We read to escape. We go to the movies to eat popcorn and live under the skin of a stranger for ninety minutes. And some of us… write to escape.

It is inevitable that the world would intervene. That we’d feel the tug of chores or daily routine pull us out of our stories, away from a world only we inhabit… and yet, we try to return everyday, every chance we can.

What if, this year… you made a true commitment to your escapism?

What if this year you packed a bag and went away, returning with not only a souvenir, but a story. One you wrote when given the place and the time and the quiet you’ve been seeking.

That’s what we’re all about. Escape with Write By The Water in 2012, and unleash yourself.

If you write, you’ve been there. You’ve stared at the computer screen, closed your eyes and pleaded for something — anything — to reignite your creativity and get your fingers flying across the keys.

Call is fear. Call if doubt. Call it distraction. Whatever it is, get used to it. It’s all part of being a writer.

So what can you do to get “unstuck”?

• Write every day. Establish a routine. Park yourself in the chair and show up.
• Stop thinking so much. Don’t worry about whether it’s good or not. Just write.
• Think about writing as a “regular” job. You’re on the clock, so work.
• Give yourself breaks.
• Take a writing workshop or attend a writer’s retreat.
• Set deadlines and goals. Reward yourself when you meet them.
• Write about a “true” experience. Just write it down. It’s a good way to exercise your writing muscles.

Looking for more tips on getting “unstuck”? Check out this great post I found this morning on Write it Sideways.

If you’ve found a way to break through your writer’s block, share it here!

image: Drew Coffman

wow. Tolstoy was, amazing. Everyone loves his work. He is a writing god. Yes?

And somedays, maybe you even think that you have that literary genius bubbling up.

You are doing all the right things… and yet?

Rejection after rejection, after rejection.  big sigh

First of all….It’s not getting the rejections that you should be focusing on, young padawan… it’s how many submissions you are putting out there in the ether.

Writing, like most sadomasochistic endeavors, is a numbers game. It’s about pushing through barriers and about persistance. Forget sleep. Forget food. Forget dust bunnies and fine dining.

And forget about Tolstoy.

You are not him. The days of writers like him are over.. can you ever imagine anyone saying anything like this… about a contemporary author?

The Soviets planted him at the top of their literary pantheon, largely because of the radical philosophy he preached amid the early rumblings of the October Revolution. The publication of “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” made Tolstoy so famous that one contemporary described him as Russia’s second czar. He used that position to rail against the church, as well as the police, the army, meat eating, private property and all forms of violence.

Lenin loved Tolstoy’s “pent-up hatred.” He anointed him “the mirror of the Russian Revolution,” ignoring his pacifism and belief in God. As the 50th anniversary of his death approached, the Central Committee of the Communist Party began preparing two years in advance, so a monument would be ready for unveiling.

Really???

Okay, so now.. your petty rejections feel a little bit less harsh. and yet?

You want to be loved. You think your story was the best thing you’d ever written. You believe your novel is perfect and needs no edits. You just know that Oprah would cry if she read it. Heck, your Mom loved it, right?

listen to this:

Ten years ago Tolstoy’s great great grandson asked the church to revisit the 1901 ruling that excommunicated his great-great-grandfather. He never got an answer.

read more about TOLSTOY’S snubbing here

So you bought a nice comfy chair…and now, in this new year? In 2011?

You have decided you will finally write. Every day.

And you can.
Don’t think you’ll write good words every day- or that you will like what you write everyday, or even that the words you write will be anything more than a list for the grocery store.

The thing is to get in the habit of having pen and paper, or computer, or smart phone handy for when those story ideas do some. That is what we’re driving for.
Writing, not as a chore, but as a habit.

Need a starting point?

Try these exercises.

If you are someone who gets easily distracted, or needs to work on a deadline, try these timers and alarms.

If you need goals and accountability? Join a local or online writing group that will keep you both motivated and on track with your projects.

And if you still need a kick in the butt?  Write to us here. Let’s get you involved at one of our coastal 5 day writing retreats, where we guarantee you will get and stay on track.

Because that’s what writers do for each other.

