When Kelli reached out and asked me to be a featured author this month, I was thrilled. Then, butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Even though I’ve been a 12 x 12 member since 2018, even though I’ve written lots of drafts in that time, landed an agent, got a couple of book deals, debuted, was faculty at SCBWI’s BIG FIVE-OH, and…even though my profile on the forum says, “Congratulations! You are now a Wise One and on your way to becoming a bona fide 12 x 12 Forum Guru. We bow to your fortitude and passion!” …
I don’t think of myself as a wise one or forum guru. I still have a lot to learn. And I am trying to find the highly coveted, but elusive ‘time’. Time – to poke around the forum, build my authorship brand, and create new material.
Also, I certainly don’t want any of you to bow to my fortitude (this makes me feel like master-slayer, Kratos, in GOD OF WAR) – even though we’re not really gaming here with controllers, learning stealth moves, and collecting things to win the game, we are gaming to be better writers. So, maybe embrace my passion for slaying ‘time’ to write instead? Learn better ‘time’ management skills. Collect craft tips that help us work more efficiently, and faster.
I’ve found Writing Retreats with my critique partners is one way I ‘slay’ through my manuscripts.
Embrace the idea. While not all critique partners are created equal, the universe gifted me with some of the best CPs I could have ever asked for. Here we are at SCBWI LA 2018. These ladies are my heart. And we retreat together at least twice a year. In current times, we retreated virtually.
Figure 1(Left to right: Serena Gingold Allen, Meera Sriram, Christina Gray, Teri Drobnick, Nanette Heffernan, and myself)
Our writing retreats typically occur over a weekend, at a member’s home, or at a local hotel. And the cost compared to a pro-conference is minimal. And in this current environment, the cost is next to nothing except for the host’s zoom line. No travel required, no meal runs or lodging needed, just ‘time’ commitment.
Writing Retreats are an opportunity to build deeper relations, gain better understanding of each other’s processes, share meals together, hang out as though you are children again, have fun, and write.
We all agree, this is one of the core events we created for our critique group that has proven both productive and has brought collective success.
We bring our zombie manuscripts, back-burner rejects, slush pile underdogs, or difficult ideas to the circle. We structure our time over a two-day weekend. We break each day into two sessions. AM session and PM session. The first manuscript for kick-off is submitted about 3-4 days ahead of time. That ensures we kick-off the AM session with critiques of all our manuscripts.
We offer suggestions on how to strengthen each manuscript. Then we each take the feedback received and implement changes during a two to four hour writing block. During that writing time, the author could choose to revise, write new material, and/or take a meal break. When ‘time’ is up, we reconvene for the PM session.
In the PM session, an author could choose to share revisions implemented or present an entirely new manuscript. After the session, we hang out and share a meal. And repeat the same format the next day.
The objective is to sit together with our hearts (our words) in our hands and trust the process. We literally deconstruct and respectfully take apart the manuscripts we want to work on. We conduct a complete evaluation of the hook, concept, story arc, kid relatability, emotional resonance, marketability, and whether or not we have a satisfying ending. We take the time to give meaningful critique and try to stay in alignment with each other’s vision for the story submitted.
And don’t think for a minute, even though we do this, we don’t have reservations. But we do this, because we know it brings results.
Here’s how we ‘really’ feel about the effectiveness of the retreats overall:
| PROS | CONS |
| · Structure
· Productivity · Connection time · Economical · Fun. Faster progress on manuscripts. · Less personal distractions (We’re looking at you SOCIALS!!) · Motivated to test new ideas · Motivated to revise · Author space to ask questions |
· Time constraints
· Driving distance · Writing on the fly (can be stressful) · Feeling drained out by end |
As you can see, the PROS far outweigh the CONS. Please find the outcome of our last writing retreat in November 2019. We retreated at a local hotel. In this PM Session photo, we took over the sitting area in Nanette’s room. We were critiquing manuscripts.
Figure 2 (From Left to Right: Serena Gingold Allen, Christina Gray, Teri Drobnick, Meera Sriram, Nanette Heffernan and Nadia Salomon (Floor))
This grid shows the number of manuscripts we each brought. And gives a sense of how we each slayed ‘time’ and leveled up.
| Number of manuscripts brought | Result |
| · Chrissy – 1 | · QUERYING |
| · Meera – 2 | · SOLD both titles |
| · Nadia – 3 | · SOLD one title
· REVISING the second to go on sub · Third one, on backburner still |
| · Nanette – 3 | · QUERYING (3) |
| · Serena – 1 | · Has SOLD three different titles from prior retreats
· This manuscript is on the backburner |
| · Teri – 1 | · SIGNED with an agent
· ON SUB with this manuscript · SOLD a different title as debut |
Hopefully, this helps you see what the possibilities could be. Mileage will vary and there’s no ‘real’ trick to writing. You just have to put the ‘time’ in. And sometimes…find other ways to work more efficiently to achieve authorship success.
