I spent a couple of days trying to find people who would give me a place to stay and maybe a little money, or at least food.
In return for this I would write.
I don’t know what they get out of the deal, but there are a LOT of places with open calls for artists and writers in residence. Some of them have rules or requirements that I can’t fill. They’re for established writers or for people who are writing about certain subjects or they are for writers from certain places or of certain ages. A lot of them were in places I didn’t necessarily want to go.
I ended up finding half a dozen I will apply to for next year or the year after. I missed a lot of deadlines. I guess September is not the time to go looking for these things.
There are also a lot of writer retreats, where you pay to stay there and they pretty much leave you alone to write. I’m not sure how they differ from staying at an AirBnB. I did that back in December of 2021. I stayed in an ApartHotel for the month of December while I helped out one of my kids with childcare and getting settled in a new apartment. I had the weekdays free during working hours and I wrote and read in my little room that had a tiny kitchen attached. It was nice.
A couple of years ago, I went onto a travel site and looked for weekend getaway specials at hotels in my city. Found one close by and spent the weekend there, writing and drinking too much tea.
A friend of mine did an artist residency for three months in the Black Forest and she convinced me that there were people who would gladly host me for a month, three months, a year or more, just so I could concentrate on writing.
She was right, too. If you are interested, I’d suggest you start here:
https://www.transartists.org/en/apply-any-time
They have a (very, very long) list by country of residencies for artists and writers.
I was thinking, though, that the easiest opportunity for me as a writer in residence is to apply to my husband for a position as the writer of this residence.
All I’d need is a place to stay, a room to write in, and three meals a day, plus tea brought to me when I ring a bell.
Think he’d go for it?
I could get used to this.