Dispatch #34: Totems

What to bring on a writing retreat

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I’m reporting to you from the final morning of my writing retreat in the Santa Ynez Valley, a self-designed residency cooked up with five of my favorite novelists. We did the same thing last year and it’s become an annual tradition. These friends are not only talented, funny, and kind, they’re also committed to working and focus. It’s nice to win a spot at an illustrious residency (especially one that pays you to come), but if you can carve out the time and the budget to do it on your own, you can be just as productive and inspired.

We rent a house and work all day and each night a duo makes dinner for the group; on the last night we go out to eat. There is no application, no recommendation letters required, and no nervous meeting of strangers. Just us and the days we want to make. It’s bliss.

This time, I did half writing and half researching, so the first two days I went and did an interview, watched a documentary, and read a lot online. For the rest of the time I was drafting, trying my best to get some story under my belt. I also read a lot, puttered around, danced, and watched the birds. I’m leaving here with a stronger commitment to this new book, some pages, and lots of information and ideas.

I thought I’d share what I consider my writing retreat essentials, beyond books and my laptop. They’re kind of frivolous, but I’m all about totems to comfort and empower.

Worklog

I am newly obsessed with writing in what I call my worklog. This obsession develops at a certain point in every project of mine. What’s great is that you can create a worklog however you want. Mine is a simple Word doc on my laptop, and it’s essentially a combination journal and report of my work preoccupations. I write the date and the day of the week, and write an entry. This practice gets the junk out of my head and it’s also a space for me to think about plot ideas, characters, scenes, etc. Some of my research is also in there (though I currently also have a separate document for research since I have more than usual.) If I cut something I think I might need again, I paste it into the worklog. I give myself pep talks in this document, and I also write about whatever else might be preoccupying me or distracting me: my kids and their parade of illnesses, or my money problems, or my complicated career feelings, or my menstrual cramps…whatever. Every day, before writing my book, I write an entry in this log, and then at the end of a session, I complete the entry by writing what happened in the book, and how it felt, what meaning accumulated in the text, etc. I write what I want to work on next time I sit down at the desk. Since I have a lot more time on a retreat, I end up writing a lot. Right now, my Worklog, which I started at UCross last spring for this project, is 45 pages…single-spaced! Wow. At this point, I would never do a retreat without it. It makes sitting down to work less daunting, it helps me think out my process, and it puts a nice punctuation on the end of a workday. On a retreat it can be hard to put borders on work sessions and this solves that problem for me.

Good Bread

I consider bread a deeply humane pleasure. I brought a house loaf from Bub and Grandma’s, which is the bakery by my house (and the bread I eat every week). On the last night we splurged on a dinner at Bell’s in Los Alamos, and we enjoyed, among other wonderful dishes, the most spectacular sourdough bread with fennel seeds. The server said the starter was like thirty years old and it shows: this bread is alive with flavor. We got some extra to take home and this morning I had another piece with a huge slab of fancy ass butter like a French woman. Bread is such a comfort, and good bread is a joy bordering on the carnal. For me, anything that brings me back to my body in this way is useful to me for character writing.

I refrained from popping the rest of this butter into my mouth

Dried Mango and/or Dried Candied Ginger

Another food item. I typically can’t have these all the time because I love them both so much that I cannot stop eating them, especially the mango, and I might eat it until my teeth hurt and I feel sick. But on a retreat it’s the perfect snack, the sugar zipping through like a life line. This retreat, I made myself laugh because I was so addicted to my bag of dried mango as I typed that I was worried I’d finish it too soon (and be sick). So I literally threw it across the room, out of arm’s reach. I also like the ginger, and the spiciness is fun—and can keep you from overdoing it. (This trip, my pal Jade brought her ginger juicer and I drank sooo much fresh ginger juice. I think I need a ginger juicer? Perhaps that will be a new retreat must-have.)

Writing ring

I’ve written about this before and I always tell my students about it. Some people laugh at the absurdity, and some are suspicious, and some totally get it and are converted. A writing ring is a big ring that you typically only wear when you’re writing. My mom has gotten me rings from around the world for this purpose and now I have a healthy collection to choose from. I don’t wear them to write all the time, but I always wear them to write at a retreat. I bought myself one specifically for this trip! I did this because 1) I saw the ring for sale online and loved it and wanted to defend my purchase (ha) and 2) I was feeling nervous about the writing I had to do because I didn’t feel like I knew this new book very well yet. I felt like a new totem might give me the courage. Let me tell you, it did! I love wearing this ring. It’s so cool and chunky, and I feel like a badass wearing it. Like, Hell yes I can write this book, no problem—have you seen my ring?! I am wearing a magical ring!

I know I’ll never be a hand model

Painted Nails

Yes I am a serious Author. Yes I love a manicure—for writing. Since I don’t get my nails done all the time, when they’re painted they feel so glamorous, like every action, no matter how mundane, is imbued with an unseen power. Typing with painted nails is…fun? Look, I don’t make the rules, I only share them. As you can see in the photo above, I got my nails painted bright red to complement my calico ring, and the combo thrills me. Painting my nails supplies the writing process with a dash of lightness, and sometimes you’re deep into the darkness of creating work and you need a silly delight.

A Good Pen

I always bring a notebook or two, and this time I had a new pen I got from Patrick from Christmas and now I must have this pen on every retreat. It’s this one (from this exact shop). I was going to say, “Look it’s expensive but worth it,” and then I saw it was $3. No doubt pricier than a packet of Bics, but it’s perfect. It feels so good to write with—sharp and smooth—and it made me want to take notes and make lists and jot down random words and ideas. Let me say it again, pleasure is a portal to productivity.

Gum

I’ve had gum on a retreat before, and this time my pal Stephanie got us a pack after she used it to great success on another self-designed writing getaway. I was really into chewing it during my drafting days, particularly during my final sprints. It made me feel like an old timey newspaperman, manic over his typewriter, getting the copy done before it had to go to press. Gum! It’s a terrific focusing agent! I’m bringing some on my next retreat—which is this spring with some other favorite novelist friends. I’m counting down the days…

Time to share your tips. What do you swear by to get work done?

xoxo

Edan