Maybe it’s a famous writer, like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King ? Or maybe it’s your Aunt Martha or your 6th grade English teacher. We are always going to be inspired by someone, more than one someone, and today, I’m sharing just a couple of my sources of inspiration.

First: the obvious ones. I’ll get those out of the way first:

• My husband, who is one of the most supportive, go-with-the-flow guys I know. I’m inspired by his ability to live a life of complete balance. And I wouldn’t even be a writer if I didn’t have you in my life. Truly.
• My kids, who have provided me with plenty of fodder for characters and such. Thanks for being clever, and funny, and just plain weird sometimes. It’s all good.

And, now, because I’m a giver…here are some new friends. You inspire me in different, and totally surprising ways.

I hope you enjoy reading their work as much as I do.

Colleen Friesen
In her words, Canadian-writer, Colleen Friesen is “..a cappuccino and travel junkie. Like the collages I love to hammer, glue and sew together in my Sechelt studio,my writing is often a collection of ephemera, transitory images, random thoughts and events that happen wherever I find myself  in the world.”

Colleen’s blog is a treat for me every day. I blame her, in truth, for distracting me from my own writing. Where I used to wake inspired to “write the damn book,” I now pour myself a cup of coffee and click over to Colleen’s blog to get my daily dose of inspiration. She’s an amazing wordsmith, and you’d be a fool not to take my advice and click over there — do it now I say — and subscribe to her daily posts. She’s that good.

Follow her blog here.

Dina Santorelli
I “met” Dina recently. When I found her blog, “Making Baby Grand-The Novel” this “timeline” jumped out at me: “The Making ‘Baby Grand’ blog is born as a way to chronicle the writing process and share my trials and tribulations as a first-time novelist as I finish the writing of this book. Or maybe as a creative way to procrastinate. Not sure.”

A kindred spirit, to be sure. And as I’ve followed her progress, I’m inspired by her enthusiasm, and her progress. She’s actually done it. I aspire to get to where she is now. Check out her blog to find out more and follow Dina’s next steps as she continues the journey to publishing her novel.

Linda Sands
Not only is Linda an incredible, award-winning writer – her short stories have been published in dozens of literary publications over the years — she’s an accomplished novelist and is always looking for ways to help other writers realize their dreams. You go girl!

She’s the founder and editor of scratch — “the writing contest that itching to discover new talent,” and partner in Write by the Water retreats for women If you haven’t read Linda’s ebook, Simple Intent , be sure to put it on her list, and follow the blog. Her smart and witty style will make you smile (and maybe blush a little).

There are so many great writers forging their way in this new world of blogging. And how great is it that we can share our work–ebooks, travel articles, random blog posts — with countless readers every day. Amazing.

Do you follow a writing blog that you’d like to share? Someone you connect with or who just makes you smile through their blog articles? I’d love to add them to my list. Let me know!

photo: Tom J Byrne

Long answer short: All of them.

At different times of the writing life, you will reap benefits from attending all three of these functions.

Let me break it down for you. * insert funky hiphop music here*

THE WRITING WORKSHOP
This program can start as early as elementary school. Sure, at this age, you may be more into writing love letters to the cute boy who sits behind you, or, if you’re like me, hate letters to the dork who threw mud at you in the playground and ruined your white blouse, but… Mrs. Garbus knew what she was doing when she instituted an interdisciplinary writing technique which can build students’ fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.

And I don’t mean staying after class and writing 600 times, “I will not laugh when someone wets their pants in science class.” But, yeah, I had that punishment way too many times, and as a result, I’m a very fast, yet sloppy writer to this day.

Adult writing workshops will give you writing time, as well as social and lecture time. Most of the attendees are there to work with a particular professional. A wise workshopper will attend not only to showcase existing work and add to works in progress, but also network with peers and have one’s work read and seen by industry pros who can help you get a leg up…or at the very least… a foot over the transom.

Workshops can be found as online courses, offered through community schools, colleges, literary magazines, publishers and even writers clubs. Generally one or more professional writers/authors/poets and or screenwriters are brought in and attendees are charged a fee to attend. It generally lasts one to two days, possibly a week.

