How to Dream a Writing Retreat Into Your Life

By Milli Thornton

The Spirit of Flight journal - my perfect place to dream

Financially, a one-week retreat was not even remotely on the horizon. Self-employed taxes hit hard and so did property tax. Still, it’s rumored that the act of dreaming can work small miracles, so I started hunting online for likely retreat settings.

I looked in states close to Ohio, such as Pennsylvania and Kentucky, but there didn’t seem to be much. It was either group retreats or somehow just not suitable for my needs. I looked at B&Bs and cabins, but nothing felt quite right.

Reluctantly, I decided to look in Ohio. This didn’t seem very exciting but at least it would be closer. Less gas money to get there. And less of a bite out of my writing time for the travel.

With keywords something like “writing retreat B&B Ohio” I found College House in Ashland, only two hour’s drive from my house. The rates were affordable and the rooms looked intriguing, so I bookmarked it. My first symbolic act of dreaming for a writing retreat.

While that link simmered in my bookmarks folder, I dreamed about what I wanted to write. There are actually two books brewing within, and I would need to choose. But it fell into place without any hard decisions: one book needs to follow the other because the first one paves the way. One is non-fiction and one is fiction, both with the same underlying theme.

Next time I clicked on that College House link, I picked out which of the four themed rooms I’d most want to stay in. There’s the Art Dept., the English Dept., the Music Dept. and the History Dept. You’d think the English Dept. would be a no-brainer for a writer, but it wasn’t quite my cup of (English breakfast) tea.

The Art Dept. was the one. Upstairs in a garret (the most private room in the house) and with clashingly colorful and funky decor, it echoes my theme for the new book: creative wildness.

Still, all I could do was bookmark the Art Dept. Seven night’s accommodation would be $875 plus tax. Then food and gas.

One Saturday morning Brian and I were drinking cappuccinos when I decided to share my dream. As some of my writing friends know firsthand, telling an engineer something about creativity is not always Fun with a capital F. I was afraid he’d squash my passion with his relentless practical streak and the old “You know we can’t afford it.”

I warned him I was only dreaming so don’t step on my dream, Mister.

Guess what? Brian came up with a solution. (Darn engineers. They’re always doing that.) He suggested I go for two nights: a mini retreat. That way I could test out the B&B and see if I would even want to go there for a whole week sometime later when we can afford it.

He said, “We can afford two nights.”

Things happened rapidly after that. I called the B&B and the owner was super-friendly—even excited about my reason for coming. She wants to hear all about my writing when I get there. I got the dates I wanted and I was in seventh heaven. I bought a new journal (The Spirit of Flight) and started my dream/plans for the retreat.

Then disaster struck. I had wantonly chosen the week the rent’s due. A bunch of other bills were falling due that week, as well, making it now look impossible. I was devastated. My dream felt smashed.

But then a refund check came from the IRS. Huh? We owed them, not vicky-versa!

We’re still scratching our heads about the tax refund. But the amount is comfortably more than I’ll need for accommodation, food and gas for two nights, so now I’ll even have emergency money.

I’m leaving tomorrow and the Art Dept. will be my home for the next two nights. There’s a coffeehouse called Common Grounds only four blocks down from the B&B so I can walk there for cappuccino. (Can’t plan a retreat without a coffeehouse somewhere in the mix.)

The delicious-looking breakfast served by Kathy at College House will fuel me for many hours of household-chore-free writing, and my room has its own desk and chair. A chair with a cushion. For my (ahem) two-years-over-the-big-5-0 writer’s derriere.

My plans are to write wild and see what comes out. Pre-writing, so no pressure to make it into a “book” just yet.

Ahhh. Creative bliss, here I come.

Would a writing retreat make you happy? But you know you can’t afford one? Try dreaming for one anyway—the power of dreaming might just surprise you. Maybe a relative with a cabin in the woods will offer you a little time there. Or maybe you’ll win a trip somewhere. Or maybe . . . who knows? Start dreaming today!

Milli Thornton

———

Milli Thornton is the author of Fear of Writing: for writers & closet writers. She is owner of Unleash Your Writing! and the Fear of Writing Online Course, where her mission is to put the fun back into writing. Milli also blogs at Screenwriting in the Boonies and Milliver’s Travels and coaches writers at Writer’s Muse.