Seeing the forest for the trees:: A writing retreat

You can tell by the message Joey left in the guest book that we'd spent a lot of time working on summaries during our weekend writing retreat. Joey summarizes well -- our barn conversion on Orcas Island was indeed a perfect oasis.

Joey and I are both well into manuscripts and were craving a block of time to devote to progressing on them. So on Friday we drove up to the San Juan islands and hunkered down.

Joey makes a mean fire, and she and the wood-burning stove ensured we were toasty warm (and at times borderline oppressed by the heat).

We got out of the barn a few times in between downpours to see the gorgeous surroundings. There's something about retreating to the woods that gives clarity to big projects. So often in writing you've got to do it in small chunks, and have to stop just when you get on a roll. It's glorious to have all that time to push in and really see where you're going.

Essentials for the weekend included fresh flowers, writing books and a variety of chocolates. And of course the infamous pomordoro timer. We timed ourselves and worked in 25 minute increments, then shared what we worked on. As someone who is easily bored, I swear by this technique. Everything is funner when you time yourself in my book.

I love writing on ferries for some reason. They've got great big work surfaces, nice views and, in Washington, Native American art.

I kind of see coffee shops as my urban retreat centers, but they don't take kindly to me showing up in pajamas and staying for 12 hours, no matter how productive I am.

 Have you ever been on a self-directed retreat? Where did you go? Where do you retreat to even for just a few hours?