Day 4 started pretty well.  I slept better and got started writing by 8:30 AM.  The elements helped me focus:  it rained all day so there was no temptation to go outside.

I wrote all day.  I did lose 1 hour dealing with a work-related problem, and I took an hour off at dinner to watch part of a movie and keep from going barking mad from being in the zone so long.

I finally stopped at 8:30 PM, with just under 15,000 words complete.  Total for the week stood at 44,700.

Day 5.  Super-excited that this is the last day.  I enjoyed the process, but by now, I was feeling very drained and just wanted to be home.  Maintaining this level of productivity for so long left me exhausted.

Still, I started writing by 8:30 AM and by 11:15 AM, I had cranked out over 5,000 words, ending the week at 50,041 new words!

Success.

Then I packed up and drove 7 hours home.

Post-retreat.  The first week after the writing retreat, I got no writing done at all.  I spent the week catching up on work and family-related tasks and giving my mind a bit of a break.

However, it’s dangerous to take too long of a break.  If I were to sit out for the next 3 weeks and not write anything, then I’d be diminishing the value of the experience.

The new goal is to complete the novel (expected to top out at 150,000 words) by the end of July.

So, what did I find most beneficial in this retreat?  Beyond the huge word count and writing 1/3 of a novel in a week, the greatest benefit is the chance to get so deep into ‘the zone’.  With no interruptions, by the second or third day, the story came alive in ways impossible to duplicate when I only write for an hour at a time.  It lifts the story to a higher level and the end result is so much more than what 50,000 words written in tiny chunks could be.

Now, to find meaningful blocks of time weekly to keep the momentum rolling.