Oregon Writers retreat.

allmostcomatose · Mar 8, 2007

Hi,

I'm looking for a place to hide away for a few weeks to write. I'm not really looking for workshops but a place with no phone, no tv, no radio, no nothin'. Any one know of some good rentals in Oregon?

Thanks,

Andy

Lilybiz · Mar 8, 2007

Andy, I don't know specifically, but a good source for information on the western states is Sunset Magazine (sunset.com). Click on "travel" and see what they've got.

johnzakour · Mar 9, 2007

Sounds like you could just stop paying your phone and electric bill and get the same effect while staying at home.

Of course you would need a notebook computer and a few batteries.

Truthfully, I know we all write differently but I've found for myself that being seculded does not help me a lot with the creation process. I need a lot going on to light my creative fuse.

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

When I go away, like an Oregon retreat style thing, I usually do fifteen things that don't involve writing. I go for hikes, I cook, I go for more hikes....and if there's somewhere that I can go swimming, I'm gone.

Usually, I get some writing done, but it's never on a project I need, it's just some random one-off short story that appears, I write it, and then look at it closer when I get back. But that's about it.

John's right. WHy not blow up your TV, stop paying your phone bill? When it gets warmer, get a pen and paper or a laptop -- if you must -- and head down to a park. Occupy shade under a tree, or sit on a bench and wait for the underside spiders to come get you.

Sweetlebee · Mar 9, 2007

I think there are a few rental places here in Hillsboro.

wyntermoon · Mar 9, 2007

Try southern Oregon, I'm not sure Cave Junction has electricity yet.

MidnightMuse · Mar 9, 2007

I know the perfect spot in Washington, on the coast. No phone, no tv, no clocks. But I go there to get away from writing and recharge my creativity - being there gives me sudden surges of writing-desire and refreshes my brain to the point of being anxious to get back to my computer/pen-paper and get back to it.

When I do get to Oregon it's usually to hit Portland for shopping. :Shrug:

KCathy · Mar 9, 2007

The Oregon coast is looking beautiful this time of year. It rains nearly every day, too, so you won't be tempted to run around hiking and shopping quite so much. You can rent a teeny vacation rental cheaply during the un-tourist season. Just google "oregon coast vacation rentals" and enjoy.

WriterInChains · Mar 9, 2007

What KCathy said!

I'm looking forward to my retreat next month. Get away soon, before the off-season rates are gone!

Or, just spend a weekend at Powell's (okay, days, they do close for a few hours

). You can switch floors or walk over to the square whenever your rear gets tired of sitting & you need to stretch your legs. If you don't have a phone or computer, you'll feel cut-off from everyone & it's a lot cheaper than a retreat on the coast (MAX to get there'll only cost you $4). If you use a laptop, just pretend it can't access the internet for a while. I deleted all those shortcuts from my desktop, & once I got started writing it wasn't hard to forget about them.

Lilybiz · Mar 9, 2007

Mmm...Powell's...I live in LA and love to visit Portland just to go there.

I have a good writing routine at home, and one must if one's going to make a go of being a writer. Truly though, a couple of weeks with a computer in a cabin with a fireplace has always sounded wonderful to me. It's romanticized, idealized in my mind. Maybe I wouldn't actually write. But I'd love to give it a try.

Andy, please go. And report back.

allmostcomatose · Mar 9, 2007

PeeDee said:
John's right. WHy not blow up your TV, stop paying your phone bill? When it gets warmer, get a pen and paper or a laptop -- if you must -- and head down to a park. Occupy shade under a tree, or sit on a bench and wait for the underside spiders to come get you.

Well, I can't work at home. Home is home and work is work. I write at coffee shops, taverns, by the pond, all over. I just don't write well at home. I don't think I said that I was having any problems writing daily. I just want to get away and write somewhere else. A cabin at Rockaway might be nice.

allmostcomatose · Mar 9, 2007

KCathy said:
The Oregon coast is looking beautiful this time of year. It rains nearly every day, too, so you won't be tempted to run around hiking and shopping quite so much. You can rent a teeny vacation rental cheaply during the un-tourist season. Just google "oregon coast vacation rentals" and enjoy.

Sounds like what I should do.

Thanks everyone.

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

allmostcomatose said:
Well, I can't work at home. Home is home and work is work. I write at coffee shops, taverns, by the pond, all over. I just don't write well at home. I don't think I said that I was having any problems writing daily. I just want to get away and write somewhere else. A cabin at Rockaway might be nice.

