Barry Lee Thompson

Last week Elwood Writers went on its first ever writing retreat. We rented a cottage in Victoria’s spa country, the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. Our honorary canine member and muse Ruby came too; she had the run of a huge backyard, sharing the space with kangaroos and possums and many other bush creatures. A ten-minute walk from the cottage lay quiet Hepburn Springs; a forty-minute walk the other way, the bright bustling streets and beautiful lake of Daylesford. The coffee was good, the organic veg delicious, and there were plenty of vegan options in the local eateries.

We each cooked an evening meal, and on the fourth and final night enjoyed a smorgasbord of leftovers. After dinner each night, over coffee and tea and chocolate, we read our work aloud, and discussed it, accompanied by the gentle snores of Ruby. There was a wood fire, but the late-summer nights weren’t quite chilly enough to use it. We did have the heating on, though.

I set an intention from the start, to read and workshop around 1500 words from my manuscript each evening. I managed to achieve this, and one night read closer to 2500 words. Our regular fortnightly meeting fell on the Tuesday – another opportunity to present work. In all, during the week away, I read out about 10,000 words of the novel. More of a writing intensive than a retreat!

I enjoy crunching numbers, and at the rate of 10,000 words a week I could workshop the entire manuscript in six weeks. Of course things don’t quite work out like that – sustaining the momentum would be tough, and being home is different to being on retreat. But I enjoy having those kinds of figures in mind: they give me a sense of where I am, and how the novel is moving. And I like to have a timeline, with flexibility built in.

And now that we’re back, there’s eager talk of another retreat. Perhaps even later this year. Ruby’s very excited. It’s on the agenda for our meeting on Tuesday, so watch this space.