{"id":11194,"date":"2016-08-08T17:30:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T07:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/?p=11194"},"modified":"2021-08-30T16:58:16","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T06:58:16","slug":"what-is-a-writing-retreat-culture-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/what-is-a-writing-retreat-culture-shock\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Writing Retreat? Culture Shock!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of writers struggle to find the time to actually write. Among other things, we have family commitments, paid work, sleep and shiny things on the internet to juggle before any writing gets done. So I couldn’t wait for this weekend \u2013 an entire weekend of writing on a retreat with my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group<\/a>! Woo hoo! And I had so much fun I thought I’d share it with you…<\/p>\n

Firstly, the cost: For AU$260 I got a shared room in a gorgeous cottage at Raffety’s Resort on Lake Macquarie<\/a>, a two-hour drive north of Sydney, and tonnes of food (see below!). My extended family were kind enough to give me cash for my birthday both this year and last so I could afford to go. Thank you for my present, family!<\/p>\n

Transport: Most writers car-pooled to get to the resort, and arrived on Friday afternoon excited and keen to spend time together.<\/p>\n

Schedule: Below is a schedule of our weekend’s planned activities, as well as photos from the trip. The structure was fantastic, giving us all plenty of quiet time to write, relaxed settings for socialising, alone-time, networking, brainstorming and chit-chat:<\/p>\n

Friday 5 August<\/h3>\n

2pm \u2013 Retreat check-in. Use the facilities or just relax.<\/p>\n

\"The

The first thing I did was go for a swim!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Our

Our cottage.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The view from our cottage.<\/p><\/div>\n

4-6pm \u2013 Current Projects meeting in Cottage 88, lead by Zena Shapter. BYO drinks & snacks.<\/p>\n

6pm+ \u2013 BYO dinner and wine in Cottage 88.<\/p>\n

\"Time

Time for casual conversation about publishing, writing and life!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Also,

Also, guitar playing. Thanks for the entertainment, Chris and Rodney!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Later...

Later… Flamenco Dancing!<\/p><\/div>\n

Saturday 6 August<\/h3>\n

BYO breakfast or visit the Jetty Junction Centre.<\/p>\n

9am \u2013 PROMPT START. DR CAMS Room in the Conference Centre. Welcome and housekeeping. \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 1.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Conference Centre.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"I

I scored a great writing desk by a window.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The view outside my window.<\/p><\/div>\n

10.30am \u2013 Morning tea of hot drinks, juice, a basket of fresh fruit and a stash of toasted banana bread with mascarpone.<\/p>\n

\"Morning

Morning Tea!<\/p><\/div>\n

10.50-11.00am \u2013 Q&A \/ Discussion lead by Sue Steggall (President of the Society of Women Writers NSW<\/a>): The Way Forward For Emerging Writers \u2013 Feedback from the Emerging Writers Forum in Melbourne<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"The

The lovely Sue Steggall.<\/p><\/div>\n

11am-12.30pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 2.<\/p>\n

\"Everyone

Everyone writing away in beautiful silence…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"...apart

…apart from Rick!<\/p><\/div>\n

12.30-1pm \u2013 Lunch of sandwich\/roll platters, fresh fruit kebabs, cheesecake, carrot cake and apple crumble.<\/p>\n

1-1.30pm \u2013 Q&A \/ Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter: When Do You Give Up On A Manuscript?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Zena<\/p>\n

1.30-3.30pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 3.<\/p>\n

3.30-4pm \u2013 Afternoon tea of hot drinks, lemonade, a basket of fresh fruit, samosas, spring rolls, and chicken skewers.<\/p>\n

4-5.30pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 4.<\/p>\n

\"I

I had half an hour after the last writing session until my next commitment. So, time for another swim!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"While

While I did laps, Alex and Kylie cheered me on from the spa.<\/p><\/div>\n

6-7pm \u2013 Current Projects meeting in Cottage 92, lead by Zena Shapter. BYO drinks & snacks.<\/p>\n

\"Another

Another productive meeting!<\/p><\/div>\n

7pm \u2013 Dinner at Al Lago restaurant, two-course a la carte menu. Choose on the evening from an Entr\u00e9e and a Main Course, or Main Course & Dessert.<\/p>\n

\"Dinner

Dinner with the NBWG crew!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"I

I chose the Pulled Lamb Shoulder Entree.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Then,

Then, Steak & Chips!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Talking

Talking into the night…<\/p><\/div>\n

Sunday 7 August<\/h3>\n

BYO breakfast or visit the Jetty Junction Centre.<\/p>\n

9am \u2013 PROMPT START. DR CAMS Room in the Conference Centre. \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 5.<\/p>\n

10.30am \u2013 Morning tea of hot drinks, pineapple juice, a basket of fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies.<\/p>\n

10.50-11.00am \u2013 Q&A \/ Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter: What Makes The Best Author Talks For School Visits?<\/em><\/p>\n

11am-12.30pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 6.<\/p>\n

12.30-1pm \u2013 Lunch of fish & chips, make-your-own salad, sandwich\/roll platters, fresh fruit, chocolate cake & banana bread.<\/p>\n

\"Yummy

Yummy lunch!<\/p><\/div>\n

1-1.30pm \u2013 Q&A \/ Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter and Kristin Prescott: Marketing & Promotion Advice For the Modern Author.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Zena

Zena Shapter & Kristin Prescott. (Photo: Chris Lake)<\/p><\/div>\n

1.30-3.30pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 7.<\/p>\n

3.30-4pm \u2013 Afternoon tea of hot drinks, lemonade, a basket of fresh fruit, cut fruit and savoury muffins.<\/p>\n

\"Zena<\/p>\n

4-5pm \u2013 \u2018Ready, Steady, WRITE!\u2019 Writing Session 8.<\/p>\n

5pm \u2013 End of the Retreat \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

\"Zena<\/p>\n

As you can see I ate and ate, managed to find plenty of focus in the quiet writing sessions, and had fun with a bunch of lovely writers from my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group<\/a>. It was so delightful that when I got home I experienced a bit of a culture shock. After three days of just seeing to myself, doing what I love most (writing!), and having fun, the reality of returning to a busy house of kids, homework, housework, work-work and noise was a little overwhelming! Of course I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love my family more than anything (yes, even writing).<\/p>\n

I am, however, making plans to organise another retreat next year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lot of writers struggle to find the time to actually write. Among other things, we have family commitments, paid work, sleep and shiny things on the internet to juggle before any writing gets done. So I couldn’t wait for this weekend \u2013 an entire weekend of writing on a\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,6,7],"tags":[1576,1575,1572,443,455,1571,1574,581,751,975,1573],"class_list":["post-11194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookish-inspection","category-personal-news","category-writer-advice","tag-conference-centre","tag-dr-cams-room","tag-lake-macquarie","tag-nbwg","tag-northern-beaches-writers-group","tag-raffetys-resort","tag-schedule","tag-society-of-women-writers-nsw","tag-sue-steggall","tag-sydney","tag-writing-retreat"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Zena-Shapter-NBWG-Retreat-Morning-Tea.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11194"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11233,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194\/revisions\/11233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}