Writing is what connects all of us in the 12×12 community. We learn techniques and craft tips from each other. And as we all know, the take away or purpose of these shared posts is not to discuss how easy it was to reach our respective writing goals, but instead find inspiration, develop grit, and ‘PERSIST’. How that persistence manifests itself depends on the individual writer.
How much ‘time’ are you willing to spend to develop your craft? How much do you trust your CPs? How bare, are you willing to go with your work-in-progress? How much will you ‘listen’ to the feedback you receive? And will you take the critiques given and implement them or will they end up on the backburner never to be read again?
In order to slay the beast and master the game, you have to take the journey!
Nadia Salomon (nadiasalomon.com) is a children’s author writing on themes of South Asian and Caribbean culture, STEM, nonfiction, and humor. When not participating in her own goodnight rituals, Nadia can most likely be found curled up in her reading nook or spinning a silly yarn. Follow her on Twitter @Nadia_Salomon and on Instagram @nadiasalomon.author.
Nadia is giving away prizes to three lucky winners! One winner will win a copy of GOODNIGHT GANESHA. Another winner will receive a choice of a critique or a write in session (3 hrs to write a draft or revise a draft). A third winner will win a Swag pack with some items mentioned in the story (the designs of the bag and journal may vary). The swag pack is a small canvas bag with a journal, an art print, Nana’s chai recipe card, and a packet of Marigold seeds.
121 Responses
Your retreats sound amazing! Thanks for this wonderful post and all the best for continued success to you and your CPs.
Wow! Thank you, Nadia! Such concrete suggestions to inspire writers and their CPs! Loved your PBMiniSummit conversation last night too!
Thank you so much for your inspiration. I love the way you explained the writer’s retreats and how they are structured.
I loved hearing about your retreats. They sound like a great experience. Congratulations on your book!
Thank you very much for sharing the format of your CP Writing Retreats and all that they can offer the participants. I will definitely discuss doing this with my critique groups. I look forward to reading Goodnight Ganesha and I wish you continued success.
Congratulations, Nadia! I loved reading about your author journey so far and hearing about your wonderful writing retreats. Thank you for sharing this inspiring information!
Thanks for sharing with us! I really liked the Pros and Cons exercise.
Thank you, Nadia, for sharing about your critique group’s writing retreats. You are an impressive bunch! Congrats to all of you.
Thank you , Nadia, for bringing a different direction and perspective to the writing process. Your love of your fellow Critique Partners is evident with your enthusiasm. By having a “team” effort, you show the importance of sharing, caring, and friendship.
Thanks Nadia, for the look into your critique group process. Your retreats sound amazing!
I love hearing about your critique group process! Maybe once COVID is history, one of my critique groups will be able to get together for a retreat like this again. Instead, we’ll continue virtually, but that coveted time away from all else is really the what I’m pining for. Congrats on all your success!
Thank you Nadia. This is something a few of my critique partners planned to do early last year but Covid got in the way. Guess we should just make it happen. Your experiences and successes have given me heart.
Congratulations to you and your critique partners for sticking with it. Wonderful post. So energizing and useful 🙂
Thank you Nadia. Love the photos of you and CP hard at work. My former PB CP held a 3 day retreat at the coast 3 years ago. It was amazing the amount of work we got done, and we ate well! There was chocolate.
Time is definitely an issue. Those sound like very productive retreats. You just have to keep chipping away a little at a time. Congratulations and best of luck with your books.
Nadia, this was wonderful and inspiring! Thank you.
Thank you for sharing how you structure your retreats. They sound fantastic!
Yes! Writing retreats are magical! I always feel so rejuvenated afterwards.
Congrats on your new book, Nadia! This is such a wonderful and inspiring post. I’ve been wanting to do an un-conference with writing friends for a long but alas, Covid has gotten in the way. Hopefully soon!
Thanks Nadia! Love you being specific and sharing your process.
Writing retreats are such a fantastic idea, Nadia. Thanks for sharing!