I didn't say you were having trouble writing, I was just offering an alternative to finding a cabin.

But honestly, I'm enjoying everyone else's replies more than mine. I like the thought of a nice secluded cabin with barely-running water and nothing else. Hell, I don't even need electricity.

AW should have a writing retreat. That'd be fun.

wyntermoon · Mar 9, 2007

I've got it! Rent a room up at Timberline on Hood -- I hear they have excellent rates during the winter.

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PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

That was the worst subliminal messaging ever.

MidnightMuse · Mar 9, 2007

Who's Jack?

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

A dull boy, indeed.

Lilybiz · Mar 9, 2007

PeeDee said:
AW should have a writing retreat. That'd be fun.

Pete, what a great idea! I have no idea how it would happen, but I think a great notion has been born.

RumpleTumbler · Mar 9, 2007

You could just turn off the phone, the tv, etc. stay where you are and send me a check for $4000. PM me for the address. Thanks!

PeeDee what is that thing (avatar)? It looks like it needs a bath. Only 17 more posts until I toooo can have an avatar.

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

That is Zathras. Unless it's his brother Zathras. Honestly, I can never keep them apart, and I don't worry about it, because I just walk on them, which is what Zathras is used to.

He doesn't talk to me. Zathras talks to dirt. Sometimes to walls, ceiling, but dirt closer, used to being walked on like Zathras. Zathras has very sad life. Probably have very sad death. But at least there's symmetry.

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

aertep said:
Pete, what a great idea! I have no idea how it would happen, but I think a great notion has been born.

It'd be fun, and since it's a retreat, I could take a nap in the middle of the afternoon if I damn well wanted to.

Let's have an AW Writers' retreat. I'll tell the Mods to get organizing that right away.

Lilybiz · Mar 9, 2007

PeeDee said:
It'd be fun, and since it's a retreat, I could take a nap in the middle of the afternoon if I damn well wanted to.

Let's have an AW Writers' retreat. I'll tell the Mods to get organizing that right away.

Sure, sure, they don't have enough to do.

And I could all sleep in the middle of the afternoon, too, if I wanted. I could, you can't stop me. We all could. Or we could have a convention instead of a retreat, so we could sleep together. In the middle of the afternoon. If we wanted.

Cassiopeia · Mar 9, 2007

You would be surprised just how inspiring it can be to go to a local coffee house or restaurant. As long as you keep buying something they don't mind if you hang out there. I find I do well when I make a change of pace. Sometimes I go to a local hotel for the night and get away from things at home but quite often should you peek in on my house and into my office window...the lights are off...the headphones are one, I am perched in my chair feet up with a blanket and my wireless keyboard on my lap as I escape into the world of my WIP.

Yes I admit to having written the majority of this WIP (currently 63,000 words and expect it to end up somewhere around 100k) while over seas or in another city. And it has been prevalent to my story's theme. But as PeeDee points out, it is so easy to do everything but what you went there to do.

I suggest you have a look at a book "Writing down the bones" by Natalie Goldberg. She has very helpful hints on how to get around a writers slump and talks about the wonderful journey we make as we write.

I wish you luck,

Cassiopeia · Mar 9, 2007

PeeDee said:
I didn't say you were having trouble writing, I was just offering an alternative to finding a cabin.

But honestly, I'm enjoying everyone else's replies more than mine. I like the thought of a nice secluded cabin with barely-running water and nothing else. Hell, I don't even need electricity.

AW should have a writing retreat. That'd be fun.

Imagine the novels that could come from such a setting.

We definately SHOULD have a retreat..one that we can afford. When I have looked into such a thing I have found they are usually 1500 bucks for three days. That is INSANE.

If people are looking into the rockies there is NO better place then the Uinta mountains of Utah and Idaho

MidnightMuse · Mar 9, 2007

Casiopeia said:
If people are looking into the rockies there is NO better place then the Uinta mountains of Utah and Idaho

I'd be too busy rock hunting to write!

I'm heading to Starbucks after work tonight for an hour, to start my new WIP (i'll be sure to look broodish) and find it really easy to tune everything out, sip my double-tall soy latte and watch the words come out onto my screen. I used to think being around strangers like that in a public setting would KILL my ability to put words to screen, but it has proven the exact opposite for me.

Oregon Writers retreat.

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