Anatomy of a writer's retreat on Prince Edward Island

...and a visit to a magical spring called The Fountainhead

Rain blew in today, as forecasted, and wrapped ​misty ​gray veils around the old farmhouse: after sunny weather that called us outside, today will be perfect for writing.

Me on one of our daily beach walks

Here’s a sample daily schedule for our retreat on Prince Edward Island, to give you an idea of what the full-time writer’s life is like:

·      Sleep in from excesses of the evening before, like pie

·      Wake up, make tea and coffee, stare out the window at the mustard fields and quaking aspen, thinking. (or not, as the case may be. Sometimes the brain is just white noise.)

·      Stretches and journaling my gratitudes and intentions

·      Get to work and hammer out a chapter or so

·      Break for breakfast: read something uplifting like a literary essay, Virginia Woolf musing, or People article 😊

·      More writing with a stretch break or walk every hour or so

·      Snack or lunch depending

·      Afternoon activity like tea with an islander friend, a beach walk to find sea glass, or jogging in the forest

·      More writing

·      Dinner (we take turns cooking)

·      More writing

·      Read pages to each other with a glass of wine

·      Go to bed and read a good book

·      Eventually, way too late, fall asleep

·      Get up and do it again the next day

Yesterday was another dreamy and perfect day; I got a chapter and a half done on Hidden Falls, and further on my book outline for the novel, which is not to be sneezed at. I find the brain work of picturing the scenes ahead in the story to be some of the heaviest lifting of the work. It wasn’t easy going, but I must just keep showing up to the page, adding the scenes, and eventually it will become a book.

More than thirty novels have taught me to have faith in the process.