So much good information about writing with your critique partners! My group (though we haven’t met since pre-covid) met quarterly at my house (we are all within 2 hours of each other) for a ‘Wine Up and Pitch’ night. We would eat, drink, and take turns pitching story ideas, asking questions, fleshing out whatever we needed. That was so beneficial to everyone. I love your idea of a whole weekend writing too. I’ll have to see what we end up doing when we all can get together again. Thank you SOOO much for sharing, Nadia!
Fantastic tribute to the value of critique partners! I especially enjoyed hearing about the structure of your mini retreats and how effective they are. May we all slay the beast and find the time!
It sure does look like being a part of a writing group brings out the compassion for each other and for each other’s writing. Congratulations!
What fun! I love this idea. I wish the members of my critique group lived closer to each other so we could create our own writing retreat!
Nadia!! You are amazing! Thanks for always being so generous with your writer’s advice and with your giveaways.
I couldn’t love this post more! Thank you for sharing your process and your heart. Truly inspiring!
Thank you for the inspiration and for sharing with us, Nadia! Loved hearing about your critique group retreats and your process!
I love the idea of a writing retreat for critique groups!! Thanks for sharing that with us!
Wow, Nadia – this was all incredibly helpful and a solid case for the huge upsides to a solid Critique Partnership. And those prizes – how generous and wonderful of you! Thank you so much!
Your writing retreats sound fun and productive. Every success to you and your CPs.
This is all so positive and empowering. I have been in desperate need of both feelings this summer. So thank you thank you and I cant wait to get this book.
Nadia this was so informative! Your retreats sound like they be a blast. I do think it’s hard for some critique groups if people live in a different country. But yes taking the time makes a big difference. I wish we could do two hours a month critique in my group together.
LOVE the retreat idea with your critique group!
Sounds fun and so productive-love the stats!
I loved hearing about your retreat process! Thank you for sharing the pros and cons as well as the results, Nadia. It sounds like you all have so much fun digging deep into your manuscripts.
Wow, what great information about critique groups and retreats! Your group certainly seems to be productive and a very good combination of talents. Thanks for sharing with us! Congratulations on your new book as well!
Writing retreats, in-person conferences, writers’ meetings! When will all these face-to-face gatherings happen again? Can’t wait!
Wow! I love the idea of setting up our own writer’s retreat for my critique group. The time factor is definitely key. Loved your post. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Yes to writing retreats! Congrats on your accomplishments!
I like the structure and process of your retreats – very constructive. Retreats I’ve done in the past have chiefly been about having a solid block of time to write a new draft or revise a WIP. I like that your retreats include crits and workshopping new drafts or WIPs. Thanks for sharing the details.
Wow, Nadia! This was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Congratulations on your success, Nadia! I agree that critique partners, and especially writing retreats with critique partners, are the best! One of my groups does at least one a year. Fortunately, we were able to meet in person this summer after a virtual gathering in 2020. Thanks for sharing how your retreats work.
This is such a lovely idea! I love my COs! We are all over the country and would most likely zoom a conference, and I hope we do! Congratulations on your book! I can’t wait to read it!!
Congrats on your new book, Nadia! I just watched the replay of you speaking at the PB Mini Summit.
I really enjoyed reading about your writing retreats and I’m sure you are all looking forward to gathering for in-person retreats again. Congratulations to you and your group and I’m looking forward to hearing about your future successes.
Congratulations on your book Nadia! I look forward to reading it! Thank you for sharing the logistics and stats of your writing retreats. I hope to host something similar with my critique group some day, and this was very informative. Cheers to continued success to you and your CPs!
Nadia, your retreats sound awesome. They seem so productive and well worth the investment in time and energy. Thanks for sharing.
Nadia, I love your post. Congratulations on your book — there’s been lots of good buzz about it. Thanks for sharing your critique group’s retreats. Productive and inspirational.
Thanks for the insight on how to organize a writing retreat. Congrats on Goodnight Ganesha!
Great post, Nadia!! Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your writing journey and for sharing information about your critique group’s writing retreats, including the PROS and CONs of such retreats. I love that they include not only critiques of your current manuscripts but also of your “back-burner rejects, slush pile underdogs, or difficult ideas.”
Wow! Those retreats sound amazing, where can I sign up?! LOL j/k but I might need to start my own with my cps! So productive!
Nadia- great post! I would love to find a group that works as hard as yours! The statistics were great, showing real-life results for the hard work of writing pbs!
“The objective is to sit together with our hearts (our words) in our hands and trust the process.” Love this line Nadia. My amazing critique partners are the beat in each of my stories. Thank you for sharing your path with your fabulous critique partners. I look forward to reading GOODNIGHT GANESHA. Congratulations to you and Poonam!
