Summertime and the Writing Is Easy...

Or not maybe… Apologies to George Gershwin for misquoting his classic (though I still prefer Rhapsody in Blue).

Do you find writing in summer easier than during the winter? The jury’s out for me here. I try to keep a consistent writing level up for most of the year because, regardless of season, there are always distractions. But there are times when I write less and I’ve learned to come to terms with that.

Only things missing here are a fridge and a shelf full of books!  Pixabay

It’s important to love your writing but equally important to recognise there will be times when you can’t write as much as normal and that’s fine. What matters is keeping going for the long term even if sometimes you’re “ticking over”. Writing parents of school age children with the holidays upon you, I salute you!

Enjoying what you write is crucial.  Pixabay

It pays sometimes to take a little time out anyway to ask yourself what you want to do with your writing. Is publication the goal? Would you still write even if you knew publication wouldn’t happen? What are you prepared to do? What can you do?

I learned years ago not to despise having short periods of time in which to write. Those ten minute sessions build up. Yes, sure, it will take you longer to complete a story (and even longer for a novel) but that doesn’t matter. 

Use your downtime to help your writing. Walking, taking photos, reading etc all help here. Pixabay.

What does matter is enjoying your writing, knowing why you want to write, and it is playing the role in your life you are happy with. Not everybody wants their lives dominated by writing XXXX number of words daily. Not everybody can do it. It doesn’t make what you write less worthy. Even those who usually do write XXXX words daily will have periods when they can’t so it’s important to focus on what you can do and accept there will be “dip” times.

Summer distractions include the beach, getting out and about more etc.  Pixabay

It’s due to this I’ve never taken part in NaNoWrMo (National Novel Writing Month) because it works out at 1600 to 1700 words a day to produce a book of the right length. It’s not a question of lack of discipline here. I have a good writing routine but there are times I get to my desk for short bursts only because of other things and I don’t want to get into the territory of beating myself up mentally because I didn’t do my XXX words today. All hail to those who can do it but this isn’t for me.

You won't catch me on one of these but the lure of the summer fairs and festivals can be hard to resist. Pixabay

Enjoy what you write. If you’re writing for publication, you’ve got to accept you’re in for the long haul anyway given there are no guarantees. Even if you’re not, look at why you wanted to write in the first place. Is that love still there? Yes? Good. It will still be there when you can resume your usual writing times.

Whatever you write this summer, enjoy it. Look at where you were last summer. Think about where you might like to be next summer.  Strive towards it - and happy writing!

Sounds good to me though "write" would replace "do" here for me.  Pixabay