Fellowship, Cliffs of Doom, and unfettered creativity in the Alabama wilderness. That sums up the Wandering Men's first Writer's Retreat, but if you aren't satisfied with the "CliffsNotes" version then please, read on.
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Cheaha, the name brings up memories of a heavy pack, long trail, and sore feet. It also makes me think of inspiring vistas, fellowship, and boundless creativity.
Cheaha State Park lies near the Talladega Mountains in East Central Alabama within the expanse of the Talladega National Forest. The site of many a Wandering Man gathering, it holds part of the Pinhoti trail - where I had my first Wandering - and in particular it was the location of the first Writers' Retreat.
We were deep into crafting Skein of Shadows, but the book lacked the focus we as a group desired. We each had an idea for five separate stories that touched upon one another, but we wanted to tightly weave the short stories (at that point) together. Thus, we procured a hotel room high on the shoulders of Mt. Cheaha, near the highest point in Alabama, and scheduled the first retreat.
Gathering amidst the splendor of the wilderness, how could we not be inspired? Inspired - the word fails to encompass the furious creative energy that each of us put into that weekend. We scrapped entire story lines (the price for being late, Hall), crafted new stories, designed shared scenes, developed a day-by-day time line for the main characters and villains, and much, much more. We used legal pads, stickies, laptops, white boards, spreadsheets, anything that we thought could help us envision the story better and keep track of our ideas.
And we didn't stay cloistered in the hotel, we are the Wandering Men. We took full advantage of the beautiful surroundings - we climbed to the highest point in Alabama, explored a structure that formed the basis for the Broken Valor, free climbed down the Cliffs of Doom, walked along a forgotten stone wall not found on any map, and went swimming in a beautiful mountain lake. It was a lot for an afternoon, but we excel of making the most of what we have.
We felt the Retreat was worth the effort and very successful. Of course, those of you with a copy of Skein of Shadows hold the evidence, you're the judges - were we successful?
Check it out in this groovy slide show!
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Cheaha, the name brings up memories of a heavy pack, long trail, and sore feet. It also makes me think of inspiring vistas, fellowship, and boundless creativity.
