish at the retreat. One of those things is always a close-time goal (like X-number of words toward my closest deadline), another is a long-term goal (like, a 'closet project' that I've though about but haven't pushed forward on), other goals might include something not book related (like coming up with blog post topics, or meme ideas for promotion), another goal could be brainstorming turning points of a book or beefing up character motivations. You get the drift.

Once I have those goals in mind, I pack my stuff, and I hit the road fully expecting not to actually accomplish every.single.thing. on my list, but knowing that I'll come away feeling refreshed, and having accomplished some (usually most) of the things on my list. 

What about you? Have you attended a writer's retreat, and if so, what was your favorite activity?                                                                                                                           ~Kristina

Comments

  1. Nan and I will be going in a few weeks, and I don't plan it out this well... but it might be a good idea. Have a great time when you go, Kristi.

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    1. I will! And I still say we Wranglers need to have our own writing retreat one of these days.....

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  2. The camaraderie is important for me... being with others who "get" me. I also enjoy the time away from family, dirty dishes, etc. It's "me" time. And I may or may not put a bra on for a couple days, which is an added bonus. ;-)

    Enjoy your retreat!!

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  3. Can't wait for Liz's and my refilling-the-well trip, coming up soon! We aren't that organized, although I confess to making a list on my phone when we met for lunch last time because there was so much I wanted to say to her. Retreat for us are about the writing, always, but it's also about the friendship and talking and the laughter and the just enjoying time away. Have fun, Kristi!

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  4. I'm green with envy! Have a great time!

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