7 days
25,900 words
31.3 miles
4 cafes, 3 museums, 3 marinas, 3 restaurants, 3 hotels, 2 national parks, 1 beach, 1 wharf
Scroll to the end to see details and photos from our 7-day San Francisco event.
I enjoy writing—for short spurts of time. Perhaps it is my ADD nature that can’t focus longer. But how I’ve learned to will my mind over matter is to figure out how to make it a game. If it’s a game, my antsy child-nature is appeased and we are all happy.
A Walk-n-Write is something I came up with to trick my ADD to write more words per day. I have done many of these by myself at Disneyland and one time I brought my son, Josh, with me. Josh has a creative writing degree from USC and now works at an office job in Portland, OR, so also seeks ways to keep his creativity flowing.
The process of a Walk-n-Write is very simple:
- Write. Preferably at a table, for at least 15 minutes, but not much more than an hour
- Walk. Take at least a 15 minute break from writing
- Write. Repeat.
I either set my phone alarm for 15-20 minutes, or we write for around an hour until one or other of us comes to a good stopping place. That “place” is loosely defined as completed section of writing or simply having ants in pants. I set my alarm when we know we just want to do a short writing stint, either because the place is not conducive to a deep relaxation or because we just want to move on.
What makes Disneyland a fabulous place for a walk-n-write are these factors:
- You tumble out of bed and over to the parks, maybe grab a bite from the free breakfast at your hotel, and by 9am you are writing
- There are many wonderful places to sit, still enjoy the Disneyland ambiance, and be just a few steps from popping on to your favorite ride. Except for the very busiest of days, there is always some outdoor restaurant seating available
- You mix the day up with great rides, great food, great live entertainment with great spurts of writing
- The park closes at 8pm in the winter months; midnight in the summer. You can have as many as 15 hours, feet on the ground, writing and playing.
- It is very easy to get a solid 5+ hours of writing in—while also playing
When not at Disneyland
However, this time we were not at Disneyland. Josh had an extra week of PTO he had to use or loose and wanted something more memorable than just hanging out.
“Mom, suppose we can do a walk-n-write around San Francisco?” And the plans began.
Best and Worst Types of Locations
The week was a huge success in so many ways. This is what we learned about the best and worst locations. You can take and apply to anywhere you live.
- The places we found it easiest to get lost in our writing and still have a good time was museums. We visited three, and all three had cafes. We would start in the cafe, get a coffee, write for approximately an hour, and tour the museum. Back to the cafe, we’d have lunch and write again. Hit the museum for the second half and a final hour at the cafe and a good solid 3 hours of writing under our belts.
- The second best place was large hotel lounges. We chose hotels that we knew no one would notice or care that we were there (Embassy Suites), then we walked around the local pond. Went back in and sat that the bar with a view and got a snack and wrote. Then we walked a mile to different hotel, got lunch and wrote. Finally we walked back, wrote a quick final 15 minutes, and were done for the day.
- The WORST place was Fisherman’s Wharf. If I had to do it again, I’d go into the empty bars along the way. The Wharf felt too full, too distracting, did not feel comfortable hanging out at the eating facilities. Perhaps if a person likes typing on a bench with their iPad it would be easier, but we always sought out a table and chair.
- We did enjoy Muir Woods. We did sit on benches and on the huge wooden logs. Perhaps it was better simply because it was sooooo quiet and magical.
Other bits and tips
- We were able to get longer hours of writing done at Disneyland; however, the quality of our creativity was much better in San Francisco. I’d like to think it’s because we were less distracted by the Disney excitement, but perhaps we were just in different places in our lives/stories
- We actively sought to include walks in our agenda and did get in 3-5 miles each day
- When we purchased food or drinks, we would buy one drink, one meal or snack or dessert and share. That way, we could eat at the gracious locations more often and not fill up
- We used iPads, simply because battery life is not an issue
- The one harder part about San Francisco is the travel to and from the locations were usually 45 minutes to an hour each way. Our two days at the two different Marinas worked really well in part because they were close
- We did not get out of the house until 10:30 or 11:00 each day and were done by around 5:00. In part because it is autumn and chilly in the morning and in part because….well….it’s kind of vacation….we just did not push that hard
SAN FRANCISCO AREA 7-DAY WALK N WRITE
Day 1: Brisbane Marina
Walked on a shore path and stopped at picnic benches along the way. Ended up at a lovely view Marriott Hotel lounge for a bite and final write.
Day 2: Muir Woods and Stinson Beach
Started at a Mill Valley outdoor eatery for a coffee and write. Then drove the final half-hour into Muir Woods. Popped into their cafe and shared a sandwich while writing. Walked the 2 mile loop, stopping about every 20 minutes to write for about 15 minutes. Drove to Stinson Beach, found the cafe with a view and shared dinner and wrote. Plopped down on the beautiful white sands and watched the sun set.
Day 3: Cliff House and Legion of Honor
Wrote in the bar until our window table was ready. What a view! Shared a breakfast. Walked the Pacific Coast Trail, about a mile, to the Legion of Honor Art Museum. Rotated between writing at the cafe (3x) and looking at art (2x). Walked back to our car in the crisp afternoon cloudy winds!
Day 4: Walk Disney Family Museum and Crissy Field
My other son, Griff, joined us for this day. We did cafe (3x) and museum (2x), then drove the mile to Crissy Field parking and just enjoyed a mile+ walk along the shore. I’ve been to this museum many times so while the boys poured over the exhibits, I found my favorite spots to continue to get in a bit more writing.
Day 5: Academy of Sciences
The cafe was large and very easy to get lost into our stories, unbothered by our location. We did our usual cafe (3x) and museum (2x), enjoyed a planetarium show about the coral reefs, did not get as much walking in, but felt really good about our writing that day.
Day 6: Fisherman’s Wharf
Frustrating day…Popped into a restaurant that felt to stiff to really relax; sat on a bench and wrote and ate cookie dough; walked the length to the Maritime beach and wrote on the cement bleachers by the water; then went back for margaritas-n-write at a friendly-looking restaurant back on the Pier. It was an okay day, but the atmosphere was not awesome.
Day 7: Burlingame Shore with Embassy Suites and Hyatt
This was a place I brought the boys all the time when they were small, so a lovely nostalgic day. We started at the Embassy Suite’s center court; walked around the beautiful pond approximately 1 mile around; got a bite-n-write in the bar with a stunning view of the water, airport and SF in the distance; walked the 1+ miles down the shore to the Hyatt for another bite-n-write; then a final walk back and a quick 15 minute write for our last bit of our week!
Walk n Write stats
- At Disneyland, I have written as much as 10,000 words in one day (first draft, novel). I type about 70 words/minute. Perhaps this was a 15 hour day. I averaged 1,850 this time, with our days being more like 5-6 hours by the time we’d get to our location and settled. Joshua wrote about the same.
- My book is one I had started a while ago, got stuck and set aside. I picked it up again and I wrote further character development; reconstructed the plot outline; and wrote several (out-of-sequence) chapters.
- Josh has been working on his novel for a while, too, and keeps changing things. This time he feels confident that he’s going in a direction that will stick. He worked on his first chapter; world development; and plot points.
Beautiful! What a wonderful use of time and talent! I’m sooooo impressed! What a boring life I live!! 😊