Novelist Kari Howell of Youngstown, Ohio re: Her Solo Writing Retreat

“I recently had the opportunity to go on a writing retreat on an island in the middle of Lake Erie. Let me tell you… best money I’ve spent in a long time.

Steve FitzGerald is an Ohio writing coach and also runs the Island Writers Club.  My retreat cost included ferry, meals, my own room, plenty of real estate to work, and a friendly knowledgeable writing coach.  I mean, check out my writing view for three days.

“I really wanted to just get out of town and go somewhere that I could focus on kicking my ass into gear. I’ve been writing for the better part of three decades so I wasn’t really in the market for the coaching part of the retreat. But you know what? Coaching comes in many different forms.

“For writers like me who’ve been writing a long time and don’t really need coaching in the technical aspect of writing, coaching could mean someone to just give you some insight or be a sounding board for ideas or workflow.  I just needed someone with different writing perspectives under his belt to say, “Yep. Sounds like your thought process is sound. Makes sense.” Made a world of difference for me to hear from someone else that I probably wasn’t loonie toons.  Steve provided that type of coaching (plus he did all the cooking). Happy days!

This was excerpted from Kari’s blog. To read the full article about her individual retreat experience, and more of her writing, go to…  Everyday Writing Life.

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