Before I describe the stress of an author’s life–and the dear authors who helped relieve my stress last month–let me say it’s an honor to do the thing I love most: write about God’s Word. When others are encouraged by my stories and/or devotional thoughts, it’s icing on the cake. When writing becomes a career with contracts, deadlines, and rising expectations, stress can rise, too. I’ve found three types of retreat to help ward of stress when the workload or schedule gets too heavy. You might ask,
“How can a retreat be helpful for authors when they retreat to write all the time?”
It’s true that authors must create for themselves self-imposed BIC (butt-in-chair) time. However, true retreat–whether physical, mental, or spiritual–is an entirely different skill.
Physical Retreat
Sometimes we all need to just get away from our own crazy world. Even one night in a quiet place can do wonders for the soul.
When you can spend extended time with people who “get” you–it’s like water in the desert, my friends. That’s what happened with my author friends at the April retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’d been struggling with leaving the mountains, so it was a goodbye of sorts. At the same time, I was able to rekindle sweet relationships with friends I hadn’t seen in years and deepen friendships with authors I’d only “met” through email.
So, Who’s Who?
Back row (L to R): Angela Hunt, Tracy Higley, me, Kimberley Woodhouse, Missy Tippens, Creston Mapes.
Middle zigzag row: Robert & Kathy Whitlow (Kathy in front of Robert), Kate Angelo, Lynette Eason, Allie Pleiter, Pepper Basham, Colleen Coble, Jerry Jenkins, Mindy Starns Clark,
Front (mostly seated) row: Lenora Worth, Pam Hillman, Cindy Sproles, Beth White, Stephanie Whitson, Eva Marie Everson, Gayle Roper, Neta & Dave Jackson.
Angie Hunt has long been a writing mentor for me. When I first started writing biblical fiction, I devoured her Legacies of the Ancient Rivers series about Joseph in Egypt! Now, we’re with the same publisher, and she’s read and endorsed Brave! Angie shared her “Skeleton Plot Structure” with the group, and then had us watch two movies to dissect them with an eye toward craft. What a rich experience!
Jerry Jenkins shared, “Life After Left Behind,” but before he described life after, he told us about life before the series sold 83 million books! What an amazing privilege to hear the testimony of God’s grace and favor upon a lifetime of faithful service. He’s now the proud papa, writing a novel for each season of his son’s (Dallas Jenkins) wildly popular streaming series, The Chosen. Jerry also teaches over 2,000 writing students online through his writers guild.
Robert Whitlow, Kate Angelo, Lynette Eason, Tracy Higley, Creston Mapes, Allie Pleiter, and Gayle Roper (the woman largely responsible for teaching me to write fiction)–each led us in a session to educate, encourage, or inspire. Each one shared from their hearts, not from a rigid outline. Their wisdom and experience bubbled over, and we captured it in relationship. This was a PHYSICAL retreat–away from our normal lives, in the presence of like-minded friends, scheduled activity and relaxation. (See the newsletter for more pictures.)
These were four unforgettable, precious days that refueled and refreshed my writer’s soul.
Mental Retreat
There’s a difference between a mental retreat and mentally checking out. In 2017, I noticed myself struggling to concentrate. I was writing Isaiah’s Daughter at the time and had to read a single paragraph multiple times to remember what it said. My daily written word count was cut in half (over 10K to barely 5K). When I shared this new wrinkle with my neurologist, she recognized the symptoms as Adult ADD. Though I’m not a little kid that can’t sit still in a classroom, my brain was acting like one!
With a little medication and some retraining of my brain, I’ve learned to take purposeful mental retreats that help me “go deep” on writing days. Here’s how I arrange my schedule to facilitate a more focused mind:
- I compartmentalize the TYPE of work I do on given days (Mondays for admin stuff like newsletter, blog, and/or social media content; Tuesday – Thursday for book writing; Friday – work with hubby on indie publishing projects)
- I divide work time into manageable concentration chunks
- write uninterrupted for 45 minutes without checking texts/email/etc
- 15 min break–walk around, stretch
- repeat the two, hourly chunks throughout the day
I find that as the day progresses, even my fifteen-minute break become an extended time to think about the story. I descend deeper and deeper into the biblical world–mentally retreating into my story–the longer I repeat this process. If at all possible, I try not to look at my phone, check email or texts, or talk to another human being during my retreat into the story world. I sometimes work 12-16 hours on these days, dream about the story, get up the next morning and go right into my two-chunk writing hours again. My most effective writing comes from this method.
Spiritual Retreat
I’ve attended several “spiritual” retreats since becoming a Christ follower. Perhaps the most intense was a three-day retreat in which a dear friend “sponsored” me to go, and I came away with a profound adoration for Jesus. It was during the time I was writing a Bible study on Solomon’s Song of Songs and formed the foundation for Love’s Sacred Song. It forever changed my relationship with my eternal Bridegroom.
Here’s something I’ve discovered during the past few years. I don’t have to physically leave my house to experience a spiritual retreat. Each morning, when I open my Bible, I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and enter the presence of my loving Heavenly Father. Now, I realize I’m tromping into His Throne Room with muddy boots, so I do a little soul searching, confessing, repenting, and worship before I whip out my wish list. But then I crawl into my Abba’s lap and let Him hold me. Comfort me. De-stress my tired soul.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
I usually read the Scripture that coincides with the story I’m writing. It’s been an amazing journey to read the Psalms of David while writing Brave: The Story of Ahinoam and now beginning the first draft of Book #2, Maakah’s story.
Today’s Question:
- Do you think these three types of retreats might be as helpful for readers as for authors? Why or why not?
