ANNA’S UPDATE (See the previous update from Anna HERE.) First, an aside. Please take this post as a reminder to back up your hard drive! Because I was aware of writing new pieces every weekend, I became more cognizant of backing up my hard drive each week. According to one data storage company, more than one-quarter of people report never backing up their data, fewer … Continue reading Writing Residencies: Dorland and Balancing Projects
Two weeks ago, we wrote about going “Back to Dorland” and how we are doing things differently this time. ANNA’S UPDATE As a writer, I’ve had a love–hate relationship with compartmentalization. It’s taken me years to successfully combat notions that I should get other tasks—seemingly quick or urgent tasks—out of the way before sitting down to write. I like crossing items of my list of things … Continue reading Writing Residencies: Dorland & Compartmentalization
While we understand the importance of a daily writing habit, we cannot deny the intense productivity that writing residencies have fostered for us in the last few years. We have written before about Dorland Mountain Arts Colony HERE (including links to other posts) and HERE and about Ragdale HERE. Earlier this summer, we wrote about our self-designed writing retreat in Santa Fe HERE and HERE. We … Continue reading Writing Residencies: Back to Dorland
Recently, we spent eleven days in Santa Fe on our very own self-made writing retreat. Writing was our goal, but we also recommend Santa Fe as a great getaway even if getting away from your routine is your only goal. You can read about lodging, food, and shopping in our first Santa Fe Retreat post. But wait, there’s more! MUSEUMS & GALLERIES Santa Fe is a hub … Continue reading Santa Fe Retreat (2)
With Anna not teaching in the summers and with Doug on his first professional development leave this summer, we decided to splurge on our very own self-made, eleven-day writing retreat in Santa Fe. Writing was our goal, but we also recommend Santa Fe as a great getaway even if getting away from your routine is your only goal. In fact, this post is more about … Continue reading Santa Fe Retreat (1)
Occasionally, we post something at both The Huffington Post and here at Lofty Ambitions. The posts are not quite the same, and we’re usually more personal here. Please check out our shorter, broader post at HuffPo HERE and, of course, like it and share it there. Three weeks from now, our semester will be over. This summer, for the first time, Doug has a professional development … Continue reading 5 Tips for a Writing Life from Pico Iyer
Last month, we thought a lot about writing and were doing a lot of writing. Two of Anna’s essays appeared: “The Making of a Suburbanite” in Literary Orphans and “Why I Write This, Now“ in Passages North. We’ve been rethinking our writing projects and examining our priorities and how they guide our decisions. And we’ve been planning the year ahead with all this in mind, recognizing that, as arbitrary … Continue reading Writing Residency: On the Shelf (Beginnings)
We have returned to the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony for some focused time on writing. In some ways, the experience is the same: TIME We are not setting the alarm clock. Last time, this un-scheduling created a natural regularity to our days, increased our energy levels and focus, and synced up our sleep patterns with each other and with long writing days. EXERCISE We plan … Continue reading A Writing Residency: Some Things Change
FIVE TIPS ON WRITING RESIDENCIES TO ADAPT AS NEEDED Prepare for the kind of lodging you’ll have. Read the information on the website, and ask questions before you get there. We knew that we’d have to buy our own groceries and cook for ourselves, that we’d have to clean the cabin before we left, but we didn’t have to bring towels and sheets unless we … Continue reading A Writing Residency: Five Tips (Part 4)
As we post this, we’re in the midst of a week of meetings—all-day meetings, back-to-back meetings—and trying to catch up and keep up with the uptick in work email and other tasks that mark the semester’s beginning. Only days ago, we were at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, and here’s how it panned out in the end. PART 1: Days 1-5 PART 2: Days 6-12 … Continue reading A Writing Residency (Part 3)
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