What Is Your Writing Inner Sanctum?

"A soul can create only when alone"

Abraham Joshua Herchel

What feeling does that quote evoke in you? Peace?
Excitement? Fear? When I first read it a sense of desire welled up in me. The urge to get away from life, sit in solitude and create was overwhelming. At the same time, a fog of despair rolled over me knowing that my life prohibits that kind of creative heaven.

There's no hard and fast rule that you must be completely alone to write your stories. There wouldn't be many published books if that were the case. But what kind of atmosphere is most conducive to your imagination taking flight? What is your inner sanctum?

A dictionary gave a couple of definitions for sanctum:
1.a sacred or holy place
2. an inviolably private place or retreat.

What writing rituals do you hold sacred? What private place or retreat do you run to when you dream up your novels? Do you wait for the family to go to bed, light candles and turn on soft music? Do you go to the farthest corner in the library? How about under the trees in your backyard? Or do you prefer to sit in the hubbub of your family, relishing the noise of life and vitality?

When I first started writing, I needed complete quiet. No music, no loud kids in the background, nothing. Over the last few years I've learned to tolerate more noise. I still cannot listen to music with lyrics, but a soft easy listening or classical song is now acceptable. I've learned I can sit on the couch while my husband watches football and work on my character sketches. I still need the quiet to develop the story, whether it is in the wee morning hours or the quiet of the car on the way to work.

I've heard numerous writing styles of various writers and I've learned that there is no right or wrong in any area of the writer's life. You do what works for you.

So what is your inner sanctum?

Originally posted October 5, 2010

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Fun & Inexpensive Ideas For Writing Retreats!

Need to get away from your hectic life to write? Well, I've got the perfect solution for you. A writing retreat! What is a writing retreat, you ask? It is a weekend (or more) where you go away from the house and write. You can go alone, with a friend, or with a group of friends. You can spend that time brainstorming, or you can add words to your WIP. You can even spend your time editing if you so desire.

I just got back from a writing retreat I took last Monday through Wednesday with a writer friend from church. You can read about my experience here. What I will say is....IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME, DUDE! Every writer needs a writing retreat - to collect your thoughts, to have focused time with the keyboard, to let your creativity fly uninterrupted.

So here's the thing, when Casey asked me what I was writing about for this post, I had no idea. So, I told her just pick something for me to write about and post it in the Weekend Edition. Surprise! I was assigned the topic of fun and inexpensive writing retreats. Yay, Casey! That's a fun topic!

And challenging.

So I divided up writing retreats into three categories, according to the size of your pocketbook.

CHEAP RETREATS

• A day at Panera Bread or Starbucks. For the cost of a meal or drink, you can hang out and write to your hearts content. 
• A day at the library. Tuck yourself away at your library for some quiet time!
• A morning/afternoon at your local park. Grab your lounge chair and sit in the shade with your laptop. Take a cooler with drinks and snacks!
• Museum
• A friend's house who is on vacation :)
• Hotel or hospital lobby?
• A room or rooms at your church. For an overnight retreat you could take air mattresses, order pizza, and have some fun! 

Panera

Library

Local Park

SWEET RETREATS

• A hotel room over the weekend.
• Rent (or borrow) an RV and head out to a state park. Depending on the size, you can fit up to 6 people in one of those!
• Rent a cabin at a state park. For about $60-$100 a night, you can sleep around 4 people and be surrounded by God's creation and inspiration.
• Again, a friend who has a lake house or a time-share they aren't going to use.
• There are church-run retreat places that will allow you to rent rooms. Often, these places include meals.

State Park



A nice RV

SQUEE RETREATS

• Stay in a treehouse! Sleep two per treehouse and gather together for brainstorming and eating. 
• Try a Bed & Breakfast! Erica Vetsch just went on a writing retreat with Mary Connealy and stayed in an awesome B&B. Check it out here.
• Some retreat places are especially designed for writers, such as The Porches on the James River in Virginia.
• How about a Georgian house overlooking Schull Harbour in West Cork, Ireland? Uh, yes! Check it out here.

The Blue Belle Inn

Treehouse

The Porches

So I've given you a few ideas on how you can fit a writing retreat into your budget. Do a babysitting swap with a friend if you have young children. Fix your husband some fantastic meals as a bride. Get creative and find a way to sneak out of the house for your own personal writing retreat! You can do it!

Anyone have some great ideas for writing retreats? What was the best retreat you have been on? What made it awesome?

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is wife to "Pastor John" and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.