Fair Isle Writing Retreat - Joan Lennon

Joan Lennon website

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Fair Isle Studio

Ambition and Reality - Joan Lennon

My month in Fair Isle is done. I'll be going back to city and family life stronger and with windswept hair.

I wrote about my ambitions for my time here a month ago - so how did those pan out?

When I got back into the wip, I realised just what a tangled mess it had become. I'm a pantser, and with each widely-separated time I've been able to work on this novel, I've gleefully dived in and wrote whatever was topmost in my mind. That's the way I've always done it, and yes, it means 3 or maybe 4 times as much writing as a novel that's been planned. Normally I'd also say 3 or maybe 4 times the fun, but this time...

It's the gaps that have skewed the system. This time, writing up to a problem and then turning to another bit and then going away from it all for half a year had left me with a ball of wool that the cat's had its way with. So, it turned out, this time on Fair Isle has been about untangling and problem solving. Which, for me, isn't something I've ever been able to do in snippets. My characters have grown and their growth has powered the plot and all in all I have a much healthier novel to be going on with.

And the other ambitions? Walks - yes. Photographs - yes. Poems - yes for a lot of days but not every one and not every poem worked. Other stuff - nope. General happiness and breathing out - YES.

And next? That complete first draft I was aiming for - that's now at least a possibility. So wish me luck.

Joan Lennon website

Joan Lennon Instagram

Never Still Nivver Still  Narrative poems set in Fair Isle written by Joan Lennon, translated into Fair Isle dialect by Anne Sinclair and illustrated by Lucy Wheeler. Copies are available from the publisher Hansel Press or me.

Going Away on Retreat at Home by Claire Fayers

 It started when my friend told me she was owed a week's holiday from work and asked if I wanted to join her on a socially distanced, online writing retreat.

Her idea of a writing retreat being my normal working week, I saw no reason to refuse. In fact, if we were having a retreat, why not include our SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) critique group? In fact, why not include all the Welsh SCBWI group? In fact, since we're not constrained by geography, why not invite the whole world?

We started with the most important things, of course. A logo and a hashtag.

We decided the retreat should have two purposes. First, a week of inspiration and mutual support for our regular crit group members. Second, a chance for everyone to join us in some fun challenges and writing sprints.

For the crit group, we set up a WhatApp group and scheduled a pair of zoom meetings. The group quickly grew to 15 members, some of us wanting to write intensively for the week, others hoping to drop in now and then and shout encouragement to the rest of us.

The twitter hashtag was to be our athletics stadium, with writing sprints running from Monday to Friday. Each day had a new challenge. (Wednesday was everyone's favourite.)

Monday

The plan was that I'd set the challenges and my friend would run the twitter sprints. Problem: something is wrong with her twitter account and her tweets don't show under the hashtag. (Note to self, next time check these things in advance). I take over the sprints. The WhatsApp group is busy, everyone is happy, the world is bright and full of inspiration.

Tuesday

Up early, raring to go with the sprints. I google a random word generator and set random words as inspiration for the sprints. The evening sees the first of our zoom meetings and it is fantastic to see people I haven't spoken to properly in months along with a new SCBWI member I've never met before.

Wednesday

Feeling the strain a little. I use photos as inspiration for the twitter sprints. I'm editing, not writing, and the sprints feel too short. I cheat, scheduling two hours' worth of tweets so I don't have to keep stopping (Note to self - scheduling makes the job so much easier. I'll be doing this a lot more in future.)

Thursday

Crash. An early morning doctor's appointment turns into 40 minutes sitting in the waiting room, wondering why these things always take so long. Late starting the sprints. Using what3words.com for random word inspiration and it's taking far too long. I want to go back to bed but I have the second zoom meeting this evening.

I enter the meeting. 'How's it going?' a friend asks. 

'Terrible,' I say. 'I'm exhausted, I'm stressed, my book makes no sense. I don't know why I ever started writing the thing.'

He thinks for a moment then says, 'In other words, you're almost at the end.'

I realise he's right and give silent thanks for friends who understand.

Friday

I have my inspiration back. I forget about being clever with writing sprint inspiration and spend the morning revising my latest chapters. A walk around the park in the afternoon clears my head (Note to self - next time you do a retreat, schedule in some exercise time.)

