{"id":12342,"date":"2019-03-05T08:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=12342"},"modified":"2019-10-03T16:59:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T20:59:43","slug":"writing-residency-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=12342","title":{"rendered":"5 Lessons I Learned at My First Writing Residency"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January, I packed my car and drove 12 hours alone from Florida to North Carolina. This was not a typical road trip, but I had plenty of soul-searching planned: I was headed to the Penland School of Crafts, a bustling art school nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. <\/span><\/p>\n

As I embarked on my first <\/span>writing residency<\/span><\/a>, I knew I\u2019d be joined by artists from all over the country seeking a focused period of independent work. I was ready — or so I thought. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>I had packed and repacked the car. I had checked out helpful library books for research. I had acquired plenty of snacks. I had obtained not one, but two new notebooks waiting to be filled with the fresh inspiration that was sure to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t expect was to feel like a fish out of water, as the only writer attending during my two-week session. Being a lone ranger wasn\u2019t a big deal. But I had no other writers to turn to for perspective, or for a boost of encouragement. It was up to me to forge my own writing path.<\/span><\/p>\n

I made the most of my time at Penland and returned feeling accomplished. But I also learned important lessons about planning for writing productivity while you\u2019re away from home.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The first few days will probably be a wash<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Anyone who\u2019s sat down at their desk and waited (and waited…and waited) for words to come knows the anxiety of not being productive enough during a writing session. This gave me some anxiety as I embarked upon my first residency.<\/span><\/p>\n

A friend advised me to give myself a few days to settle in, both to my surroundings and my temporary writing routine.<\/b> Of course, someone doing a shorter retreat or residency may not have the luxury of spending a half day importing their chapters to <\/span>Scrivener<\/span><\/a>, or avoiding writing by reading a book on Cold War-era bunkers, as I did. But I was grateful to have the first few days of my stay to putter around and get comfortable, not only with my space but with myself, and no other tasks to complete but writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Plan a few low-energy tasks to get you started in the first few hours or days of your residency. A valuable way to start your stay may be to read over the work you\u2019ve already done, to remind you why you\u2019re here — and <\/span>what needs work<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. It\u2019s good to have goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s where my strategy of \u201cease into the residency!\u201d has its drawbacks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Working in a residency for primarily visual artists meant it was easy to say, \u201cHey, what did you make today?\u201d to a fellow resident, and be shown beautiful works-in-progress at a moment\u2019s notice. <\/span><\/p>\n

When they turned that question back to me, asking, \u201cWhat did you write today?\u201d I would chuckle half-heartedly and give them a big toothy grin. Then I would change the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t always have something to show for my day of work. <\/span><\/p>\n

In my first week of my residency, my major accomplishment was figuring out the emotional catalyst for my entire story, and summarizing it in a paragraph. It was a huge accomplishment for me, but on paper, it didn\u2019t look so massive.<\/span><\/p>\n

My colleagues were still excited for my progress. But because <\/span>I didn\u2019t set any goals<\/b> before I started my work, I couldn\u2019t truly gauge my progress during this valuable time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Make a work plan, however minimal. Whether it\u2019s a set of chapters, a character development arc, or research for technical aspects of <\/span>worldbuilding<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ll want to be able to look back on your time and say, \u201cYes, I did (at least part of) what I set out to do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n

3. Distractions are everywhere<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s natural for others to be curious about your work at a residency, and it\u2019s natural to be curious about theirs. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>But it\u2019s easy to let those side conversations about your work, your life back home, your pets, and that one city you visited once derail your productivity. <\/span><\/p>\n

An artist at my residency referred to procrastinating as \u201cchasing squirrels.\u201d <\/b>Everyone did it. Some of us more than others. If you let distractions like conversations, social media, and fiddling with the coffee pot take over, and you\u2019ll wonder where your day — or entire residency — has gone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tip: <\/b>Set a writing schedule, even if it\u2019s as simple as working two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. That way, you can protect those hours — and let distractions run rampant outside those limits without feeling bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. You will hit a wall <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Right when you think you\u2019ve hit your stride and it\u2019s going to be nothing but multi-thousand-word writing sessions from there, you\u2019ll hit the wall. Stuck. Burned out. <\/span><\/p>\n

It happened to me: I started my second week of residency with a super-productive day where I wrote several pivotal scenes in my work in progress. I felt like I was on top of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Until the next morning, when I sat back down at my desk and\u2026nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cure? A 90-minute hike on a cold, but sunny day fixed me right up. I knew I needed to clear my head, and when a fellow resident volunteered to keep me company along the path, I happily took her offer. Leaning into this opportunity for distraction helped me reset my brain and sit down at my laptop with clarity and confidence the next day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tip: <\/b>Accept that even in a special environment, some days will be <\/span>more productive than others<\/span><\/a>. Embrace the ebb and flow of your residency and listen to your body, mind and surroundings along the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

5. Make a work plan before you depart<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Your residency might feel like a rush of creativity and uninterrupted writing. But you can\u2019t take it with you — at least, not in the same form. <\/span><\/p>\n

When I returned from my residency, I chatted with my mother on the phone, who asked if I had a productive trip. Then she said, \u201cNow you\u2019ll have to keep up the momentum.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Again with the half-hearted chuckling and toothy grin she couldn\u2019t see through the phone. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>I didn\u2019t have a plan. In fact, in the month after my return home, I wrote <\/span>zero<\/span><\/i> additional words. I did <\/span>zero<\/span><\/i> additional plotting. I felt inert, sluggish back in my surroundings, with a day job to attend to and errands to run. <\/span><\/p>\n

The momentum of a residency is hard to replicate for writers who don\u2019t typically get time and space to write. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tip: <\/b>Before you depart, make a plan for how you\u2019ll continue writing when you return home. Sure, maybe life will require you to tone it down from 2,000 words each day to 500 three days a week. But <\/span>setting expectations<\/span><\/a> for yourself will help you feel motivated to follow up on your residency-facilitated burst of creativity. <\/span><\/p>\n

My lessons might seem obvious to someone who has taken writing trips before. But for a newcomer who loves planning and reviewing agendas, I felt overwhelmed with lightbulb moments. <\/span>Of course<\/span><\/i> it takes planning and preparation to make the most of your time — just like writing at home. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s a matter of applying those lessons as I daydream about my next residency. <\/span><\/p>\n

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you\u2019re supporting The Write Life \u2014 and we thank you for that!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visiting a writing residency? Review these lessons about planning for productivity while you\u2019re away from home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":36291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1426,532,798,1427,141,535],"class_list":["post-12342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft","tag-first-writing-residency","tag-writing-residencies","tag-writing-residency","tag-writing-residency-tips","tag-writing-retreat","tag-writing-retreats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}