After coming back from the Smoky Writers Retreat, I am suffering from the usual post-retreat blues. Cooking dinner, and getting back into my usual routine seems like such a drag. Even writing again is hard.
Luckily, I have been expecting this. A whole week of companionship, good food, and lots of words, coming home can be a little bit of a drop. From what I am hearing from the rest of my Smoky Writers, we’re all feeling it just as badly.
When I look back at the retreat, we got a heck of a lot done. Without exception we all got epic amounts of writing completed. Something about the environment in a cabin in the Smoky Mountains, seems to bring out the best in writers. Maybe it was the mountain, maybe it was the quiet, maybe it was the company. Either way, I miss it.
However, not everyone is lucky enough to have the time or funds to go on a retreat, or maybe they don’t know people that they would dare spend a week in a cabin with. It came sometimes be lonely being a writer, and maybe a cabin isn’t in your future…
…But there are other places to find community. When I was first starting out, it was within the world of podcasting writers. Others have found their people in forums, on Facebook, or Tumblr.
I’ve tried several in-person writing groups, and while they were fun for awhile, ultimately it wasn’t where I felt comfortable. For others, maybe you, they are lucky enough to find their place in similar groups.
And it doesn’t have to end. Every year I find more people, creative, wonderful people in these sort of ways. Maybe they don’t understand how they support me as a writer, but they do.
I know this writing retreat has allowed me to not only finish a project, and start a new one, it has also refreshed me for the battle ahead.
So find your people where you can. Enjoy their company, but keep writing the words. Don’t let anything stop you from making the words…