In the first week of April 2025, a group of ViCom doctoral students participated in a ViCom-supported writing retreat in Detmold. The retreat was preceded by an online writing workshop led by Dr. Lena Eckert from Schreibzentrum Berlin, where we learned strategies for structuring and writing texts, as well as techniques for maintaining focus during the writing process. The workshop was both inspiring and helpful for the upcoming stages of our dissertations, serving as perfect preparation for the retreat. In the third week of April, individual coaching sessions with Dr. Andrea Adams from Schreibzentrum Berlin on each participant’s text will follow.
Everyone entered the retreat with the goal of dedicating focused time to writing, bringing along a specific project to work on throughout the week. Monday afternoon was spent arriving at the youth hostel, settling into the seminar room, introducing our projects to each other, planning the structure of the week, and beginning with a first writing session. From Tuesday to Friday morning, the days were filled with focused writing phases, during which each participant worked intensively on their respective projects. Mornings began with setting daily goals, and evenings concluded with a personal reflection on achievements, helping us to track overall progress. The environment proved ideal for undistracted work and fostered a motivating atmosphere. Breaks with cookies and moments in the sun served as additional incentives to stay productive.
In the evenings, we enjoyed conversations about life both within and beyond our PhD experiences, played games, and strengthened our sense of community. On Wednesday afternoon, we took a walk around Detmold and treated ourselves to some ice cream.
All participants found the retreat to be highly valuable—not only in terms of making tangible progress on dissertation projects, but also for the mutual support and team spirit that emerged within the group. The writing sessions were so productive and motivating that we decided to form a regular writing group to continue working together and stay on track. We took away many useful insights from both the workshop and the retreat that will surely benefit us moving forward.