My Cruise Writing Retreat

I celebrated a significant birthday this year and, as a treat to myself, booked a solo cruise for July. I’ve loved travelling on my own since my early twenties and, to be fair, cruising is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to do it. But this holiday had another purpose too. It was my chance to focus properly on my third novel, the second book in my Raven and the Rose series, which, if I’m honest, had been causing me quite a bit of stress.

I’d written around 35,000 words, but I was struggling with Part Two before I’d even finished Part One. Something wasn’t working, so I went away with a plan.

Before I left, I uploaded my unfinished manuscript into ProWritingAid, an editing tool that analyses grammar, style, readability, consistency and overall manuscript quality. I asked it to produce both a manuscript critique and a character analysis. I also printed out my draft, gathered all my notes, scheduled my social media posts, and even created a Canva template so I could share occasional updates without spending hours online.

This was going to be my very own cruise writing retreat.

My balcony cabin turned out to be the perfect workspace—bright, airy, and with just the right-sized table for notebooks, drafts and endless cups of tea. Best of all, I achieved everything I’d hoped.

I worked through the ProWritingAid reports, making pages of notes and thinking carefully about what needed to change. I also wrote at least another 10,000 words—although, as I still write my first drafts by hand, I won’t know the exact total until I type everything up.

The biggest success, however, wasn't the word count. It was the clarity.

About halfway through the cruise I had a complete epiphany. I realised I was trying to squeeze far too much story into one novel. Part One was suffering because I was rushing towards events that really deserved a book of their own. Once I accepted that Part Two should become an entirely separate novel, the pressure simply melted away. Suddenly the first book had room to breathe, the characters could develop naturally, and the story could unfold at the pace it deserved.

Sometimes you really do need to stop and smell the coffee.

Or perhaps, in my case, the sea air.

Cruises are surprisingly good places to write. Food appears whenever you need it, waiters keep the refreshments flowing (essential for creative thinking, obviously!), your room steward magically tidies your workspace and replenishes the tea and coffee supplies, and every port offers the chance to step away from the manuscript and let your subconscious do its work.

One of those excursions even sparked the idea for another book.

I should also mention the wonderful Haresh, the massage therapist onboard. I’ve been struggling with back and hip problems recently, so I ended up booking five massages with him over the course of the cruise. They worked wonders, even if I occasionally questioned my life choices while he was working on some particularly stubborn muscles! Ironically, it was during one of those massages—while trying not to yelp—that the solution to my plotting problem suddenly arrived.

Inspiration really does appear in the strangest places.

So, for me, this was the perfect writing retreat. Yes, I probably would have produced a higher word count at a more traditional retreat with fewer temptations. But then I would have missed lingering over Le Père Camembert in Honfleur, wandering the medieval streets of Quimper, and discovering the beautiful Château de la Roche-Courbon, often called the Sleeping Beauty Castle after lying abandoned for more than a century.

I came home with a notebook bursting with ideas, a much stronger plan for my novel, memories I'll treasure...

...and yes, if I'm being completely honest, a few extra pounds too.