Wednesday: In Writing Summer Retreat Day 3

Your link to join our 9am and 5pm writing sessions.

Find all the info about the In Writing Summer Retreat here:

Retreat with me!

Thank you to all who showed up to write today! We had another great turnout, with projects including creative non-fiction and a radio play.

This morning I found it much harder than yesterday to find flow – but isn’t that just how it goes sometimes? In this afternoon’s session I wrote by hand until it all started to make sense again, and then I returned to the screen with a bit more of a plan. If you hadn’t all been there to keep me going, I definitely would have abandoned the effort.

Here are some helpful words from George Saunders, taken from In Writing: Conversations on Inspiration, Perspiration and Creative Desperation, for anyone who needs them today:

When you’re stuck, there’s a quick motion you can make that is so powerful. Very honestly ask yourself, ‘What’s the problem?’ You can answer it very bluntly: ‘It doesn’t make sense that the dog could drive a car.’ It’s never anything too intellectual. Once you’ve turned your mind to the problem, I think you’re already close to solving it. You’re not despairing any more. You’re just saying, ‘Yeah, this thing I’m making has a technical problem. I don’t see the solution right now, but that’s OK. I’ll fix what I can around the edges and maybe tomorrow it will come to me.’

How did writing go for you today?

The link below will work for both the sessions tomorrow (Wednesday 11 June at 9am and 5pm UK time). As always, drop in to those hours that are convenient for you and don’t worry about missing others. Do feel free to invite a friend along if you think they’d enjoy it.

Wednesday’s link: