My most ardent followers (looking at you, Mom!) may have noticed that I skipped my Hyperfocus last week. That is because I was knee deep in hosting my first writing weekend. I had two fascinating women join me for two night and two and a half days at a beach house on the Washington Coast.
My goals going into the weekend were fairly simple, get some writing done, and get amped up for the coming writing season. I invited some friends along for fun and encouragement. Some of those friends couldn’t come at the last second, which was sad, but things seemed to work out.
I arrived on Friday afternoon to some of the prettiest weather I have seen in months. The three hour drive through Forks and down the coast had some patchy fog hiding in the sun dappled forest, but by Pacific Beach it was all sunshine and glassy water. Check in was a snap and I buzzed over to the beach house…to find it smelled not so faintly of wet dog. Thankfully, an hour of airing out and things were better.
My guests showed up by six and I had dinner waiting. We chatted and got to know each other all evening. Personalities are weird. One of my participants and I were on a very similar wavelength on most things, and one was a generation away from us with some differing…ideas…on life…and…everything. Yeah. Still, she is a well meaning Type A lady, and it gave me a fascinating look at a different sort of thinker.
Saturday was largely a writing day for me, though there was a walk on the beach as well. The weather was stunning the entire weekend with glassy waves in the morning to perfect sunsets every evening.
I worked most of Saturday on a short story idea that popped into my head Friday morning and put together a solid beginning to something I will shop around to journals in the next few months. There is also a good chance that this story will be my palate cleanser after I finish the novel I’m working on; I may have my first true novel in stories in the works.
Saturday evening after dinner was devoted to sharing our work from the day. It was fun to hear everyone’s progress. My dear friend and I stayed up until midnight chatting about life and writing and all the other things that were a little too much for our third participant.
Sunday morning held a leisurely breakfast and more writing time. I was working on an idea I’ve been tossing around for almost twenty years but never quite committed to. I now have three or four short chapters on paper. The characters fascinate me, and the subject matter is far more “in my wheelhouse” than most things I create.
Everyone else was heading out on Sunday, so I had the late afternoon and evening to myself. I enjoyed His and Hers, on Netflix, for a little brain downtime. While the plot was fairly predictable, the characters were so well acted that I didn’t care. I am a sucker for themes that examine female relationships (friends, mother/daughter, place in a larger community, etc.) and this show hits most of those. I did long for a bit more depth to the antagonist, but alas.
Monday morning I tidied up and headed home quite satisfied with the work I’d gotten done and the relationships I’d cultivated.
So there will be a next time, but maybe I will be a little more cautious about the “vibes” I invite. In the meantime, Happy Writing!
Mamasquatch the Writer 
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