• Online and in New York City, The Gotham Writers Workshop is very popular.

Sometimes new writers get discovered at workshops like these:

• TINHOUSE Summer Writers Workshop. See last year’s agenda
• And the super fabulous 2 year program at the University of Iowa, Iowa Writers Workshop

THE WRITING CONFERENCE
This type of program is generally longer, and more social or lecture based than the workshop. You may not have any writing time at all, unless you skip the nights in the bar and at least a few of the daytime readings. But if you do either of those things, you won’t reap what you came to sow. And that’s connections.

The conferences I’ve been to are about running and gunning 24 hours a day. You may catch the tail end of Robert Olen Butler’s reading because you were in another room listening to Dennis Lehane but trust me, he didn’t even notice you slip out the back of his crowded to capacity and then some space. You’ll pitch agents over cocktails, introduce yourself to editors at breakfast and if you’re lucky, get stuck in the elevator with a famous bigshot author, whose book you just happen to be reading. Yep.

Preparation is huge at these conferences. I have taken 4 days to map out the who, what, when and where of a big time event. Your phone and planner, and a few cheat sheets are a must. Nothing says amateur more than forgetting the name of the main character in the novel the author onstage is talking about. Even worse if you mispronounce the author’s name.

Do your homework. Prepare your pitch. Learn a few jokes and have some current industry knowledge… more than who’s sleeping with whom… because we all know how fast that can change.

• For Writers and Writing Professionals, The annual AWP Conference is the ultimate gig, whether you’re a guest, hosting or sitting on a panel, or merely attending, this is one bad boy of a conference.
• Webdelsol puts on the well repected and well attended Algonkian Writers Conferences, all over the US.

Many conferences are area specific, drawing on local talent. This is a great, inexpensive way to get your feet wet.

Some of my favorites, now that the Maui Conference and Southampton are kaput include:

• The SCWW
• The Key West Literary Seminar (part workshop, part conference)
• The Eckerd College Writers Conference

Check your local colleges and become a member of a local writers club, discounts may apply.

THE WRITERS RETREAT
Some people cannot really write at home. There are too many distractions: phones, doorbells, TV, kids, laundry, Ebay auctions and the distant cry of the cookie that will not be denied.

For these writers, the solution is a retreat.

This may take the form of a solo trip to the mountains and two days alone in a rustic cabin, or perhaps a month in France with a group of creative strangers and no Internet. Or, for some of us, it’s the combination of unique locale and writing friends who know just how to motivate you.

Your retreat is an individual choice, and as you grow in your career your needs will change, so never say never to a retreat option.

I suggest you try them all.

I have kicked everyone out and made my own home retreat, have driven to a resort in the mountains and written for 2 days alone, have rented a cheesy hotel room and snuck off with a writing partner for 2 nights, have traveled to the Florida coast, solo and with groups to stare at blue, blue water and let my mind create a place a reader will one day become just as blissfully lost to reality.

If you need some retreat ideas, there are a few places listed below, but understand this. A retreat means doing the work. Whether that is the mental part of figuring out where the story is going, or what’s not working, or the pounding out of a rough draft, your retreat is from society and distractions… not from the page.

Be sure you don’t make your retreat about shopping or visiting relatives… of course, you need to eat, and some downtime is expected, but for the most part this is dedicated butt in the chair time.

Listen to that little voice in your head. You owe it to yourself to escape- at least once a year.

Read more about workshops, conferences and retreats:

• Poets and Writers
• Writers Conferences and Centers
• Shaw Guide
• American Society of Journalists and Authors Annual Conference
• Writers and Editors One on One Conference
• International Women’s Writing Guild Summer Conference
• Retreats
• Scotland retreat

And of course, you can retreat with other women writers at Write By the Water ( a favorite of mine, of course!)

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to share time and space with other writers. It’s an experience that will not only provide you with the dedicated time to work on your craft, but you’ll come away with new friends and connections that will prove invaluable in your writing journey!

