Reflections on A Writing Retreat for Artists 

Author: Alison Hazel   –   Updated: August 2025

Catchup

Recently I have been talking about our writing retreat for artists which we organized this summer.

If you haven’t been following along, you can go back and read:

• Part 1: What to pack for a writing retreat.
• Part 2: How to plan a writing retreat.
• Part 3: Reflections on a writing retreat.

Introduction

So just as a reminder. I’m talking about a writing retreat for artists. I myself am a hobby artist, but that doesn’t mean I only do art as there is also writing associated with being a hobby artist. Pieces of writing have to be done for my website at alisonhazelart.com. 

I also have to write this newsletter, which I love doing, but it’s still writing for artists. And then if you do, or do not do, social media, which I have a love hate relationship with, you will need to do some writing for that as well.

Additionally, as an artist and particularly on my online art shop, I have to write about my artwork and about my pieces and about my process. So as an artist, don’t think you will never do writing. You absolutely will do writing and in a way, this is under the category of the business of being an artist because it really applies to all the paperwork and documentation that you have to do as well.

How it All Went

Overall

Overall, we had a great time. The drive out to Whistler was. Seamless. It was a glorious sunny day. We took our time. Stop halfway and picked up a Starbucks coffee which was great. Also down then time to stretch your legs. And. Arriving at the hotel. Just after lunch time.

Hotel

We were able to check in immediately, which was wonderful and the concierge was able to converse with my friend in her native language of French, which was lovely. This touch made her feel very welcome as well. We managed to get rooms on the same floor, but not adjacent which was ideal.

Amenities

The hotel had a coffee shop, a restaurant and a pool. My friend did use the pool over the weekend and even though I’d taken my swimming costume (swimsuit), I never quite managed to take the plunge.

Getting it Done

We loosely followed the timetable which I had laid out beforehand and we did adapt it to suit our needs as well. What really happened was that we were able to get multiple chunks of time to get to the writing we needed to do.

Timetable

For instance, the writing on the Sunday afternoon was scheduled for between 2:00 and 4:00 PM. We definitely started at 2:00 PM but having that end time would great thing because. On the occasions when I felt I had nothing else to give at that point, I was able to stop and feel fine. However, if I was in the zone with my writing, I would push through the scheduled end time and finish off the thoughts I had in my head or whatever it was I was doing. The point being that the timetable helped because it did give us a structure to the writing, otherwise we would have started in at sunrise and finished at sunset.

You just can’t do that.

You get drained.

Anyone who does writing will know that or any creative activity you only have so much at a time. The timetable did help because it gave the option to say, okay, I’m done for now and I’ll come back to this writing in my next writing segment later in the day or tomorrow morning and at the same time I could push through if I wanted to. So yes, the timetable was a great thing.

Meals

Breakfast

Of course, when you’re away, you still have to eat. So personally, I’m not much of a breakfast person and I was quite happy to just go with coffee and a croissant which worked well for me.

Lunch

At lunchtime we tended to walk into the Whistler Village and find a little pavement cafe, where we could pick up a light lunch salad or quiche Lorraine or something like that. That was great because we’re out in the fresh air, we could see the mountains, there was lots of people there, but Whistler is a place that is geared up for tourists, so they were organized.

Dinner

Dinner was far more exciting. Having done our afternoon writing sessions and maybe had a bit of a lie down, we rendezvoused in the lobby at 6:00. We took a slow stroll up to the main village to find a finer dining restaurant.

As we were only having dinner on the two nights, the Sunday and the Monday it seemed a good idea to invest in ourselves and get a worthwhile meal. Our first dinner was at a place called the High Mountain Brewery. We both chose the Peak-to-Peak bacon cheeseburger with yam fries (yes, I know not quite fine dining). I believe the name Peak-to-Peak is a reference to all the mountain ranges which surround Whistler, where summer hikers trek, or even winter skiers, from one mountain peak into the valley then up to the next peak. I had apple juice and normally I would have had wine, but it was so darn hot.

The second evening we found a restaurant closer to the hotel so there wasn’t as much walking, but it had far superior cuisine. We had a glorious meal there with some exceptional wine.

