Six Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Writing Residency
- At September 22, 2015
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Blog
- 5
- Have a specific goal you want to achieve, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get to everything. I think, on this residency, I had too many disparate things I wanted to get done on the trip, and I didn’t quite have the physical fortitude after a few days to be as efficient as I am at home. I did my “have-to” work first, and my “want-to” work second. I think it’s okay to have an adventure and new experiences at a residency, because even if you don’t achieve everything, you’ll still have devoted yourself for a bit of dedicated time to your art, and that is great. (This residency resulted in a review, some pages on the PR for Poets book, and a good handful of new poems, but my last residency, I think I mentioned, I barely wrote anything at all, and spent most of my time trying to do watercolors. And that was okay. No one was harmed, except my sketch pad…)
- Take advantage of the specific area you’re in for your residency – I don’t know about how but I noticed some of the scholars barely left the campus – which was indeed beautiful and had a water view – but San Juan Island is really a place best explored by car – it’s larger and hillier and the best views and features farther apart than you might think, hard to access even by moped or bike – and after a few hours of reading and writing each morning, and before a few hours reading and writing after dark, I needed a couple of hours – even with my sprained ankle and mad-evil virus – to get out and about and experience the amazing sights and sounds on offer. Seeing whales, foxes, eagles, otters, seals – they may not directly feature in what I wrote, but I’m sure seeing the different vistas – Lime Kiln Point’s rocky outcropping with a 360-degree view of the ocean, American Camp’s driftwood beaches and meadows – helped stimulate my mind more than just staying in the (admittedly pretty sweet) little cabin. If you’re a food person (and don’t have my allergies,) this extends to going out and getting a coffee and scone at the local coffee shop, or trying the local seafood the cute little organic restaurant that only the locals know about that someone recommended. Residencies aren’t just for reading, studying and writing – they’re also about getting you out of your routine and having adventures.
- Bring the things from home you need to sleep – white noise machine, your pillow, special pajamas – if you’re anything like me, you’ll have trouble sleeping in a new weird bed that’s not your own, so do what you can to make yourself comfortable. Sleep is important for mental power!
- Be social. I wasn’t great at this this time around because I was sick so many of the days and I didn’t want to get my fellow scholars sick, but my short conversations with the other residents and the staff were always rewarding and interesting. There is a lot of silence on a residency – as I mentioned in previous posts, the no phone, no television, no internet thing can get to you if you’re an extrovert who’s used to a lot of background noise while they work – so sometimes these small interactions can help get you inspired and remind you you’re still part of humanity.
- Don’t worry about how you look, but be prepared for multiple weather situations and “the unforeseen.” Seriously. I know, for me, it’s hard to let go of all the little things we end up doing to look good for people, even going to the grocery store, but at this residency, the wildlife didn’t care what I looked like, and if I wore yoga pants and Ugg boots every day, no one was going to start a scandalous whisper. You want to be comfortable, too, so be sure you pack for the weather – ours on San Juan Island was so changeable, I was glad I brought sunscreen, a warm coat, a raincoat, boots appropriate for mud, and multiple kinds of scarves. I had to wrap myself in a blanket I packed on the ferry on the way home, because it was so cold and wet and windy, even on the ferry, that I couldn’t get warm. Pack for all emergencies, too – a flashlight or candles (d’oh – we forgot ours and were unprepared when the power went out), a first aid kit, all possible meds (I ended up taking extra allergy and nausea medications, my nebulizer, plus a ton of Pepto Bismol) – you don’t want to be scrambling around an unfamiliar town after hours trying desperately to find a Benadryl or a special kind of asthma inhaler. So, bottom line – less makeup, more Emergen-C and sunscreen.
- Bring a variety of reading materials, because you never know what will inspire you or when you will have down time on your hands. Some days I was in the mood to read difficult fiction or poetry, and other days to read magazines. A Kindle was useful on the boat ride and ferry wait – it took us about four hours to get over, and five and a half hours to get back (with the airport trip, we could have been to LA in the same amount of time to get to this nearby island), and if you have an airplane ride, a Kindle saves a lot of packing space (as long as you can charge it…) And don’t forget chargers for your laptop, reading device, and cell! And if you write by hand, be sure to have a little notebook and pen you can carry that’s not too heavy on days you might want to hike and write outside.
I’m tired and ready to get back into my routine, but happy I went. Good luck to you and I hope this was helpful! If you have more residency tips, please leave them in the comments!
PS. A deer was waiting for us on our street when we finally got home! And I’m still sick. But so worth it!
Lesley Wheeler
I thought the same about the restorative value of sightseeing walks during my one residency–and, bonus, they showed up in a lot of poems and essays later. One discovery on a recent trip was a white noise app for my phone. Lifesaver.
Jan Priddy
Thank you for this. You have created a very smart list that I intend to hang on to, just in case I have the opportunity! Especially #4—you don’t want to spend a lot of your time socializing, but a few minutes here and there, an hour in the evening discussing writing—these are treasured opportunities to connect with creative peers!
Jeannine Gailey
Dear Lesley, Yes, that’s what I ended up doing too – ocean sound app on the cell phone! 🙂
Jeannine Gailey
Jan, yes, I just wish I’d been a little healthier – as it was it was only five minute talks here and there. I can see how it could be tempting to sit and talk when you can’t write – a little solitude is definitely necessary for the process!
Jan Priddy
Balance.