Summary:

One of my best writing retreats ever! I wrote over 8,000 words of my current novel and SEVEN entirely new 1,000+ word short stories!

 

Monday:

Off to Stickwick for my first writing retreat of 2025!

I completed the Year Compass for the transition from 2024 to 2025 on the train, which felt like a good way to set myself up for a positive and productive week.

 

Tuesday:

I woke up to a message from a current client, saying they would have to delay the start of the main paid project I was expecting to work on in January, but I set that aside, put on my favourite writing album and wrote the next scene of my novel, A Wizard Calls My Name.

I also checked in with the clients for the other projects I have pencilled in for January, as well as reaching out to several past clients I thought might have more work for me this year and pitching for some projects on Upwork.

As a result of checking in, I discovered my other expected main paid project for January is also going to be delayed, which I guess is likely to happen at this time of year… These are the trials and tribulations of freelancing – and I still wouldn’t go back to a steady office job.

After lunch, I went through the notes I’d made on the next two short stories I want to write, to get the ideas back in my head.

My afternoon chat with the Revision Club crew was pivotal in reminding me of my plan to ‘treat things lightly’ this year – which also extends to my paid work. Maybe it’s fine for me not to rush back to work full speed on my return home. Maybe it’s fine to take more rest, spend more time on my own projects and keep easing into the new year slowly. I have absolute faith that new projects will arrive with me in due course, so maybe it’s fine to accept things as they are with positivity and remember my Be A Star theme for 2025!

After the call, I settled back in the dining room at Stickwick Manor and bashed out a first draft of my ‘hope with feathers’ short story that I’ve been thinking about for some time. It flowed really well and I was very happy with the result. As I’d discussed the story with one of my writing groups, I posted a link to the draft in the WhatsApp group to ask for feedback.

Later, I started a new solo RPG – A Field Guide to Memory – for which I had bought a new journal and packed lots of paper crafting supplies. The theme and structure of it are interesting and I’m looking forward to diving into it more deeply.

 

Wednesday:

The freelance rollercoaster speeds ever onwards… Overnight, I got an email from my third client with work booked in for 2025, to say her project is coming in five days early and 15% longer, and could I still complete the work by the originally agreed deadline… Considering all my other January work has (hopefully temporarily) evaporated – this was not a problem in the least!

In the meantime, I settled down in the dining room at Stickwick Manor and wrote the next Wizard scene. It felt a bit like dragging through mud, but I did it and I was happy with how it turned out!

After lunch, I finished the book I started on the train on Monday – The Cloisters by Katy Hays – and wrote my review.

I also submitted one of my previous novels to the agent of one of the other writers on the retreat with me, as she said the agent was always looking for new fantasy authors.

Edits came through on a short story of mine that’s about to be published in a Wolfsinger anthology, so I reviewed those.

Later, I put together the template for the short story collection I’m working on, with each story based on a different Dixit card, and wrote the first draft of the first story. It started from the items in the picture on the first card in the deck, but it ended up going in a weird and wonderful direction I never would have anticipated – I think this project is going to be a lot of fun!

I also picked out the next card, studied it closely and made some notes of the words and ideas that initially came to me from looking at it.

Later still, I did a bit more of the Field Guide to Memory solo RPG.

 

Thursday:

Day three of a Stickwick retreat is always when I simultaneously feel I’ve finally settled into the rhythm but also that I’ll soon be running out of time…

I’ve been fairly consistent in setting up in the dining room around 9:30am to get my novel scene done for the day and that was the same today. It was still slow going and I kept getting distracted, but I completed the scene and that’s all I needed at this stage.

I had some thoughts about my next Dixit story so I made some notes. Then I worked on my GYWO discussion post for the month and also helped Stanley the Bear with his next blog post.

After a long walk, trudging up and down hills in the snow, I wasn’t planning on trying to do any more writing today. But there were still two hours until dinner, so I opened up my Dixit Journeys document and just started typing the second story. I didn’t have a clear idea of where I wanted it to go, but the notes I’d made earlier crystallised as I typed and it started to come together as I went along. I completed a first draft and was pretty happy with it, though perhaps not as much as with the one I wrote yesterday.

I pulled the next Dixit card out of the deck and made some initial notes.

I also added some notes to the plan for my upcoming first ever workshop, using Tarot and oracle cards for creativity.

The freelance rollercoaster was still in full effect. I woke up to an email from a previous client, asking me to do some more work in February. Dates and rates were agreed – but when I checked my phone before bed, there was another email from him to say he’d hit a financial roadblock and may come back to me about it in April, depending on circumstances…

I did also, however, confirm a date and time to discuss work with a potential new book coaching client next week…

 

Friday:

I was at my preferred spot in the Stickwick dining room shortly after 9:30am to write the next Wizard scene. I had employed my go-to writing album to good effect on Tuesday, but neglected to use it on Wednesday or Thursday, but I went back to it today, going into one of the most pivotal scenes of the novel. It didn’t go particularly well – I got the scene down but it wasn’t long enough. I went through the rest of the outline and amended a few things, then decided to come back to this scene again tomorrow to try and expand it, rather than forcing it today.

In the short time remaining before lunch, the general shape of my next Dixit story presented itself in my mind, so I started writing it. I got about halfway through, took a break for lunch, and then finished it on my return upstairs.

I pulled out the next picture and made some initial notes for the story. I also did a bit more of the Field Guide to Memory RPG.

Later, the next Dixit story started writing itself in my head. I figured, I’m here to write, so why not go for it? So I started my draft. And I completed my second short story of the day!

 

Saturday:

I woke up feeling very demotivated today.

But I went for a long walk, cleared my head and managed to expand yesterday’s Wizard scene to the length I wanted it to be, which was my main goal for the day.

I examined the next Dixit card over and over again and made more notes, but I didn’t think anything was going to come to me for a story. Then, it started to click into place and developed over the course of writing the first draft, which I finished late afternoon.

I picked out the next card and wrote some initial notes.

 

Sunday:

Last day at Stickwick, with my taxi coming at half past two…

I did a couple of short story submissions, one of which was the story I wrote on the first day here, which seemed like an age ago!

I also made some more notes for the next Dixit story and had a burst of inspiration about it. So, I wrote the first draft – thus completing my seventh new short story of the week and bringing my word count for the whole retreat close to 20,000!

 

Sign up to my newsletter or learn about my editing services!