I just came back from a week at Seitenstetten Monastery, tucked away in the Austrian countryside, where I hosted a writing retreat with a wonderful group of scholars.
We filled the days with focused writing sessions, input sessions, and debriefs where we talked through what was working and what wasn't. In between, there was good Austrian countryside home-style cooking, chilled wines in the evening, a beautiful monastery garden to wander through, and plenty of long walks in nature.
By the end of the week, people had finished chapters and conference papers and had taken real time to reflect on their writing practice. What moved me most was how many said the same thing: they finally feel reconnected to their writing again.
But here's the question I know a lot of you are already asking: what if you can't take a full week away to a monastery to write?
The good news is you don't have to. You can run your own little one-day writing retreat.
Last month I blocked out a single day, silenced my phone, and treated it like a mini writing retreat. I got more done in those hours than in the previous two weeks combined.
You don't need a monastery or a week away to reset your writing. A one-day writing retreat is enough to break the stop-start cycle that keeps so many academic projects stuck.
Why it matters:
- Deep, uninterrupted focus is where real thinking happens
- One protected day rebuilds momentum and confidence
- It's realistic. Almost anyone can find a single day.
How to organise your own:
1. Pick the date and protect it like an important meeting. No exceptions.
2. Choose one clear goal (a section, an outline, a revision), not your whole project.
3. Change your setting. A library, a cafe, a quiet room that isn't your usual desk.
4. Plan your day in focused blocks with real breaks and food you don't have to think about.
5. Turn off notifications and set a clear finish time.
6. End with a short reflection: what worked, what to repeat next time.
The hardest part isn't the writing, it's giving yourself permission to protect the time.
Want to make it easy? I created a one-day writing retreat planning resource and template that walks you through every step, so you can plan your own retreat in minutes.
Catch you soon!
Melanie
