Monday Moanings - November 9, 2015

The Morning After

Runny nose,
     sweating,
          yawning,
               muscle aches,
                    restlessness,
                         watery eyes

After forty-eight hours of 

enlightenment,

                  inspired guidance,

                                     skilled encouragement

                                    lakeside resort

                                             camaraderie 

                                                              laughter          

     

I think I'm suffering from withdrawal!








I always want to stay a bit longer in that sweet spot of quiet intensity, focused learning and personal journey that a writer's retreat offers.
In fact I'd say that such reluctance to leave is the hallmark of a good retreat experience.

The team of Gwynn Scheltema and Ruth Walker at Writescape truly do know how to craft, not just a good, but a great retreat for writers.

I am indebted to both these women for their ongoing support and encouragement.


Oh, and their good sense of fun, starry eyes and switched name tags and all!

Caroline Pignat was the guest author at this retreat. Clearly an accomplished writer and teacher, she not only gifted us with her writing skills but also with an open, honest presence throughout the retreat. Thank you Caroline!

Alas, the return to home is as reluctant as it is essential. The new techniques, insights and encouragement come together in the place where I do most of my writing. And here I sit, still in my bathrobe, at the harvest table in my sunlit kitchen reflecting on yet another fabulous writing retreat.

I'm back home and writing.
Life is good.


©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - Monday, November 2, 2015

NaNoWriMo Writes YET Again!


Yes folks, it's that time of year when writers of all stripes and flavours set pens to paper and/or fingers to keyboards to crank out some 50,000 words by month's end. This annual writer's marathon which began yesterday, is billed as a

"fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel."

Check out the NaNoWriMo website for all the details.




This is my third entry into the writing room called November. For me it remains a place of good intentions, really good intentions, to write every day, to finish by month's end a sizable section of the memoir I've been working on for... well let's just say for a while.

I'm not a registered participant because honestly I'm not that driven. My 'Lite' version is a little more relaxed because I've learned, finally, that it's okay to give myself permission to have fun, to accept the better offer when it comes along without obligingly picking up a side order of guilt, and it's okay to attend to my own well being.

And how's that working for me so far?
Day 1 - yesterday - my inner critic ruled out everything I wrote. But I made a great supper with luscious baked apples for dessert.

Day 2 - today - That side order I said I wouldn't pick up? Seems I picked it up anyway. I've got guilt++. But today I will write! 1500 words are due not only for NaNoWriMo but also for my critique group.

With renewed vigour, here's my strategy:
     - manage my time at the keyboard, limiting it to 30 minutes at a time so as to ward off eye strain
     - use lighting, font size and type, (serifs only please!), and line spacing so as to limit the impact of the visual aberration that plagues my eyesight.
     - use 'the force' the tools that produce my most creative and evocative writing - my favourite fountain pen flowing across smooth white paper.
     - go away on a writing retreat this coming weekend YAY! And thank you Ruth Walker and Gwynn Scheltema for offering such fabulous escapes to write.

All righty folks it's time to get out there -

WRITE Stuff, WRITE Hand, WRITE Pen, WRITE Brain, WRITE ON!

Fern Resort - Site of the 2015 Turning Leaves Writing Retreat

©2015 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - April 16, 2015

Spring Thaw 2015 - An Escape to Write

It's a busy day - a good, busy day for me. I'm getting my stuff together to head off on a writing retreat. Five days of open space, as structured or unstructured as I need; in the company of other writers or on my own, in my jammies; lakeside cottages with no meals to plan, prepare or clean up after; and all under the "care-full" wings of two very capable writers, Ruth Walker and Gwynn Scheltema.

from Spring Thaw 2012

from Spring Thaw 2012

I have a delicious optimism about this escape to write, yet I have no idea what will be produced. I learned some time ago not to encumber my muse(s) with expectations and rigid goals. Will the memoirist return to pick up the threads of the story about her mother and Alzheimer's Disease? Will the travel writer, fresh from the Galapagos Islands, fill the pages with a journey of amazement? Will the former pastor give voice to the challenges of the job, the stories of faith, hope and love; fear, despair and betrayal? Or, is there another story in the shadows, waiting to be inked?

I told you, it was exciting! And omg - what if they all show up at the same time to collaborate on a story?

... a woman and her memory impaired mother search for meaning on The Enchanted Islands in the Pacific Ocean. One by one a blue footed booby, a flightless cormorant, and a dog named Diego join in the adventure, a trek that takes them along white sandy beaches, across gigantic black lava fields, into a rainforest dripping with colour, then up to the rim of a volcano. They seek the old giant tortoise - only he knows the way out of the tangled dementia forest...

What fun! It matters not to me which of my muses joins me during these luxurious days, or what she writes. The welcome mat is out for any and all. The pens are full. The paper fresh and inviting. I can hardly wait!

from Spring Thaw 2012

©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - October 20, 2014

Turning Leaves

No shoulda, woulda, coulda's sit on the window ledge blocking my view of the world outside my door. There's not a moan in sight. The weekend writing retreat at Fern Resort was everything I had hoped it would be and though I did not do much writing, I did accomplish my goal. The goal seemed simple enough: to re-engage with the manuscript that has languished for nearly a year in the bottom desk drawer. Did the story still have energy? Was the story still worth telling? Did the writing still excite me? 

I'd been to the writing retreats offered by Writescape's Gwynn Scheltema and Ruth Walker and knew the fine talent and support that this weekend would have on offer. The companion workbook for the retreat announced the theme of Turning Leaves 2014, "Bridge to Your Words" 

I was dumbfounded when I saw that -- I had no idea that the entire program had been designed for ME. I'm sure Ruth and Gwynn didn't know that either! But there it was in my hands, and the rest, as they say is history; well perhaps not quite so dramatic nor of any great import on the world stage but still, for me, a really big deal! 

I crossed the bridge into the pages of the memoir. It was like entering the old family homestead, full of smells, tastes, sights, sounds, and touches. I took the time to reintroduce myself gently, politely, allowing the tale to reintroduce itself to me. And I fell in love with the manuscript again. I fell in love with the words and the story.

I am profoundly grateful not only to Gwynn & Ruth for their expertise and generousity, but also to Barbara Kyle, the guest author at the retreat. Her enthusiasm and insights on the craft of writing as well as her interest in each one the participants, was pure gift. The opportunity to explore, learn and write in community with other writers of all genres, all experience levels, for a weekend was also a gift. Thank you all!

Now, I gotta get to work. Catch up with you later.

©2014 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - November 21, 2013

I'm outta here...

I'm going away this weekend even though I still can't see straight.

So there! 

Take that you unbidden, unwelcome blotch

 occupying centre stage in my visual field.

I've been charted, scanned, and neurologically checked out with no fault found. I've spent three weeks going round and round;

obsessing, lamenting, and worrying.

Enough already!

It's time to get on with life and so I'm spending the weekend away at a writer's retreat.


"Turning Leaves" is the annual Fall offering from the dynamic duo at Writescape, Ruth E. Walker and Gwynn Scheltema. (If you are a writer, do not pass up an opportunity to attend one of their retreats.) Who knew way back in the heat of July when I registered, how timely this retreat would be for me? I'm not going to place huge demands on myself for this escape to write, no word counts, page or chapter goals, just a gentle time in the company of supportive writers and facilitators in a resort setting.

The words will come and I and my fountain pen will be ready to write what I can for as long as I can.

Que sera, sera.

©2013 April Hoeller