Retreat! #ThrowbackThursday

Many long years ago, I was granted a writer retreat at the Mary Anderson Center. They no longer have a poet/writer retreat, but they do have an artist/potter one.

I took a printout of my fantasy trilogy, SAGE. I had taken it apart and cobbled it back together out of many rewrites, and badly needed the retreat. I needed to have nothing on my mind but this huge story. I needed to be able to hold the whole thing in my head with nothing breaking my train of thought or claiming my attention, so I could get all the scenes in order with the sometimes bizarre continuity intact.

Is this a perfect writing space, or what?

Retreat Desk

retreatCoffee. Snacks. Water. Music. Big Fat Fantasy. Notebook and pen. Perfect!

Got ‘er done, too.

If you ever get a chance to do a retreat, I highly recommend it, especially if you have a project like this to wrestle into shape. Shaw Guides has a great place to start looking.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character goes on retreat but it doesn’t work out so well.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Retreat! #ThrowbackThursday

  1. Jane

    March 5, 2015 at 9:39am

    I can think of some stuff I’d like to retreat from!

    I love SAGE. I’m really glad you were able to get it just the way you wanted it.

    GO GET THE BOOKS, FRIENDS!
    THEN READ THEM!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  2. Jessica Nunemaker

    March 5, 2015 at 4:56pm

    Hmm. I had no idea. I had heard about the train doing something like that before but I guess I didn’t realize it was a thing. That’s an idea I could really take advantage of!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      March 5, 2015 at 5:56pm

      Oh, yes, do! Green River Writers in Louisville has a great one I highly recommend!

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  3. Jessica Nunemaker

    March 5, 2015 at 6:33pm

    That’s a far drive for me…but it could just be worth it. 🙂 I’ll drive anywhere for little Indiana but outside of that, it’s hard to justify. Ha!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply

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