My plans for creating my own writer’s retreat came out of financial desperation, among other things. Although official retreats are spectacular spaces, they often come with a hefty price tag — something I can’t afford. There are scholarships, but nothing that will help in the three short months before my draft is due. My book-in-progress, We Gon’ Be Black Today: An Exploration of Black Nerd (Blerd) Culture, is a look at the evolution of the Blerd communities into the influential and protective spaces that they are now.

The idea for a do-it-yourself writer’s retreat came from watching the 2015 horror film, Writers Retreat. Zandra (played by Camilla Beeput) is an author and the only Black woman at a writer’s retreat for a group of established writers. She gets to the place — an isolated island completely surrounded by water. She can’t get on or off the island in high tide. There is no cell service or internet. The caretaker, WG, promises other things to “encourage” the writers to get to work. Zandra is good at what she does, and despite her imposter syndrome, has far more talent than the rest of the group. She starts writing. And then her fellow writers begin to disappear or die gory deaths.

I won’t tell you how her retreat turns out, but the outcome did affect the planning of my own retreat. My book is under contract with Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of the Chicago Review Press, and I need to finish a draft in the next few months. A writer’s retreat, according to Writer’s Digest, is the way to jumpstart my writing of this book. Having a DIY retreat is another way I can stay close to my family and avoid babysitting fees.

So, I needed to plan a retreat of my own. The first thing to consider was my schedule. Writer’s Digest suggests mini retreats that span a period of a month or so but is done in intervals. This article qualifies periods of three hours at Starbucks over the course of a month as a retreat. I liked the idea of weekends away. The kids could visit family while I took two days to write.

Next was to figure out where to go. In the Denver area, there are several options. One writer, a friend suggested The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Fans ofThe Shining will understand why I rejected that option right away.

However, being in the mountains would satisfy another consideration for DIY retreat: that they be far enough from the house to offer a change in scenery and not just a location change. Also, that it is quiet and secluded enough to limit distractions to spark my writing muse. So, that ruled out something in downtown Denver, which would be too distracting because of all the sights, sounds and smells. I would want to go sightseeing. Join in the fun. On the mountain in the cold and under a soft duvet, however, writing appeals more readily.

The last thing I needed to consider for my DIY retreat was an activity or two that centered around pampering. The KN Literary Arts has a guide for writing retreats where they note that these organized events work so well because of the self-care activities often built into them. The rest, natural setting, spa facilities and healthy food options rejuvenate the body while also clearing the brain and encouraging creativity.

Self care is a vital part of the retreat that you cannot forget, no matter how long your time away is and how many times you’ve scheduled it over a certain period of time. The idea of a writer’s getaway is to jumpstart the writing process, so being able to rest during the retreat is imperative so writers can keep up the momentum of writing once the retreat is over.

For my retreat’s location, I chose a spot that had nature trails that I could walk during breaks with eateries nearby so that I could save on food. Room service is often too expensive for my budget, so it’s a double win: cheaper food and a place to go and rest my brain between writing sessions.

I still have to vet my place to ensure that it’s not run by murderers who love to take out authors. That might take a different type of research. When I find that right space, I will return with an update on the retreat and how everything went. I hope to come out better than Zandra did in the Writers Retreat.

This story was created by Detour, a journalism brand focused on the best stories in Black travel, in partnership with McClatchy’s The Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald. Detour’s approach to travel and storytelling seeks to tell previously under-reported or ignored narratives by shifting away from the customary routes framed in Eurocentrism. The detour team is made up of an A-list of award-winning journalists, writers, historians, photographers, illustrators and filmmakers.