Spending seven days writing in rural NSW at an off-grid writing residency revealed to me things about my writing practice that I’ve never faced before. It’s been two months since I got back now, and I’m still struggling to put into words how this experience has changed me as a writer, and how it will continue to ripple in my work. Here’s nine of the unexpected lessons I learnt.

Lesson 1

When I arrived, this clock seemed to be telling the right time. But as the days went on, it slipped further and further behind, until it was well and truly not trustworthy. 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Lesson 2

I had to learn to light the firebox to keep myself warm at night. If you haven’t laid down paper, then twigs and leaves, then little branches, then the logs, it collapses, and the fire goes out. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥.

Lesson 3

A boiled egg makes a good handwarmer while you eat the rest of your breakfast. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?

Lesson 4

When working at home, I often think that my paid work interrupts my creative work, in a limiting way. But when I had focused on my novel for several days, I ran out of energy and creative juice. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤. 

Lesson 5

In the middle of the week, I really hit a wall. I lost confidence in my direction in the story, whether I could pull off what I wanted to do, and how far I still had to go. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩.

(Watch the flame out in the Day 6 video here.) 

Lesson 6

The day after I flamed out, I went instead on a walk with my residency host, and we explored the forest and creek running through the property. This is what we found. 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨-𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭.

Lesson 7

Progress on a big project can feel interminable, especially when you are not a speed writer. But… 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞. 

Lesson 8

I remembered only on the second last night that I’d brought my electric water bottle with me. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤.

Lesson 9

As I mentioned, I taught a workshop on Writing the Journey while I was on the residency, and it was beautiful to see the variety of talent of all ages coming together and connecting in this rural community. And when I was down and struggling, comments and messages from friends and family from afar kept me going. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

Which of these resonated most for you?