I love the idea of suggesting a Retreat for our Critique group. I am going to bring it up at our next meeting. We have been meeting virtually since Covid, but with that soon to be behind us, I think a retreat would be a great way to get back into In-Person Mode. Thank-you for the info and inspiration.
Your in-person retreats sound terrific and so productive. Thanks for sharing your group’s strategies. And congrats to you on GOODNIGHT GANESHA. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Congratulations, Nadia! And thank you for sharing your retreat/critique process. That sounds like something I’d like to try with my CPs.
Thank you, Nadia, for sharing all about your writing retreat! It was helpful to hear about the structure you and your CPs follow. I also enjoyed your SCBWI Big Five Oh presentation!
I really enjoyed hearing about your writing retreats, they sound so productive and supportive … I suspect we’d all benefit from this with our CPs. Congratulations on your book too!
Thank you for sharing the specifics of your retreats. They sound wonderful! And it’s great that you’ve been able to continue them via Zoom.
This sounds like a super fun way to be productive. Just talking baout writing itself, let alone your actual MSs would be invigorating.
By the way, I enjoyed your mini summit discussion.
Thank you for sharing. Retreats are an excellent way to help manage the time component of writing.
I agree having the best critique partners and being able to take on board the feedback is what is improtant. Love your writing retreat ideas. Wish my critique buddies were closer so we could meet up regularly.
Inspiring post thank you Nadia.
Man, I love this inspiring post. I usually read the featured author right when it comes out, but today was the perfect day to read this. Meeting with my illustrator critique group tonight! Thank you!
I’m totally stealing the idea of a writing retreat with my critique partners. Thanks for sharing this tip!
Thank you, Nadia. Your retreat formats share fantastic ideas with us. I loved your comment about bringing, “Zombie manuscripts, back-burner rejects, slugs pile underdogs or different ideas to the circle.” That is geeting into the deep!
What a powerful testament to a critique group retreat, taking time, and committing to the writing process. Thank you for sharing this process with us.
Can we join your group? haha, joking…kinda. This is super awesome, and I really want to find a group of people I can form a critique with and do the same. It takes time to find people you can trust and who aren’t competitive, but only collaborative. Your book illustrations look stunning and I would love to read your book. I’m book marking this article and making this as a must do one day. 😀
Nadia, I LOVE this! I heard about virtual writers’ retreats, but wasn’t quite sure about how to structure them. Your ideas are perfect!
Thanks for sharing the details of your retreats! They sound fantastic and doable for any critique group!
What a great post! I love the breakdowns.
This was so informative– thank you for the detailed breakdown (and charts!). I’m inspired!
This is such an inspirational post. I loved reading about your writing journey and critic partners.
I absolutely love the idea of these retreats twice a year! I feel like this dedicated time would be incredibly motivating and productive.
Nadia – Thanks so much for your discussion of persistence. Sometimes critiques are hard to accept. Weighing them, listening, and moving forward by working hard on manuscripts to make them better keeps a writer moving forward on this journey. Congratulations on your book. I had amazing marigolds in my garden this summer.
How lucky to be able to work so intensely with your CPs! The retreats are a great idea to both focus and have fun. Sounds like they’ve been productive for all of you!
Thank you for sharing, Nadia. The retreats sound amazing!
I love the idea of going away (to a hotel to just at someone’s house!) annually with your critique partners. It seems so next level, yet my group has never thought of this.
Look forward to reading your book!
I loved the idea of writing retreats and will definitely look into doing this,
I loved the idea of writing retreats and will definitely look into doing this, the virtual meetings and attending conferences together is also great. Initially I was apprehensive to that because of fear of someone stealing an idea but I have realized that sharing with trusted persons can help to make your idea better.
So many things resonated with me – I am going to suggest some of your ideas to my NF CPs though I have yet to find a fiction group at the same level. It is also a good reminder that learning doesn’t stop even after manuscripts are sold.
How fun is this idea! I just brought up getting our critique group together for a girls weekend! I think it makes so much sense and I bet a lot gets done:) Thank you for reinforcing this idea! Hoping my NF CP agree to this idea too!
Congratulations for this beautiful book! And thanks for sharing all about your writing retreats – I love how you all manage your time!
I am bringing this suggestion up to my critique peeps at the end of the month! What a great idea! Thanks!
This is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing the details and structure of your retreats. I am reminded of wonderful times with a critique group from years ago. I don’t think I realized at the time how important that group was not only for my writing, but for my soul. Thank you for reminding me of the special power of these partnerships.