Have you attended a retreat or workshop? If so, we’d love to hear about it.

photo: Witheyes

We have had the most amazing group of writers on this retreat. Each one of them have brought something so valuable to our first retreat. Among our group of women writers, there are fiction writers, memoir writers, travel writers, and a writer who is searching for her own unique voice – the right fit for her. Jack Riggs has done an incredible job guiding our group during their short stay with us at Sunset Beach. He’s given them truth. He’s given them direction. And maybe, just maybe, he’s given some of them the strength to believe in themselves.

Writing can be a lonely pastime. Linda and I built this retreat so that writers could connect with each other in an environment that supports the belief of dreams. And after these five days, I feel like we’ve accomplished that. The group have not only learned from Jack Riggs, they have dug deep, in those quiet hours alone in their corner of the house, and they’ve learned about themselves–and what they can accomplish.

We spent more time together today than we have throughout the week. Nicole bellied up to the breakfast bar and clicked away on her laptop the entire morning, stopping only to chime in on a conversation or ask a question. She was in the writing zone. It felt like she had come full circle since the day she walked into our retreat, unsure of what to expect (and who to expect), weighed down with enough clothes for a week, even though she signed up for just the weekend. At the end of her weekend stay, she wasn’t ready to leave, and we were happy to have her stay with the group!

Colleen likened us to a “writerly version of Friends,” which was one of the greatest compliments she could share. We connected, during these few days together. This group of writers we brought together — different in every way possible — but similar in more ways than I can count. Bouncing ideas off each other. Reading scenes and clips from novel drafts…how could you not connect?

As the day progressed, one by one, the writers made their exit. There were lots of hugs, and it was tough to see each of them leave. With a promise to reconnect, either by Internet or otherwise, we bid farewell to our first group of attendees. What an amazing experience it’s been for all of us.

We can’t wait to welcome our next group of writers in North Carolina this February!

Josh was awesome. He shared the process for querying an agent and gave our writers some insight into the business side of writing. Valuable information that I know all the writers will tuck away until they are ready to release their finished work into the world.

Writer's writing

[/caption]The afternoon was spent writing. Writers walked on the beach. Writers hung out on the back porch and lounged next to the pool with laptops propped up, fingers flying across the keys.

This last full day of the retreat went by far too quickly. Dinner at The Red Bar – with good food, music, and more Canadians — and the day came to a close. It will be hard to say good-bye to our writers — our new friends. Facebook friend requests have been sent, and photos have been tagged. Business cards have been exchanged and websites have been linked…surely we will find a way to stay connected.

You know what they say…”You always remember your first.”

We gathered back at the house early afternoon and headed over to SunDog Books at Seaside for the scheduled book signing and reading.

Jack read from The Fireman’s Wife; Martha Payne read from her book Put Him In Coach; Linda Spear read from her novel I Know You By Heart and Colleen Friesen read from her work-in-progress.

Seaside is the town that was the backdrop for “The Truman Show,” a movie about a man who lived his life on the set of a TV show.

After a quick lunch at Pickles Beachside Grill, it was back to the house for some quiet writing time.

Jack and Nicole ventured off to the beach for their one-on-one writer’s chat, and hours later they showed up at the door with Brett, the random stranger-turned-hero who brought the pair home after they ventured too far from “home” and couldn’t find their way back. Grateful to have our friend re-join us at the beach house, safe and sound, we loaded Brett-the-lifesaver (according to Jack…who could be exaggerating slightly — he’s a writer, after all and lies for a living) down with books before sending him on his way.

Colleen made dinner for the group: Spagetti, garlic bread, and an incredible salad (see the “weirdest thing of the day” below). Our bellies full, we spent the rest of the evening chatting, listening to Jack play the guitar and sing old country songs (okay, old to some of us…), and even managed to squeeze in a round of Win, Lose or Draw before finally calling it a day.

A lively end to a perfectly perfect writing day.

Weirdest thing of the day (WTOD)
Today’s WTOD is not so much a “thing” but the “weirdest thing overheard at the Write by the Water writers retreat.

“Damn it, I just can’t eat blurry food!”