After a long hard year of family illness, then December death, my writing sucked. I was halted, blocked, totally drained.
Then a church friend invited me to a writer’s retreat. She said the idea just popped into her head to ask me to go with her. Divine Intervention? Definitely.
So off we went to southern Arkansas to a great bed and breakfast called Mountain Thyme owned my Rhonda and Mike Hicks. (Rhonda, I didn’t get a snow photo. Send me one and I’ll post it.) Annette Smith led this retreat that I will never forget.
There were about a half-dozen of us, in all stages of our writing exploration. Anette led us through some quick timed writing exercises, gently guiding us into digging deeper into our work.
And the block was broken!
Here’s one of the timed pieces I wrote



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You brought back wonderful memories of our retreat, Connie. I’ll never forget our weekend. What an amazing and varied group of folks. Hope our paths cross again. Write On!
Twitter: conniecox
says:
I loved every minute of it, from the hospitality to the food to the writing exercises and camaraderie. Let me know when you plan another retreat.
Connie:
Thanks for sticking with the blog post and coming back to leave a comment for Bonnie on my blog. I love your website. And I just read your piece on your grandfather. It is great–wow! short and powerful. Good to meet you ONLINE.
.-= Margo Dill´s last blog ..Wacky Wednesday: Teaching Kids Poetry During April, Poetry Month =-.
Twitter: conniecox
says:
Hi Margo,
You’re very welcome-I greatly enjoyed visiting your blog.
Thankfully, that wasn’t my grandfather, but a fictional one, or at least a fictional depiction. (I guess we all do write about what we know best.)
The short exercises really help set my muse free. I need to remember to do them more often as I work my through my novel-in-progress.
I look forward to visiting your blog often and I’m also looking forward to reading Bonnie’s book that you talked about on your blog.
.-= Connie´s last blog ..Happy Conference Glow =-.