Image Credit: Unsplash- Gary Ellis
The whole year, I had been looking forward to my Scottish getaway; it wasn’t a normal trip touring areas of Scotland. No! this trip took me right up to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A 30-minute drive from the airport, the house by the loch took us away from civilization, the drive from the airport breathtaking as we found ourselves on a long, windy road, surrounded by forgotten beauty as we passed the odd house here and there. As we pulled up to what was to be our home for the next week, we saw we were surrounded by nature, as you looked out upon the still waters of the loch.
I found myself tucked away in this house, as others started to arrive, I saw familiar faces whom I had only seen via Zoom calls. Some for years, others only for a couple of months. We laughed as each of us arrived and the realization that are perception of how tall we thought each other where had turned out to be so wrong.
Why were we gathered in such a remote area, you may ask?
We let me tell you, we were all writers looking for a place of solitude to spend a week writing and time to get to know each other.
Better still, this was our Write Retreat.
As out host showed us around the property we were all astonished as to what it had to offer. A huge kitchen with a table that could sit 20, a large lounge with the comfiest sofa, a karaoke machine, and a dance floor. There was a pool/snooker table, a games room, and a cinema room. We all agreed the nights wouldn’t be boring.
With nine rooms and the ability to sleep nineteen people, our small writing group of eight fit in it perfectly.
As we walked around, we noticed three flights of stairs leading to the bedrooms, hanging on the banisters at the bottom of each flight were name hangers listing the names of each person who had a room on that floor, this nice little touch also made sure we didn’t get lost in the maze of staircases. As we took the stairs to our bedrooms, we found door hangers with our names on, so no confusion on rooms either, also, if you felt like writing in your room you could turn the hanger round where it would read “Do not disturb, I’m busy writing.” these extra little touches by the host bought a smile to our faces.
The first night was a settle-in evening, and an easy dinner of Quiche, cold meats, and salad was served. Some information around health and safety from the homeowners was read, and the host, plus ourselves, all agreed on one rule, “It was a safe place to read your writing out loud”. Our host then handed out gift bags as everyone made their way into the lounge for a get to know you activity.
As we got ourselves comfy on the sofa, all making sure we had a drink of some kind, we then did a small introduction of ourselves to the group. It was made very clear at this point that anything that made you feel uncomfortable, or you just didn’t want to do, you didn’t have to take part in.
After this, one of the writers read a short story from one of her books, a bedtime story for us all. Once this was over, we could do what we wanted, with everyone having had a long day from traveling we where all tired so it was an early night for all.
Tuesday was the official start of the write retreat. As everyone got up at their own times to have breakfast which was served between 8am-9am. Some were struggling, morning zombies until that first coffee of the day hit them, I’m not ashamed to say I fitted into this category. Others were immersed in conversation, as these were obviously morning people. On the table set two black folders for us to look at which the owners asked the guest to read; alongside this was laminated daily plans which the host had so we knew what to expect each day.
They generally read like this:
8 A.M.- Cold Buffet Breakfast
9 A.M.- Daily Inspiration – A writing task to kick the day off
10 A.M. Shut up and write – 2 hours of our own time to focus on our own writing projects
12 P.M.- Reflection and catch up – come back together as a group, where we could chat about what we had been doing and read a little of what we had written for feedback if we wished
12:30 P.M.- Lunch
2 P.M.- Mini Writing Workshop – where we would all come together to do a writing workshop the host had designed, it was something different every day.
3 P.M.- Shut up and write – another 2 hours for us to do what we wished and focus on our own projects
5 P.M.- Reflection and Check out – basically the same as reflection and catch up, but where people could either end their writing for the day or continue for a while longer.
6 P.M.- Dinner
7 P.M.- Evening Activity – which over the next three nights was three different activities that included a Vision Board, Zine making and a Celebration night.
It was made clear at the very beginning that it was up to us if we wished to take part in any other activities, or we could spend the whole day focusing on our own projects. This was our retreat, and we could write whenever we wanted. As a group, we all decided that we wished to take part in all activities and follow the plan the host had set up.
Our host made sure we had plenty of variety during the retreat; this wasn’t just on the writing side, either. As a writer and writing coach are host showed off her cooking skills doing mostly homemade meals throughout our stay.
In the afternoons, some of us would split our time in half, spending an hour writing and the next hour taking a walk and admiring our beautiful surroundings. The loch was a place frequently visited, and walking the surrounding woods was another activity people liked.
Snapping pictures of the beautiful sunset became a popular evening activity, before we were surrounded by the complete blackness of the night. People started to take advantage of what the house had to offer; some would watch films in the cinema room, while others would play pool as Alexa played songs. Yet the most common area used was the lounge, everyone would enjoy sitting and chatting in there with a drink after the evening activity.
This wasn’t just any writing retreat; this was a great writing retreat. We had laughs, we worked on projects some of us had been working on for a while, others just beginning theirs. We shared are writing and got honest feedback, but most of all it was set in the most beautiful and peaceful place, a place that itself could have given you tons of inspiration. By the end of the week, we were proud of all we had accomplished as well as the friendships we had made.
Would I do this again? Yes, in a heartbeat.
The isolation opened my mind and let me write like I had never written before. So, if you get a chance to go to the house by the loch, I would say take it, as you never know it could inspire you to write your next book.
This was written by our contributing writer, Leah Palmer.
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