I am going to be spending the first month of 2012 engaged in a virtual writer’s retreat. I am not going anywhere physically; the idea is merely to allow writing to be my main focus. As a result I fully expect to spend far less time (but probably not none) on Facebook and Twitter; I will still be working on the garden.

Writer’s retreats are, by their nature, very personal things. Some people head off on one simply to create a space in which they can write – free from the every day things that get in the way. Some use them, and the exercises supplied by organized retreats, to reboot creativity. I imagine others use them as a way to meet and engage with other writers.

So, with that in mind, if you want to join me on my virtual retreat, feel free :) I will try and blog every day (an exercise in itself) about what I’ve been writing about, what has inspired me, or (possibly) how much of a writing funk I have spent the day in!

Amaranth

Early this morning, a tweet led me to the blog of a writer who, rather than making new year’s resolutions, chooses a word to describe her goals for the coming year. In a similar spirit, I have chosen one of the classical elements to guide me through 2012 – Fire. It means a lot to me personally, as energy and motivation were two things I struggled with throughout 2011.

So, one of the things I will be writing about in 2012 is fire – it even has its own blog category – and heat:


  • 2011 was the UK’s second warmest year since records began. Climate change is obviously going to continue being a global concern in 2012.

  • What’s hot and what’s not? Gardening trends are not something I have got involved with much in the past, but it will be fun to see what’s getting other gardeners hot under the collar.

  • Heat-loving plants, and spicy flavours. Pete picked up some SERIOUSLY HOT chilli seeds at the seed swap last year and is determined to grow them this year. He has already labelled his seed trays, and would have sown them already if I hadn’t stopped him ;)

  • Cooking outside. We have various means of cooking over naked flames in the garden, so we should make more use of those this year.

  • And from the Chinese new year on 23 January, 2012 is going to be a Year of the Dragon, which sounds like a good excuse for some flaming good fun to me!

If you would like to join me on my Writer’s Retreat, and write something inspired by Fire, then come back and add the link in the comments below :) It doesn’t have to be garden-related; it can be fiction or non-fiction. There is only one rule for inclusion – it has to be a new piece of writing (blog post, article, story or whatever), as this is all about producing new things and not a blog carnival as such.

Or you could begin your own retreat, with your own rules, and let people follow along on your blog. Just add the link in the comments and we’ll see if we can get 2012 off to a flying start.

And with that, it is time for me to light a fire under myself and go write something! See you tomorrow.