Often a fantastic thing happens on the last evening of our writers’ retreats – and yesterday was no exception. We always finish with a ‘read-around’, where delegates share some of their work by reading it to the rest of the group. This can be something they’ve been working on during the retreat or something else entirely.
At the beginning of the retreat some people are often certain that they won’t read.
Yet by the last night, this often changes. As they get to know the other writers, form bonds, realise that a retreat is a ‘safe place’ in which to share, resistance melts away. Yesterday evening we had three people sharing their work for the very first time. Understandably they were nervous, but in every case what they had written was great.
Reading aloud may sound like a small thing, but a writer reading their own work for the first time is effectively exposing themselves in some profound and new way. Well done to our readers last night!
Back home today after breakfast, and back into my normal routine – until I go off for my own retreat as a delegate in about three weeks. I should get some work done this afternoon on “C”, and there are one or two other things I need to catch up on. Sounds mundane after all that goes on during a retreat…
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Ian Gouge - Writer 