Saturday-Sunday

Many of the group are writing across the weekend so I join in for a few hours and get some useful extra words done. Tired, but happy.

The Verdict

We had 15 people in the WhatsApp group, but many more took part via twitter during the week. Seven people sent me their wordcounts, and we had a total of around 30,000 words between us, but I know much more was written.

Comments from the group were overwhelmingly positive:

"I didn’t get to join in as much as I hoped but I do feel more energised and have made a good start on the chapter breakdown. It’s been lovely hearing everyone’s progress."

"Adding my thanks to the thanks bouquet! I’ve only done 1200 words, but have got back into my story after a break, which is great. It has been really motivational and positive reading the posts and I’ve loved the prompts."

"I did about 1000 - which is 1000 more than I would’ve done without all the encouragement and support."

The best comment of all, however came from our SCBWI network organiser, who said:

"Not to take away from anyone’s achievement the word is only part of it. Like most people here have already said it has brought us together, made us look again at our WIP’s and been so wonderfully encouraging all week. Fantastic, well done everyone, those who have taken part and those who have cheered them on, it has be quite a privilege to be with you all."

This summed up the week wonderfully. Sitting in our separate homes, working on our vastly different WIPs, we felt closer together as a group. Even Terrible Thursday was made better.

Would I do it again? I'm already thinking about something for next year. In the meantime, if anyone else wants to organise an online retreat, count me in.

Feeling utterly refuelled by Folly Farm writing retreat by Tamsin Cooke

A couple of weeks ago, I was very lucky to go to Folly Farm for a long weekend retreat – the Winter Warmer – with other members of the Scattered Author Society. I had been a few years before and absolutely loved it. But I was still rather nervous.  Would it be welcoming? Would it be fun? Would it be inspiring? To anyone who is thinking of going next year, the answers were Yes, Yes and YES!!!

Folly Farm is a truly magical place. Even though there are some people who are lifers – go every year – it’s not cliquey at all. Everyone makes you feel so welcome and you have such a laugh together. I was surprised to find how many people I knew, and it was wonderful reconnecting with them. Plus I made lots of new friends. It’s so lovely spending time with like-minded people who share your hopes, joy and struggles of writing children’s books, as well as love cake and wine.

There was a full programme of events, but what made them extra special – was that they were planned and delivered by the other authors going; other authors who know exactly what it’s like to write. You can dip into these as much as you like, since none are compulsory. As I had edits that I really wanted to work on, I chose certain workshops that I thought would be the most beneficial, relaxing or playful.

There were fabulous sessions on planning, trouble shooting, and story prompts. We had a wonderful meditation that was not only relaxing, but incredibly helpful in connecting with our own creativity. There was a frank discussion on failure and how to deal with it. Plus we created characters and stories from our own histories, made collages and designed a choose your own adventure story. Everyone shared their expertise – not only helpful for our own writing, but also for school visits.

We played games in the evening and had a rather fierce literary quiz – all very funny. And once again, you could join in if you wanted or simply sit back and absorb the atmosphere.

When I returned home and told my family about it, they decided I’d been on a Primary school camp. And they had a point. It was just as joyful as that. It was a lovely reminder of why we write; the pure joy of it, rather than the business side. 

I slept very well. And ate even better! The food was delicious. Folly Farm caters for all dietary requirements, and I think I ate even more than I did at Christmas. Especially cake. As for alcohol - you can take your own booze or buy from the bar. 

If you decide you want to work off some of the cake and puddings, there are fabulous walks around the beautiful grounds. You can go for as short or as long as you like … even longer if you get lost. My group found their way back straight away, but another group may have taken a more scenic route! Apparently this year was muddier than most, but that just made it the more memorable. It was noted how lots of people helped those stuck in the mud while I took pictures!!!

The long weekend went far too quickly and was full of laughter, chatter and creativity. I came away feeling utterly refueled and inspired. So much so, I'd designed a plan for a whole new story, as well as worked out some solutions for my tricksy edits. I recommend this retreat to anyone who wants to reconnect with their joy of writing; who wants to play with words and meet like-minded authors. It was an absolute joy and I might even become one of the lifers!!!

Tamsin Cooke

Author of The Scarlet Files Series and Stunt Double Series

Website: tamsincooke.co.uk
Twitter: @TamsinCooke1