Life After a Writers Retreat—Part VII: Appreciate Home

Now that I’ve taken my own advice and joined Facebook, I see that some of my fellow Pembrokers are suffering from Cambridge withdrawal. Although by the time I turned in my final portfolio, I thought I was ready to go home, upon my return, especially during the first couple of days, I pined for the [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part VI: Stay Connected

Part of what I enjoyed so much about my studies at Pembroke College in Cambridge, England, was the sense that my fellow classmates were holed up in their dorm rooms or at the library or at a café or pub nearby or at the Orchard … all writing. There was an atmosphere of community even [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part V: Continue the Work

Often you will attend a writers retreat with the express goal of finishing a piece of work. Indeed, when you apply to attend, you may be asked what you will be working on and what you hope to accomplish while you are there. Because my recent three weeks at Pembroke College in Cambridge, England, were [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part IV: Extend the Experience

You’ve just spent two weeks (or two months) at a writers retreat. Now what?
So far we’ve suggested analyzing your experience and maintaining the productive strategies you developed there as ways to make the transition back to your everyday life. But let’s be real: it’s going to be hard to stay motivated once you’ve left an [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part III: Identify Good Habits, and Keep Them

It’s been five days since I returned home from Cambridge, where I was studying fiction and screenwriting for three weeks at Pembroke College. Writers retreats like this one can be life-changing. How one reintegrates back into real life, however, is integral to the long-term effect of such a getaway. So over the past couple of [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part II: Jet Lag

I’m notorious for not unpacking. Suitcases can sit un-unpacked on the floor of my office for literally months until I need them again.
It was a shock to my family after this trip, then, when I unpacked and did all my laundry my first day back from Cambridge. Since Monday, though, I have failed to take [...]

Life After a Writers Retreat—Part I: Analysis

First, an apology: a full two weeks have passed since my last post—a period of time I regret letting go by, as my (double-digit) views have plummeted with my neglect!
As mentioned in previous posts, I’ve spent an invigorating three weeks studying fiction and screenwriting at Cambridge University’s Pembroke College. I’ve shared some of what I’ve [...]