The idea for my novel came in a rush: as I\u00a0walked over the Thames on the Golden Jubilee Bridge in central London, the scene at the heart of it leapt out of the deep blue dusk and clung on to me until I committed to writing it into existence.<\/p>\n
The Guardian\u2019s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.\u00a0Learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n A few months later, it became depressingly clear that the half-hour snatches of writing at the end of my working day just weren\u2019t going to get me over the finish line.<\/p>\n And so I entered the world of the writing retreat. More than simply a place to write, the best are spaces that can rejuvenate even the most frazzled and blocked writers.<\/p>\n The first retreat I went on was self-guided: three very solitary nights in a converted chapel<\/a> in Llanfrynach village, near Abergavenny, in the foothills of Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). Dylan Thomas was definitely on to something with his love of walking, and Wales meets a\u00a0writer\u2019s need to walk and write. I\u00a0developed a routine of morning writing followed by a stroll along the damp banks of the River Usk through clouds of marsh hair moss, allowing the plot tangles to unknot themselves in the cold Welsh air. I was amazed by\u00a0how much I got done in a long weekend cut off from distractions, but\u00a0it was an eerie idyll and I missed having people to bounce ideas off.<\/p>\n A moment of reflection by Loch Lomond at an Acorn Writing Retreat<\/p>\n Rewarding myself for reaching the hallowed 50,000-word mark and clutching a patchy story and the beginnings of a credible three-act structure, my next stop was the Urban Writers\u2019 Retreat<\/a>. I had already taken an online writing course with its founder, Charlie Haynes, and liked the supportive way she worked. So I knew I would be in safe hands for my three-night stay in the expansive Georgian farmhouse near Newton Abbot, Devon, where she hosts her retreats.<\/p>\n The setup was what I needed: unfettered time away from life\u2019s admin during which I could immerse myself in the story. While my room had faded country house charm and a\u00a0desk, I preferred the window seat of\u00a0the drawing room, where I could look out at the gardens and farm animals as I wrote.<\/p>\n There were six guests and we met for meals and to talk about all things writing in the cosy kitchen. Relinquishing the mental load of meal prep in return for herb-crusted salmon, fig and mozzarella salad and homemade cake was one of the greatest pleasures, all the more enjoyable given that Charlie, who prepared much of the food herself, is a notable cook. Even had I not written a word, I\u00a0would have left feeling restored.<\/p>\n My novel had become the Google Docs equivalent of a cupboard door that was opened occasionally then crammed shut before the overwhelm cascaded out<\/p>\n Months later, my novel had slipped down my priority list, becoming the Google Docs equivalent of a cupboard door that was opened occasionally then crammed shut before the messy overwhelm cascaded out.<\/p>\n Informed by her PhD experience, Dr\u00a0Rebecca Maxwell Stuart set up Acorn Writing Retreats<\/a> to help writers tackle their unwieldy manuscripts. \u201cComing on an Acorn retreat allows writers time and opportunity to have conceptual clarity on their projects, but also leave feeling good about themselves,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Amid an expansive Loch Lomond landscape, the Oak Tree Inn in Balmaha was a paradisal setting for a\u00a0four-day retreat for a diverse group (fiction, academic, nonfiction) of eight writers. This was one of the most structured retreats. We started with some\u00a0goal setting and sharing our objectives, and there were four writing sessions across the day, including short activities, which were brilliant for jump-starting ideas and energising my writing.<\/p>\n A bijou cabin at Starcroft Farm near Battle in East Sussex. Photograph: Tom Milner<\/p>\n We wrote quietly, seated around a\u00a0horseshoe table. Writing together is strongly encouraged for the duration of the retreat, to foster support and momentum and hold your writing gently to account. Nurture is important to\u00a0Rebecca\u2019s ethos, and there is optional meditation in the evenings and time to celebrate the small wins of\u00a0the day.<\/p>\n Watching sunlight and shadows race along the lochside hills on our afternoon walks, it was hard not to feel hope in my project and believe my years-long work-in-progress might reach completion.<\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s the right people at the right time that make a writing break memorable, as I found at Rewrite<\/a>, a retreat for women of colour. The founder, Christina Fonthes, is an\u00a0author who runs writing and wellbeing programmes in the UK, Costa Rica, Portugal and Thailand, as\u00a0well as online.<\/p>\n Tucked into the writing nook of the cabin, it was impossible not to do my best work<\/p>\n The Brighton weekend retreat I\u00a0chose was a refreshing opportunity to concentrate on technique. The structured writing sessions focused on\u00a0helping us find our voice, then we workshopped what we had written and shared what we had developed in\u00a0an open mic finale. Christina highlights the importance of connection between mind and body,\u00a0and avoiding the burnout all\u00a0too\u00a0common for Black women. A\u00a0meditative daily yoga practice brought that to life. Discussing the themes of beauty, Blackness and belonging that I\u00a0explore in my novel in a safe space with other women of colour edged me closer to the final draft.<\/p>\n With the end of the novel in sight, I\u00a0needed solitude and space to write my way to the finish. A wood cabin at Starcroft Farm<\/a>, overlooking the fringes of Powdermill Wood near Battle in East Sussex, was quietly perfect.<\/p>\n Hannah Stuart-Leach, a historian and former travel journalist, and her husband Tom have created the most magical space where every aspect of a\u00a0writer\u2019s journey has been carefully planned out. Each bijou wood cabin has a desk area, bathroom, kitchenette and a bedroom with a stargazing skylight. There was a pagan air afoot in\u00a0my cabin: a carefully curated collection of craft books, poetry and witchy tomes (including Hagitude by Sharon Blackie) filled the bookshelf. There was also a box of spells for down time, while the Green Man looked down from a print on the wall.<\/p>\n The writer at the Starcroft Farm cabin. Photograph: Tom Milner<\/p>\n The nicest touch was arriving to find a gift-wrapped copy of Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy, specially chosen by the local independent Rother Books<\/a> after a brief pre-trip email questionnaire.<\/p>\n I chose to work alone, but Starcroft Farm also arranges brilliant regular sessions with writing coaches, one-to-one or in small-group themed retreats. Tucked into the writing nook of the cabin, it was impossible not to do my best work.<\/p>\n I finished my novel. The sense of achievement is enormous. And while there\u2019s no substitute for keeping your bum in the seat and getting words on to the page, having a few days of literary luxury every so often with like-minded people certainly made it more fun.<\/p>\n The Old Chapel<\/a> in Llanfrynach is \u00a3487 for three nights. Urban Writers\u2019 Retreat<\/a> has rooms from \u00a3415 for three nights. Acorn Writing Retreats<\/a>\u2019 all-inclusive rates are \u00a3525 for three days, \u00a3675 for four (the Acorn Access Fund offers discounts for marginalised and low-income writers). Rewrite<\/a> in East Sussex from \u00a31,700 for five nights. Starcroft Farm<\/a> cabins \u00a3320 for a two-night independent writing break and \u00a3750 for a four-night small-group retreat with coaching, massage and other extras (the writer was given one night\u2019s stay for this article)<\/p>\n Fiona McAuslan hopes to have her debut novel published in 2027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The idea for my novel came in a rush: as I\u00a0walked over the Thames on the Golden Jubilee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-390969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}