Congratulations, Nadia! I look forward to reading GOODNIGHT GANESHA. Initiating dedicated in-person critique time with fellow writing partners is a fabulous idea with obvious successes. Thank you for your insight. Hard work really does spell results. Kudos!
Nadia, I love this post so much! I love my cps so much and would love to have even a virtual retreat with them. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Thank you so much, Nadia, for your great advice! I always appreciate the advice given by my critique partners. I have gone to writing conferences but I’ve yet to go on writing retreats. Retreats, though, are on my will do list. Thanks again! Cn’t wait to read your book!
Thank you so much, Nadia, for your great advice! I always appreciate the advice given by my critique partners. I have gone to writing conferences but I’ve yet to go on writing retreats. Retreats, though, are on my will do list. Thanks again!
Nadia –
Your article was very fresh. You did a great job sharing what your writing retreats are like and the pros and cons! I follow you on Twitter and have enjoyed all your posts for GOODNIGHT GANESH!!! Thank you for your article!
Shelly Pollock
Thank you so much Nadia for sharing your writing journey. What inspires me is that you joined 12×12 in 2017 and have kept on going. Now you are giving back what worked for you. Sticking with the process, having a supportive critique group. That group is awesome. Lots of activity and submitting. Love the hard questions at the end. How bad do you want this? I will post on FB and Twitter.
I love this post! Your retreat looks amazing—room for one more writer?
Our group had a retreat too and it was so helpful and fun!
Nadia – thank you! Genius time management suggestions with quantifiable results. Brava!
Thank you for your insight into the benefits of retreating with your CPs, Nadia. We’ve talked about doing it, and now I’m inspired to make it happen!
Thanks for the reminder about the importance of writing retreats. So crucial to take time to support oneself and other writers in this way.
I *loved* this post, Nadia. What a wonderful idea to have those retreats with trusted CPs. You are inspiring!
Such next-level CP’ing! Love the community you’ve built — thanks for sharing your insight!
Love the idea of this and that you’ve actually done it! Congratulations!
What a phenomenal idea. I love workshops with this type of intensity and am forever balancing the cost. Doing this with CPs ensures excellent feedback and keeps the costs down. Love it! Thanks for your post.
What an inspiring post — and productive outcome you all have from your retreats. QUITE impressive.
Pat
Thanks for sharing!
Your critique retreats sound amazing! Looks like it results in great productivity and fun!
Thanks for sharing!
Nadia, thank you for sharing this post. I enjoyed reading your book.
Thank you Nadia for getting me thinking about writing retreats. And congrats again on your book.
How fun!! You’ve inspired me to form a group of my own. Thank you for sharing this great idea.
Thanks for such a great interview!!
Thank you for sharing this great post about your writing retreat. This information will be useful when I connect with my CP’s. So nice to see the successes you and your partners had as a result of these retreats. Definitely inspiring!
Your writing retreat sounds inspiring – hard work but so collaborative and productive! Very impressive Nadia and thank you for sharing:)
Thank you for sharing. This approach certainly has yielded great results for you and your critique partners!
Thank you, Nadia! I love the idea of a critique group writing retreat.
Thank you for sharing your retreat approach. Love this intense way of connecting and learning.
Thank you for the motivation! Critique group started doing mini brainstorming sessions over zoom this past year and now I feel motivated to step it up to the next level. CPs really are the best!
Thank you for sharing this great tool.
I love the idea of your retreats Nadia. I don’t have a critique group yet but they seem integral to success. Thank you for your informative post. I loved your pros and cons list. You are truly are a Wise One.
Thank you for sharing … you are surely blessed with a great critique group. I hope I can find one like that someday! And thanks for the practical tips on making a writing retreat so productive. Blessings to you … and yes …. you ARE a Wise One to me.
I like how your group has a list of things to critique. I need to bring this up with my group. Thanks.
This sounds like so much fun! Thanks for sharing your idea and congrats on your picture book success. I, too, feel very blessed to have my critique partners. I think the kid lit community is one of the most generous groups on the planet! 🙂 Your post just adds more evidence to that theory.
Shut yourself up in a room with creative and intelligent people for two days and see what happens! Such a great idea. The results speak for themselves. Thanks for sharing, Nadia.
My SCBWI CPs are spread over the eastern part of Canada, so an in person writing retreat would be impossible for us. But maybe we could organize something online now that we’re all familiar with Zoom. Definitely, something to think about. Thank-you!
This was so helpful! I’m going to talk to my CPs about writing retreats!!