Writing Retreats By Land And River, With Page Lambert

One of the biggest problems cited by writers for why they're not getting writing done is lack of time. Kids, jobs, appointments, cleaning, staring off into space: all of these things take up time, and they're [mostly] things we feel compelled to take care of first. So we put them before everything else, and by the end of the day we're tired, and we haven't written a word.

This, my friends, is why they invented retreats.

Writing retreats can offer a lot to writers. They get you away from the rigmarole of your daily life, providing an atmosphere in which your creativity can thrive. They allow you to leave behind all those things you must do when you're home, so you can focus on your writing. Depending upon the retreat, you'll often also find training/education from a qualified instructor or facilitator, critiques, down time, interaction with other writers, plus additional activities.

We at Pikes Peak Writers are lucky enough to have Page Lambert coming to Colorado Springs to present a Write Brain for us this month. She'll be presenting Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling on May 21. For more information, go here or check out our Events tab.

Page isn't just an award winning author, editor and creative coach (though she is all of those things). She's also the director of several retreats. The retreats this year were Weaving Words & Women (a trip to Peru), and the upcoming Literature & Landscape of the Horse, and Crazy Brave River Writing Journey.

Literature & Landscape of the Horse will occur in June, and involves a five-day stay at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch up in Wyoming. Not only will guests be working on writing, but they'll also be learning about horses, caring for them, and getting their own horse for the duration of their stay. Sheri Griffith guest facilitates this retreat on the equine side of things, while Page provides inspiration and instruction on writing.

In September, the retreat takes a decidedly wetter turn, with Crazy Brave River Writing Journey. Led by Page and a team of knowledgeable river rafting guides, and joined by musician and writer Joy Harjo, this trek will take guests down the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon. There will be rafting on the river, camping, hiking, and plenty of time and inspiration for your writing. This retreat is four days, three nights.

Page Lambert has been leading expeditions like these for seventeen years now, and has received accolades in various articles, including one in O Magazine in 2006, and a more recent one in the Casper Star Tribune.

If hearing about these trips doesn't convince you that a writing retreat is a good idea, I also previously wrote a post on my personal blog with five things a writing retreat can do for you. Even better, go check out pictures from each of these past trips on Page's site: www.pagelambert.com. Want to know what Page is like, a sample, so to speak? Come to the May 21 Write Brain and see firsthand what a fantastic and inspirational speaker she is. It's free!

See you there!

About the Author:  After years of letting her writing fall by the wayside, Shannon Lawrence has recently thrown herself back into it. Her main focus is fantasy and horror and she has just finished a Young Adult Fantasy novel. She has a flash fiction piece featured in the anthology Sunday Snaps: The Stories, and her short horror story "The Blue Mist" will be in the March 2014 issue of Nightfall Magazine. She has also discovered a love of photography and enjoys photographing the breathtaking Colorado scenery and wildlife, as well as her children. She blogs about reading, writing and photography at www.thewarriormuse.com.