No really!
 |
| The most smiley goat ever! |
 |
| Cletus the horse. Actually not named Cletus, but I thought of him that way because Gilmore Girls. When he was not Cletus, he was also Shadowfax because Lord of the Rings. Alas, we have NO idea what his name actually is. |
 |
| One of the adorable barn cats we had. They were super friendly and this one liked to wiggle his butt and slam it into people and inanimate objects. We think it meant he liked you. |
 |
| We stayed at the Oasis, which also made me think of Gilmore Girls. Because of the EIGHT O CLOCK AT THE OASIS episode. |
 |
| Fake apples that I tried to eat when I arrived. Twice. |
 |
| Working at the writing/snacking table |
So here's a rundown of the weekend!
Friday Night
Arrive! Eat! Drinks! Hot Tub!
(Hey, it was Friday night, what did you expect?)
Saturday
Breakfast!
WORD WAR! (for one hour you must write non-stop, no talking, no internet, no getting up, no stopping)
SNACK! (we gorged after every war, it was all brain power, but they were as tiring as running a marathon)
WORD WAR!
SNACK!
WORD WAR!
SNACK!
WORD WAR! (The 4th and final war of the day which gave me a total of 11,000 words!)
Dinner!
 |
| The most appropriate wine for a bunch of YA authors! |
 |
| NO wine for Sara! |
Also, special moment of the day came a little after the final word war of Saturday (we still wrote outside the wars, but it wasn't as concentrated).
 |
| Janine typing...THE END! |
 |
| I'm so glad I caught this moment! Congrats, Janine! |
Sunday
Breakfast
Breakfast
Pack!
Visit the animals
and..
FINAL WORD WAR! This was the word war to end all word wars because.... I wrote 3,082 words in one hour. I think I went into shock after I did that because,
A) I had no idea I could write that fast
B) This meant I'd written over 15,000 words of my new novel
C) This also meant I'd written 1/4 of my novel in the course of 2 days!
Whew! This was probably one of the best AND most productive weekends of my life. I totally recommend getting away with a group of writers if you can! Following this I got into a big talk on twitter with other YA authors about how productive these retreats can be since it's so tempting to want to socialize and catch up.
I think as an in-person critique group we have an advantage. We see each other in person all the time--we're best friends as well as CPs. But even if you don't see your retreat mates as often as us, I really think the word wars worked magic--because it's a focused hour where NO ONE is allowed to talk or get up or stop. In the 40 some hours we had together, only 5 were devoted 100% to writing, but in those 5 hours we wrote over 36,000 words as a group.
So...that was my weekend! Needless to say my fingers are tired, but I'm hoping not to lose my momentum. I seriously cannot wait for us to do this again!.
P.S. Gilmore Girls fans....The Oasis had a guest book! It was so tempting to write: I sat and forever am at work here.
It wouldn't have been that far from the truth...
How was everyone else's weekend?
A quarter of your new book in two days! Amazing! That does sound like fun!
ReplyDeleteHey Jennifer, I still can't believe it! I've never written this fast before. I'm hoping I can keep it up. It was so much fun though--I highly recommend it!
DeleteYou should have wrote that in the guest book!
ReplyDeleteAnd now I want to organize a writing retreat, but then realize only one of my RL friends writes.
Also, Amazing word counts! I tried to match but nope...not even close.
And super congrats to Janine! Who I don't know but huge moment for writing The End!
Hey Ashe! LOL, I should have, but Donna signed the book first and I thought...well...they won't get the reference. But I think we'll return and then...I am definitely signing the book like that!
DeleteYou should totally organize a writing retreat! Maybe you can get together a group of online writer friends?
And on behalf of Janine--Ill say thanks. It's such an amazing moment! One I'm hoping to have again VERY soon!
So jealous. I've never been on a writing retreat in my life. It sounds like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteMatthew, I am now making it my goal to get you to a retreat. Maybe I can harass Simon to have one for the boys...
DeleteI really need to do something like that sometime. Congrats on your freaking amazing word count! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shannon! And yes, if you can, do it, the word counts are unbelievable when you're that focused and also competing. Maybe you and I can do some word wars on twitter.
DeleteI'm with MacNish, never been on a writing retreat in my life, so although I'm super happy for you ladies, I can't help but be a little tiny bit jealous...(insert my ridiculous Jersey Shore accent and whine here) Cause I really, really want to go on a writers retreat too! LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL, Jaybird, I'll match your Jersey whine with a Philly one. We have to get you on a retreat soon too!
DeleteWow I think I need to do a word war. Weird though - I haven't touched my MS in a month (I took April off for college-y reasons). I'm so glad you noticed your barn cat's butt....and I say this - giggling - I always talk about how cute animal butts are (especially fluffy dogs and kitties). Yes, I am secretly 13. ;-) I don't have a crit group but I do have college friends I see a lot and talk about my work with, and my CPs are online (1 in Georgia, 1 in North Carolina). We e-mail back and forth about our work - its really glad. And next time.....take ME on a writer's retreat :-P
ReplyDeleteRachel, yes you do! I'm such a believer now in how they work. LOL about the butts--animal butts are pretty cute, especially when they use them to bump things. Maybe you can do a retreat with your online CPs, then you can all get together--or word war online at the same time. Otherwise we'll just sneak you into our next retreat;)
DeleteThat sounds AMAZING. I've always wanted to do a writer's retreat, but I didn't think about doing it with my critique group. How did you find the Oasis?
ReplyDeleteHey Jem! You should totally do a retreat with your CPs! It's the best! Donna actually found it....I think you can do a google search for vacation rentals and find sites that list places you can rent and locations you want. It's 1,000 times better than going to a hotel.
DeleteWow! That is a TON of words!
ReplyDeleteSo, one question.
Can you come do that this weekend at my house, for my book? Pretty please?
Stephanie, FLY me over and yes! I will be there! Also we can talk historical women together:)
DeleteCongrats on 15K new words!
ReplyDeleteSo funny that you mention the repeated snacking. I went on a writers retreat with 3 friends back in February (we were in PA too, actually - a cabin in the Pocono mountains). We snacked SO MUCH. When I recapped it on my blog, I specially mentioned that too. Ha. I guess writing in a house in the middle of nowhere lends itself to snacking. And wine! :)
Thanks, Ghenet! LOL that you had the same experience so nearby! Maybe there is something to that. We thought the writing had worked up our appetite, but maybe it was just...well we're at a barn...what else can we do?
DeleteI've been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i'm satisfied
ReplyDeleteto convey that I've a very just right uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I needed. I such a lot indubitably will make sure to don?t omit this site and give it a look on a constant basis.
Visit my weblog :: captain black
Great article. I will be facing many of these issues as well.
ReplyDelete.
Also visit my blog : how to lose man breast
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
ReplyDeleteI'll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am somewhat certain I'll
be informed lots of new stuff proper here! Best of luck for
the next!
Also visit my homepage :: www.thewelcomesailor.co.uk
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of your site?
ReplyDeleteIts very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
Check out my website :: http://wphub.in/groups/helpful-tips-on-the-best-way-to-get-rid-of-acne-quickly-with-home-remedies/