7 Writing Retreat Benefits

Do you wonder if it is worth your time to attend a writing retreat? Here are some good reasons to consider it.

1.  It is often difficult to clear your mind from all your other daily activities and responsibilities so you can focus exclusively on your writing project. Without being able to turn your mind away from all its clutter, most people just cannot be as creative as they need to be when thinking about their book.

2.  In a professionally conducted writing retreat, you can have at your fingertips people who are experts in the ways of the book world. This makes it very important to pick out the right writing retreat, making sure the hosts have the knowledge and background pertaining to what you need. If you want to publish a non-fiction book, it may not be useful to go to a retreat that includes fiction and non-fiction all in one group.  But assuming you select the right retreat, you have 24/7 access to pros who can help you target your book concept and learn how to write it effectively and efficiently.

3.  If your retreat is one-on-one, you will receive personalized attention throughout the time. For this type of retreat, 2 or 3 days might be sufficient to gain a lot of knowledge so you can return to your regular life, confident that you know how to proceed. If your retreat is a group, having a few others around can help provide great feedback for your ideas.  Other people can act as your own private “focus group” and you can read material to each other and get constructive critiques and a new appreciation for what other people think when they read your work.

4.  Going on retreat is one of the best methods to pump up your inspiration. When the mind encounters new vistas and new surroundings, it begins processing differently, synthesizing elements together that you have not thought of before. The Aha! factor increases by magnitudes as you finally receive answers to vexing problems about your writing that you may not have been able to generate without this new environment.

5. Good retreats allow time for you to be alone, to reflect, and dig deep into your soul about your project. You need this type of deep alone time, away from the hustle and bustle of your regular life, to delve into your thinking and writing. Ideally, the retreat will be structured with some instructional meeting time, one-on-one or in a group, followed by time for you to go it alone for a bit when you can assimilate what you learned and begin testing it out in your writing.

6. Retreats can act as tremendous confidence builders. Many writers who work alone suffer from “writer’s funk” because they get into their own heads and convince themselves that their writing is bad, or even worthless and they should just drop the project. It’s amazing how a good retreat leader will help you recognize the positive components of your book and encourage you to keep going, even if it means making changes. Most books are not written in one draft, but new authors often believe they should be able to knock out a book with little self-editing.  A good retreat leader will guide you to understand how book writing really happens and help you overcome false perfectionism and rekindle your joy of writing.

7. If you find a retreat that offers not just writing assistance, but planning, design, marketing, and PR tips and pointers, you can accomplish many necessary needs with a single retreat.  Imagine how powerful it is to walk away from your retreat with a designed book cover that helps you visualize your book as real.  Imagine having a complete outline of your book plus a few chapters nearly done and edited. Imagine being conversant and savvy about what authors need to do to market and promote their books. This is the kind of retreat you want.

The professionals at Publish to Get Clients offer a 3-day, 2-night one-one or group retreat in  beautiful and inspirational Santa Barbara Wine Country, or we can customize a retreat for you or a group of people in any location of your choice.  Please check out our retreat page or contact us for information about how we can design a retreat for you.