Side Quest

Online Class

I’ve been taking an online class with a college in London, England. It spans 10 weeks every Tuesday at 10:30 AM. As we were actually in Whistler on the Tuesday morning, I wanted to organize a space where I could have this online Zoom class. I didn’t want to miss out because it’s essential to attend most of the lessons to get the credit for the course. I had originally thought that I could get a business room in the hotel or even extend our checkout time from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, which would have been covered this time, but unfortunately the hotel had neither a business room nor would they allow an extension because they were at 103% occupation already.

Library

So, conveniently for us, the Whistler Library was across the road from the hotel. I decided to check it out the first day I arrived when I realized I couldn’t get a room in the hotel for my online class. I entered Whistler’s Library to see if they had a space which I could rent or borrow for the period for my class. To be honest, coming from the big city where the libraries quite substantially over eight floors and massive, Whistler library was delightfully quaint, super modern, but still delightfully quaint.

Study Room

The librarian on the inquiries counter was happy to say that I could book one of their study rooms, but only from 11:00 AM on the Tuesday. Do so I would have to become a member of the library and so that’s what I did. I joined up the Whistler Library, I’m now a member, then I was able to book the study room and I would only miss the first half hour of my online class, because the class started at 10:30 and could I only get the room from 11am when the library opened. I did inform my online tutor, Mark, that I would be arriving late to his class and that I would be in a public space for the lecture and I would have to end at eleven sharp, as he tends to overrun a lot of the time. Mark said that was all OK.

Checkout

On the Tuesday morning, we checked out the hotel and put the bags in the car. My chum took a walk through the Whistler village and I went into the library and had my online class. The library staff were amazing, the air conditioning was marvellous and all went well. I felt fortunate that I was able to continue doing this online studying through my college without having to miss a beat. Just because I went away in a writing retreat for artists I did not have to miss out.

Togetherness

Time

Before we went away, we had never spent much time together. In fact, I have only known her for six months, so we weren’t really quite sure how well we were going to get on as we would spend quite a lot of time in each other’s company over the three days.

Common Ground

But I am delighted to say that we really got to know each other. We found we had numerous things in common with our families and our life histories. I feel I really understand her a lot better and, more importantly, the writing project she’s working on. Now I have somewhat of a grasp about how she’s wrangling away with her novel. Whereas previously I had no idea the struggle of corralling characters in a book, because I don’t do fiction writing, I do just do blog writing.

Friendship

I’m pleased to say that coming away from the weekend, yes, we are still good friends and yes, we’ve seen each other subsequently and had other exciting adventures. It’s not always easy to make friends in later life, so I cherish this friendship which has sprung up between myself and my new friend. She sent me her perspective on how good our writing retreat was for her, and you can read it below.

Overarch

What are You Waiting For?

If you are a hobby artist, and you do a little bit of writing, then I would urge you to plan yourself a writing retreat. You could approach this in two ways either:

• Go by yourself
• Go with a friend

Of course, there are many organized writing retreats with fifteen or so people that go away together and enjoy yoga in the morning and meditative chanting in the evening, but those gatherings that have never quite interested me. Clearly, you don’t both have to be artist to go on a writing retreat. I do art and writing on the side, but my friend is crafting her historical novel. If any of this interests you, my question then is, “What are you waiting for?”

Inspiration

I hope these posts have inspired you to consider doing a writing retreat for yourself as an artist. It does occur to me, of course, that this writing retreat which we went on this summer could have very easily been an artist’s retreat as well. Now that would be something interesting which I may consider doing in autumn. Clearly, the difference between an artist retreat is that you’re doing art everyday whereas with a writing retreat, you’re doing writing every day.

Moving Forward

I love the idea of a weekend retreat away with friends. To get away from your normal life, where you can concentrate for a couple of days to move your project forward, whatever your current undertaking happens to be.

Author Bio: Alison Hazel

Alison Hazel is a hobby artist and she shares her ongoing journey about becoming an artist later in life. She creates simple art that anyone can make. She hopes to inspire you to reach your creative potential in the area that suits you.

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