Friday, November 13, 2026
space in a writing week
It was beautiful to see the sun rise this morning. It was a great start to the final day of a five day writing retreat that I’ve been enjoying with my spouse and fellow academic, Dr Lynne Taylor. It took nearly a year of diary juggling to find the space and meant lots of pressures in the week prior (and no doubt in the week coming).
We hired a place down the road, with lovely views over the water and a large wooden table. On Sunday, we brought up various writing aids, including our second keyboards and screens, along with our writing chairs, to help our bodies.
We have started and ended each day watching videos from Helen Sword, who researches academic writing. They’ve been an excellent resource, inviting us to think about who we are as writers, as well as the content of our writing.
My goal was to progress the book I’m writing on Christian craftivism/knitting as social activism. (For an introduction, see the piece I had published in September by The Conversation). In the mornings, I worked on a data chapter and was pleased to gather together around 4,400 words over the 5 days. In the afternoons, I worked on a book proposal, and was pleased to have a complete draft of around 12 pages by the end of the week.
Both pieces of work were significantly enhanced by simply having space. Not just physical space but mental space. I highly value the regularity of snack writing and write regularly most working days for about 60 minutes. But there are some pieces of the writing process that need big bits of time. The data chapter I wanted to work on in the mornings had taken shape with 11 different iterations over the last few years. Several talks, some conference proposal abstracts, along with several written drafts. Having the time to work through the 11 iterations and bring together unique sentences and paragraphs into an overall structure and draft a cohesive argument requires time.
As always, endings are bitter-sweet. Sweet because I’ve worked hard and written lots in the 5 days. Extra sweet With sprinkles on top, because I am very grateful for the space to focus and feel I’ve jumped several big hoops.
Bitter because my word counter says that while I’ve made good progress, there’s lots more to do. Writing an 81,000 word book just takes time. Lots of time. So it’s back next week to the snack writing! And the sun will continue to rise 🙂
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