A writing retreat pays big dividends, and it doesn’t have to take a bite out of your wallet. Do you have access to a cabin, a condo, or a room over the garage? You could sign up for a Costa Rican retreat with daily writing, critique, and personal coaching sessions at a couple of thousand dollars per person. Or. . . create your own retreat for next to nothing! That’s what my critique group did.
Share the Load
One member generously offered her time-share condo for the weekend, another made sure we had enough snacks to keep us going, and two members provided meals. Everyone was responsible for their own breakfast and beverages.
Work
Over the course of two days, we wrote, ate, critiqued, and laughed. We even squeezed in an hour and a half hike by the river to replenish our creativity. Of the four who attended, 
two were unable to stay the whole time. One works full time, the other had a prior commitment. Our junior member joined us at dinner, worked in silence on her novella until 9:00 p.m. then went home to sleep in her own bed before going to her job in the morning. Our other part-timer was only able to join us for the first day. But she spent a few distraction-free hours researching and writing her middle grade novel.
Agenda or Not
Originally, we thought we’d work up a plan to keep us focused and on track. But because our needs were different we decided to forego a formal agenda. Two members were trying to finish their writing projects and the remaining two were ready for feedback on completed novels.
Our unspoken rule was to respect our fellow writers. We were careful not to
interrupt the writing process. Those of us in the feedback stage quietly read and marked up our partner’s pages while the others wrote in silence. We used the morning hours to share our notes, glossing over typos and missed punctuation so we could focus on the big picture items: inconsistencies, character growth and clarifying points of confusion. Don’t get me wrong, the manuscripts—we used hard copies—were covered with circles, arrows and miscellaneous editing marks showing spelling errors, stray quotation marks, and grammatical gaffes. But we chose to use our limited time to discuss ways to improve the story, trusting our partner to go through their hard copy and make needed changes.
Benefits
Now that the weekend is over, it’s time to evaluate our do it yourself writing retreat.
Did we accomplish what we set out to do? Yes, absolutely! Two of us received valuable feedback from a trusted writing partner. We have everything we need to revise our novels. The two members trying to finish their writing project are hours closer to their goal. 
An added bonus is our group is a little tighter knit now that we’ve spent two days writing in the same space and eating communal meals.
A writing retreat provides uninterrupted writing time and community-building with your writing buddies. All you need is a space to work in, food to keep you going, and the drive to accomplish your goals. Happy writing!
