I’m currently sitting in the Bryant University library on a break from the writing retreat that I’m participating in today and tomorrow. The retreat invites interested faculty and staff to come together to work on personal/academic writing projects. The group consists primarily of professors working on research for textbooks and research papers for conferences. I was surprised to see that there were a fair number of faculty and staff working on creative projects, novels, poetry, etc. I thought I would be the only one working on a creative project as I’m focusing on narrative non-fiction.

The structure of the retreat it pretty liberating. We have from 8am-9pm today and 8am-4pm tomorrow to work totally independently and undisturbed on our projects. A full day of uninterrupted writing during the work day is what dreams are made of! As an added bonus there is a continuous flow of meals, coffee, and snacks. You really can’t beat it.

I had the opportunity to sit down with one of the writing faculty today to consult about my writing project. She was incredibly encouraging and had some great insights to increase the reader’s connectedness to the story I am telling. I felt that after that meeting I really went outside of my comfort zone and incorporated elements into my writing style that enhance the piece without losing my voice. Writing in a way that I wouldn’t otherwise. So far this has been a pretty transformative experience.

It’s funny that I hit a writing wall and decided to use my break to write in the blog…

Go figure.

Overall this experience has been a reminder how cathartic written expression can be. I ventured to write about subjects that have not yet been introduced to the blog and may never even be seen here. I forced myself to deconstruct experiences that have otherwise been shoved to the back of the mental closet.

I can’t wait to see what comes of it. You know, like Ellen inviting me on her show to discuss my New York Times Best Seller (a girl can dream right?).