The At-Home Solo Writing Retreat
Why Should You Have an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat?
The At-Home Solo Writing Retreat is an excellent option for anyone who wants to honor their writing practice and navigate the writing life within the boundaries of their ordinary, daily life in the comfort of their home.
How Do You Have an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat?
You can have your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat however you prefer. Since all of life is the writing life, there are no wrong answers! You know what you need for this particular retreat more than anyone else knows what you need. But I’ve included a few notes on how I have my At-Home Solo Writing Retreats below. And if you want more guidance and ideas, our SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Guides are a fantastic resource. (See the note at the bottom of this post for everything included!)
If having an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat sounds impossible because you don’t live alone, check out the tips on this post for having an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat While Others Are Home. There are plenty of tips to help you navigate your retreat’s time, space, and goals.
Plan
Think through your approach. Make decisions regarding the day, time, duration, how you want to use your time, etc.
Buy some fun snacks and beverages for your retreat. If you want to. No pressure. I like splurging and buying fancier snacks and drinks for my Solo Writing Retreats. Because it’s fun to buy fancier snacks and beverages, and having fun is good.
It’s best to be alone for your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat. If solitude is not an option, you really need to read my Tips for Having an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat While Other People Are Home.
I like to make a plan for how I’m going to use each hour of my Solo Writing Retreats. I include different nourishing rhythms to help me have the writing retreat I need. You may choose to do different nourishing rhythms, but maybe what I’ve included below will be helpful and spark some ideas.
Also: Every Solo Writing Retreat is better with Magic Mind. Learn more about why I love to take Magic Mind with me on my writing retreats and get 20% off here.
Also: You can follow along and see glimpses into some of my Solo Writing Retreats on the @solowritingretreats Instagram account!
Read
You can read whatever you want during your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat. You can read something related if you’re in the middle of a work-in-progress. You can also read something fun that has no apparent connection to anything you’re writing or want to write. I read a bunch of poetry during an At-Home Solo Writing Retreat last summer.
Write
You can write whatever you want during your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat. (If you need or want more guidance with retreat plans and prompts for writing, reading, moving your body, contemplative practices, and taking notes, consider becoming a SDW Member, which will give you access to ALL SDW Solo Writing Retreat Guides and Resources.)
Move
You can move however you want during your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat. Still, I recommend moving your body in some manner regularly. Sometimes it’s easy to forget about our bodies while we’re writing. Don’t forget about your body! During my Solo Writing Retreats, I usually take a 10-minute walk at the top of every hour.
Play
You can play however you want during your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat. I play during my At-Home Solo Writing Retreats by listening to music and playlists that I love.
Rest
You can read whatever you want during your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat.
Draw
One contemplative practice I recommend to SDW clients often is something I first wrote about in The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other.
Place attachment is a real thing, and one thing that helps us belong to our homes is drawing. You can draw an object or a corner of a throw rug or a doorway. You can draw whatever you want. The purpose of this drawing exercise is to see differently and notice how you see differently while drawing. The goal is not to draw a perfect picture. Find more information and instructions for the Divine Drawing contemplative practice here.
Reflect
Please journal for a few minutes at the end of your retreat and subsequent days.
The SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Guides
Suppose you want or need more guidance, structure, suggestions, and resources. In that case, The SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Guides are available to Spiritual Direction for Writers Members in the SDW Members Resource Library. Here’s what’s included in the SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Guides:
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat 40-Minute Re-Centering Micro Retreat Template and Resources
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Four-Hour and Day Solo Writing Retreat Template and Resources
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Writing Prompts
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Reading Selections
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Contemplative Practices
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Movement Prompts
SDW At-Home Solo Writing Retreat Notes Prompts
Enjoy your At-Home Solo Writing Retreat! Let me know how it goes! Below are some photos from my At-Home Solo Writing Retreat last summer. And you can see more in the IG Stories Highlights on the SDW Solo Writing Retreats Instagram account.
Charlotte Donlon helps her readers and clients notice how they belong to themselves, others, God, and the world. Charlotte is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder of Spiritual Direction for Writers™. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She’s currently writing her next book, Spiritual Direction for Writers, which will be published by Eerdmans in 2024.