A couple of weeks ago, I did something writerly I’ve never
done before: A retreat.
I’ve mentioned before about how I’ve been working on a young
adult mystery with my good friend and Irene Goodman Literary Agency sister Renee Ahdieh. We’ve been having a ball writing it, despite living literally half
a country from each other (she lives in North Carolina, I live in Kansas—yes,
we’ve discussed both proper barbecue and Roy Williams many times). And though
we have the whole shared Dropbox folder thing down pat, we thought it would be
great to be able to be in the same room while finishing the book.
On the cusp between January and February, we were able to
make that happen.
Renee flew in for
a long weekend of writing, food, writing, socializing, writing, and more food.
Sure, we did some Kansas City things—a trip to The Country
Club Plaza, ate real barbecue and had
dinner with a few wonderful local writers. And we had some fun, hitting up a
bookstore, playing with my son, taking pictures together (as you can see above)
and having Renee teach me how to make chai from scratch.
But mostly, we wrote.
The weather played in our favor—it was cold and flurrying
and windy—and so we didn’t even bother hitting up a café. No wasted time there.
Instead, we just holed up in the guest bedroom or on the couch, huddled over
our laptops, each working separately on our own scenes.
Which was absolutely great.
Sitting just feet from each other, we could bounce ideas off
each other, hurl out reminders of what clue needed to go where, and clarify
what our characters ate for breakfast.
Sure, these things would’ve been hashed out in various
texts, emails and in-document notes, but it was so great to gain energy from
each other by being in the same room, drinking the same delicious chai and
listening to the same NPR performance by The 1975’s Matt Healy on repeat (our character is British,
don’t judge).
Now that I’ve done this once, I think I’d like to do another
retreat. It was so much fun and so helpful—win, win.
Have you done a retreat? Would you want to? And if you have,
did you find it useful?
I have not done a retreat. My question is how did you find each other?
ReplyDelete~ Jim
I lived in New Zealand for four months while my wife taught at a University there. That gave me long blocks of time when nobody called and the doorbell didn't ring. It was enough time to make mistakes, try to correct them and to correct the corrections.
ReplyDeleteSarah, sounds like so much fun! How does your co-writing work - do you alternate chapters/voices?
ReplyDeleteNo retreat yet - dying to do one. I do have occasional "plotting parties" (AKA lunch) with writing friends, though. Writing always goes better with food!
Sarah, how nice that you found someone you can co-write with. My first book started as one being co-written with a sister of mine, but it didn't work for several reasons; one we lived 50 miles apart and couldn't get together often. This was before either of us had computers. Two; we both had different voices and different opinions on the age and personality of our protagonist.
ReplyDeleteI did attend Seascape two years in a row and while I got something from it, I couldn't write there in the afternoons when we were supposed to write. I need my own space at home for the ideas to flow.
I'm glad it worked so well for the two of you.
Your retreat sounds delightful! And how fortunate you have found a soulmate.
ReplyDeleteThe closest I come to a writing retreat is when my writing group gets together (about once a month) over breakfast.
One of these days I'm going to get a laptop computer, but right now I'm stuck with at home. Since the kids are out of the house, though, I have a room of my own for writing, and that helps.
Thanks, all! To answer some questions:
ReplyDelete1. Jim: We found each other when Renee signed with my agency, IGLA. Her agent tweeted about her new client and I immediately followed Renee and congratulated her and welcomed her to IGLA.That same week that she signed, she happened to be attending the RT Conference in Kansas City and we went to lunch.
2. Shari: Most co-writers alternate or have dual POV, we didn't choose to do that. We decided we'd each play to our strengths. I did the plotting (because it's a mystery) and took the investigation-intensive scenes. Renee created the characters and ended up with the scenes with more character development.
Each time we'd hand the document off to each other, we'd first edit through each other's work. This has seemed to help with consistent voice and kept us from rework or dropped clues and subplots, and also refined each scene.
We think it's worked: Case in point, Renee's own sister (who has read everything she's written) couldn't tell for certain what was Renee's and what was mine. It does help that the two of us write in a very similar style.
Your retreat sounds like it was fun and very productive, Sarah. I'd love to go on a writing retreat someday.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found a terrific co-writer and have a system that works well. It must have felt wonderful to be in the same room while finishing the book.
I've done a retreat before, a couple of them actually. My writer's group usually holes ourselves up in a hotel room--since we all lived in Kansas and wanted to get away from family for a few days--and just let it rip.
ReplyDeleteI love them, would love to do more that the one or two a year we manage. They help recharge the mind, body and spirit in ways only being around other like minded people can.
Glad you had fun! It was wonderful meeting you!