Retreating Again by Sheena Wilkinson

I’m off on my travels – not far, but hopefully deep into my novel-in-progress, which at the moment is a very rough first draft. Thanks to the generosity of Children’s Books Ireland and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, I’m the lucky recipient of a bursary to spend a week at the TGC in the company of several other Irish children’s writers -- you can read more here: 

The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig

Before Covid I used to go on retreat a couple of times a year. Supporting myself through a range of writing-related activities – the usual freelance portfolio – made the occasional escape indispensable. It was never cheap, but I always justified the expense by saying that a month’s work could be done in a week with nothing to think about except your story. And living alone I had nobody to miss or feel guilty about leaving.

But Covid, and the closing down of all my habitual sanctuaries, interrupted that routine, and I haven’t been on retreat since a wonderful week at the Arvon Hurst in Shropshire in April 2019, redrafting my 2020 novel, Hope against Hope. My last novel, Mrs Hart’s Marriage Bureau, and my forthcoming one, a 1920s girls’ school story,  were my first books where not one word was written or edited somewhere at a retreat.

Marrying a widower in 2021 I experienced for the very first time some of the challenges faced by many other women. I have more emotional and practical support than I’ve ever had, but also many more responsibilities, running a busy home and adjusting to being a stepmother as well as carrying on with all my usual work commitments. Life resembles one of my own gritty YA novels rather more closely than I anticipated, and juggling domesticity, creativity and earning a living is ever more challenging, even though I am lucky enough to have a very supportive husband.  

So I am very excited about – not exactly escaping! – but recapturing the intense focus I used to take for granted. And of course I have someone to miss now, not to speak of my two lovely dogs, so I know I’ll be looking forward to coming home too – but hopefully with a big fat complete second draft.

Thanks so much to the lovely people at Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Children’s Books Ireland for making this possible. I’ll report back next month.