July 1, 2009

I’ve received a lot of email from students and blog readers about the difficulties of writing during the summer. Kids are home from school, vacations are taken, company arrives. Is there a way to keep writing during the summer? Yes. You can journal through the summer.

I wrote this article (first part below, second part on Friday) for my book, Writer’s First Aid.  It’s from the section called “Work Habits That Work for You.” Hope you find it helpful!

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For a variety of reasons, writers often have difficulty writing during the summer. Your children may be out of school and underfoot, or you may have a house full of company. You may have trips and vacations planned. Warm weather may entice you onto the beach or golf course. Whatever the cause, you’re thrown out of your writing routine. Sometimes you stop writing altogether and lose your momentum. One solution? Journal through your summer.

Journaling is a hobby with many advantages. It’s inexpensive. A cheap spiral notebook will work just fine. Your journal is always available, and all you need in the way of equip­ment is a pen. Journaling can be done at any time of day, in any type of weather, for as long (or short) a time as you desire.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Journaling is meant to be fun. Don’t put expectations on yourself during journaling time. Forget about your performance, and don’t critique yourself. Relax. Let go. Writers need a place to write where “enjoyment” is the only requirement. Ask yourself frequently, “Am I having fun?” If not, loosen up. Write from your gut. Be totally honest. If you can relax and have fun, you’ll eventually discover the natural writing “voice” within you. You won’t have to try. Your unique voice will simply flow out onto the page.

Journal the Joys

Journaling during the summer has many advantages. If you’re traveling, it can provide written snapshots of the people you see, the places you go, and the things you do. (Back home, these descriptions easily translate into nonfiction ideas or into characters, settings, and plots for your stories.) If a special event is scheduled-a wedding or the birth of a grandchild-journaling is ideal for capturing those special, once-in-a-lifetime feelings. If you’re surrounded by active children, journaling provides a practical and convenient way to capture creative ideas on the run, since a useful journal entry need take no more than 10-15 minutes.

Journal the Blues

Journaling can also be beneficial in helping you work through unpleasant feelings that sum­mertime sometimes produces. Perhaps your cross to bear is your in-laws’ yearly two-week visit. Journal beforehand, journal during the visit, and journal afterwards.

Before they arrive, write about your feelings of dread. Remember (on paper) the past visits. Describe how you hope this visit will go, then brainstorm ideas that can make that dream a reality. During their visit (perhaps late at night) journal your frustrations, failures-and successes! Use the journal for a dumping ground of negative feelings. (Be sure to hide the notebook!) After they return home, a journal can be used to process the visit. How did it go? What did you learn? What would you do differently next time? Was there improvement? (Later, these notes could become a how-to article on structuring a successful in-law visit.)

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The second part will be on Friday. Feel free to add your own ideas for journaling in the summer in the comments!

8 Comments »

1. 

   Yes, I’ve found journaling to be a great way to keep the writing juices flowing.
   Plus, you get to re-read some experiences you’ve had and it sometimes the memories make great story fodder!

   Comment by JohnCBryanb — July 2, 2009 @ 9:55 am

2. 

   Hi, John! Glad to see you here! You’ve hit on a great reason to journal. The entries can become the kernels of great stories and articles and books. And the specific details are all right there for you!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 2, 2009 @ 6:08 pm

3. 

   Thank you, Kristi. I am going to journal more this summer. I also read more and that gives me ideas to write about. Sometimes I read the marketing guides searching for new markets. I try to spend a little time each day doing something that will keep things going in my writing. I even took my laptop on vacation. I worked on three manuscripts, just a few minutes each day. I was able to submit one article while I was on vacation and I submitted two when I got home. We are leaving again in a couple weeks and I am taking some of your books to read.

   Comment by Sue Tornai — July 2, 2009 @ 6:11 pm

4. 

   Sue, you hit on something that I think we often forget about during the summer. You mentioned working on mss. just a few minutes each day, but you still made good progress! Even just a few minutes will keep the project fresh in your mind. Leaving it for weeks at a time, though, is like starting completely over–if you even can. Thanks for the reminder to ME!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 3, 2009 @ 8:31 am

5. 

   I absolutely love this! I agree that a personal blog/journal would be great in helping a writer to continue to write during the summer. Thanks for sharing these tips. Have a lovely 4th of July!

   Comment by Pearl — July 3, 2009 @ 8:35 am

6. 

   You have a great 4th too, Pearl! You’re right–and journals are so handy to take along places. Capture those thoughts and memories!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 3, 2009 @ 8:50 am

7. 

   Read your book. Outstanding! Just read your entire web page, as usual, well written and informitive. I shall be coming to your web site often to learn. Robert

   Comment by Robert M. Walter — July 23, 2009 @ 10:23 am

8. 

   Robert, thanks so much for your kind comments. I appreciate both the book review and website review. I’m glad you find it helpful. That was always my hope.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 24, 2009 @ 9:57 am

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