How to create your own creative writing retreat on a budget

Sometimes the best way to get more writing done is to stop trying to write at home. I know that sounds strange. After all, home is where most of us write. But home is also where the laundry needs to be folded, the dishes need to be washed, the dog needs to go outside, and the cat has decided that whatever you’re doing is less important than paying attention to them while they rest their behinds on your keyboard. Even when those things aren’t urgent, they’re always there in the back of your mind.

That’s one reason I’ve become such a fan of getting away for writing retreats. I’ve been taking long weekend writing getaways for several months now, and I’m amazed at how much work I can accomplish when I remove myself from my everyday environment. The trick is that these don’t have to be expensive, organized writing retreats. You can create your own.

When you’re at home, there are always distractions. Even if you manage to ignore the laundry and sit down at your desk, you’re still surrounded by all the other things that make up your daily routine. It’s easy to think, “I’ll just take care of this one thing first,” and suddenly an hour has disappeared. Getting away creates a physical boundary between your everyday responsibilities and your creative work. When I’m somewhere else, I don’t have my usual list of household chores staring me in the face. I can decide what I want to accomplish and spend my time doing it.

A change of scenery also helps creatively. Seeing different buildings, landscapes, restaurants, shops, and people gives your brain new material to process. I like combining writing time with a little sightseeing because I don’t want to spend an entire weekend staring at a laptop. Getting out and experiencing someplace new gives me a break from the work while also giving me new things to think about when I return to it.

I’ve been making this a regular part of my life, with a goal of taking at least one long weekend getaway every month. So far, I’ve done writing weekends in Indianapolis, Chicago, and University City, a suburb of St. Louis.

I use TrustedHousesitters for all of these trips, which has made the idea much more affordable than booking a traditional hotel or vacation rental. In exchange for taking care of someone’s pets or home while they’re away, I get a place to stay without paying for lodging.

That arrangement works particularly well for a writing retreat because I have some responsibilities, but they aren’t the responsibilities of my normal life. I feed the animals, take care of whatever needs to be done, and then have plenty of time to write.

I also don’t try to fill every minute with work. I’ll spend part of the day writing and then go explore the area, visit a museum or historic site, find somewhere interesting to eat, or simply walk around. That combination of focused work and new experiences is what makes these trips feel like actual getaways rather than just relocating my laptop.

---

---

I got to see just how productive this approach could be when I recently spent a week on a farm near Asheville, North Carolina. The farm had an agricultural-tourism Airbnb cabin, and I was able to stay there for free while the owners were away in exchange for taking care of their livestock. I had a quiet place to work, a completely different environment from home, and plenty of time to focus. I also got to explore the area, including finally visiting the Biltmore Estate, which I’d wanted to see for years.

But the biggest accomplishment from that trip wasn’t actually writing. I’d already completed the drawings for an upcoming children’s picture book, but I still needed to watercolor all of the illustrations. I brought the drawings with me, spread everything out, and spent the week painting. By the time I came home, I had finished the watercolor work on every illustration.

That experience really drove home how much you can accomplish when you give yourself uninterrupted time. At home, I might have worked on those illustrations for an hour before getting distracted by something else. Away from home, I had already decided that this was my time to work, so I could simply get on with it.

And the same thing applies to writing. Whether you’re drafting a novel, revising a manuscript, outlining a new project, or working on something completely different, a few days of focused time can make a remarkable difference.

A writing retreat doesn’t have to mean spending hundreds or thousands of dollars at a retreat center. You can make your own retreat almost anywhere. You might rent an inexpensive cabin for a weekend, book a hotel in a nearby city, stay with a friend, go camping, or find a house-sitting opportunity. The important thing isn’t luxury. It’s creating enough distance from your normal routine that you can focus on your creative work.

Before you leave, give yourself a realistic goal. You might decide to write 5,000 words, finish a chapter, revise a certain number of pages, complete your illustrations, or simply spend several uninterrupted hours working on a project you’ve been putting off. Having a goal gives the retreat some structure without turning it into another obligation.

Then leave yourself some time to explore. One of my favorite parts of these trips is getting out of the temporary workspace and experiencing someplace different. Sometimes the best creative inspiration comes when you’re not actively trying to find it.

I think creative people often wait for the perfect circumstances before giving ourselves permission to focus on our own work. We wait until the house is clean, work slows down, everyone else is taken care of, and we magically have a few free days. Those days don’t always appear on their own. Sometimes you have to create them.

For me, getting out of the house has been a surprisingly effective way to do that. I’ve been able to make real progress on my writing while also seeing new places, and my week in North Carolina proved that the benefits extend beyond writing. When I gave myself dedicated time away, I came home with an entire set of watercolor illustrations finished. You might be surprised by what you can accomplish when the laundry isn’t calling your name.

If you’d like to try creating your own affordable writing retreat, I’ve been using TrustedHousesitters for my getaways, and it’s been a great way to combine travel, creative time, and a little adventure. If you sign up through my affiliate link, we both get a discount on our TrustedHousesitters memberships. And while I may receive a discount if you sign up through my link, I genuinely use the service myself and have found it to be a great way to get out of my normal environment and make more time for creative work.

Have you ever taken yourself on a writing retreat, or would you like to? Where would you go, and what would you hope to accomplish while you were there? Tell me in the comments.

My new picture book, How Do You Spell That Sound? is now available for purchase on Amazon. Get your copy today!

Join the conversation!

Great writing begins with great reading—and grows through practice. Subscribe to get new articles on the craft of writing, literary analysis, and creative inspiration from Write on the World.

Now available in print and on Kindle!

Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.