Inspired & Inspiring – Writing Retreat Reflection

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This weekend I went on a much anticipated writing retreat with three writing colleagues. We have been meeting every two weeks for the past year, and the amount of feedback, suggestions, and camaraderie we’ve each received has been a glorious blessing.

We each had our own private bedroom as we shared other accommodations and a small conference room for meeting together and writing.

We interspersed our own writing with writing prompts and exercises to jump start our creativity and we enjoyed snacks, candy, and company and remarkably we each got quite a lot done on our individual projects.

As the “host” I had several goodies planned and I just loved both aspects of hosting and of participating.

The shared space worked out amazingly well, and we have tentatively scheduled another retreat in the fall.

Moving forward from this weekend, I have some goals set that need to be formally set down with specific timelines:

• Sample Book Cover
• Book Title Ideas
• Chapter Headers (each chapter needs):
          – Titles
          – Picture, sketch, or quotation
          – Fictional narrative of this aspect of Kateri’s life, especially related to the shrines
• Timeline both of the formal governments & of Kateri’s life
• Questions to be answered

I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, planning, meeting again on Zoom, and focusing on the direction of my book.

Happy Writing to All of Us!


Caption for Photo Collage above:

  1. Our reserved dining table for the weekend
  2. A beautiful necklace one of my colleagues gave me
  3. Protest sign created for April 5th Hands Off protest that three of our group went to
  4. Chocolate chip scone & cup of hot, black tea with milk
  5. Our conference room where we met, laughed, read, and wrote

Writing Retreat Weekend, Day 2

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Outside
I took a quick walk around the front of the retreat center. It was a beautiful day, and I should have walked more than I did, but my legs have been giving me a lot of trouble this weekend. I’m not sure why, so with Christmas in just about two weeks, I had better play it safe.

The sun was bright, the sky that perfect blue. I had intended to wander down to this cross that was carved out of the tree stump, but they’ve removed all of the benches. I’m assuming that is to get the grounds ready for winter.

However, that didn’t stop me from checking this out and another tree stump on my way back up to the picnic table. I sat out there reading for a bit, and was so enthralled with what I was reading that the retreat director had to come out and get me for lunch!

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We continued our writing with courage and hope. There are so many things that I’m feeling. Talking to my tablemates and hearing different things from the video (Rob Bell – I believe you can look him up on You Tube) and the musical selections like Star Child by David Haas.

I’m hoping this weekend gives me the push and the anchor that gets me through the rest of the year.