Our Vashonista retreat so far

Deb at work

When we Vashonistas decided to get together for an entire six days this year, Deb agreed to organize a writing retreat for us while we are here. We already knew this setting well, having been here three times before, but now we not only have plenty of time, but we also are learning some great techniques to free up our inner writers. It's Saturday morning, and by this time in earlier visits, we would have only this one full day left to enjoy not only each other, but this wonderful Lavender Hill Farm setting. This year, we don't need to pack up and leave until Tuesday!

Deb gave us all copies of Stephen King's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, which is almost impossible to put down (like most of his books), but we've been very busy. We started on Thursday night after dinner (hence my short post), and yesterday we worked very hard together. I have been to writing workshops before, but it's been a long time, and I have not only already learned some new tools to move myself from stuck writing places, but also how to find buried treasures within myself.

Listening to our esteemed guest

And last night, Linda Reeder joined us for dinner. She lives in Seattle and was one of the original bloggers we hoped would become part of this group in the beginning. She's a very busy person but made the time to take the ferry ride to Vashon Island and meet us in person. We all know each other so very well from our blogs, so she slipped into the gathering as if she had always been here. She writes on Linda Letters and posts about her travels, family, home, and gardens galore.

The picture above shows how we have been working together: Deb would give us a prompt, such as "Beneath the surface" or "Find yourself in a car" and give us either a short time (five minutes) or a longer one (fifteen) and we write, longhand, in our notebooks. I've already discovered that writing that way, rather than on a laptop, frees up something inside, as if writing it down longhand allows another aspect of creativity to be loosened.

Linda joined us for that second prompt (finding oneself in a car) and we all shared what that brought up for us. It was so much fun! The very full day yesterday made me struggling to keep my eyes opened by 8:30pm. (Who am I kidding? That's when I always fall asleep.)

And now it's the next day, Saturday morning. I hear the creaking floorboard above me, letting me know that my fellow early riser (Deb) has begun her day, too. I think I'll go join her to start today's adventure!
:-)