Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Writing Vacation?

When most people think of summer they think of things like vacation/travel, reading on the beach, swimming in the pool, eating ice cream.  I think of all those things, too, but I also think about writing and the goals I'll set for these next six (July-December) months. 

I know, I know.  I should lighten up already, right?  Right...and wrong.   

A story doesn't care if it's June or September - it wants to be told when it wants to be told.  Characters want their say whether it's blizzard season or hurricane season.  Writing doesn't take a vacation - at least for me, it doesn't.  I might shift focus from stories to the novel or vice versa.  I might sit by the pool with my notebook instead of at my desk with the computer.  I might take a writing magazine to the beach instead of just reading it on the couch.  My writing might rev up in July, then ease back in October.

It's a somewhat fluid schedule but it's still a schedule.  A project is always, always in the works, whether it's at the market research, proofing/revising/editing or meeting new characters stage.  And you know what?  I don't think I'd want it any other way. 

Anyone else set any writing goals for the summer?

4 comments:

  1. A summer writing schedule is slightly more challenging because the kids are home. But I plan to work on querying agents and do research for the next book. A lot of this can be done in smaller chunks of time and can be interrupted and picked back up easily. For actual writing time, I have to get up earlier. Happy Summer Madeline! My very best to the tortoises!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck with the querying, Stacy - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. (The tortoises would, too, if they had fingers!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. There's somthing about summer...summertime, and the living is easy...see? I can't even get through a sentence, never mind setting goals.

    But happy writing to you! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Small steps, Cathy, small steps. One sentence at a time... :)

    ReplyDelete