I once read an interview with a famous writer in which she referred to a long writing lull as "the gathering stage." I loved that because it rang true for me: after pouring out everything I had into a novel, I couldn't just rip it out of the typewriter, figuratively speaking, and start all over with something new.
It wasn't the same as "refilling the well" — an expression writers often use. To me, that's the state of being emptied out emotionally by creative work. That usually wasn't my problem. I just needed to get excited about a new story — one interesting and complex enough to sustain my attention over 100,000 words.
In 2022, I decided to try something I'd never done before, not at any point in writing any of the ten or twelve novels I had under my belt at that point. I signed up for a solo writing retreat. That took me to Good Contrivance Farm, in Catonsville, Maryland, less than an hour from home.
Good Contrivance Farm, which hosts writing events all year, offers retreats to individual writers at the adorable Hen House Cottage as well as a space called the Barn Loft. Fees are very reasonable, and — this was what I really cared about — solitude was absolute. I parked my car under a tree near the cottage, lugged my stuff into the cottage, and proceeded not to see another human being for the next three days.
My only expectation was that I would get to spend a lot of time writing, so I was taken aback at how lovely and peaceful and perfect the cottage was. Every day I woke up, sat down at that little table, and wrote for hours, stopping occasionally to cook myself a meal in the well-appointed kitchen or wander around in the field behind the house, thinking. Writing about this nearly two years later, I'm drawn back to the sort of ecstatic solitude of being there, all my responsibilities lifted, able to be in my head and be creative without any obligation to do otherwise.
The biggest distraction was the unexpectedly fantastic library. When I first saw all the shelves crammed with old books, I expected a thrift-store selection of whatever random titles people had discarded or left behind over the years. Not so.
But wait, there's more.
There were many shelves just like these, packed with treasures. In fact, besides writing, the thing I spent the most time doing was reading my way through all of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, which was so dazzling that it proved to be more of an inspiration than a distraction. I felt like a kid again, lying in bed reading a book late into the night without scolding myself that I should do the dishes or get to bed at a reasonable hour.
At the end of my three-day stay, I had around 20,000 words of new writing, a new appreciation for the value of the solo writing retreat, a fangirl-level love of Alison Bechdel, and a deep gratitude to the hosts of Good Contivance Farm for making such a wonderful escape available. I recently looked at retreats all over the East Coast, thinking I should try someplace new next time, but kept finding myself thinking, can it possibly be better? How?
If you've been on a writing retreat that you enjoyed, please suggest it in the comments below!
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