From Edie: Lynn Blackburn shares practical summer writing strategies to help writers stay productive, avoid burnout, and make steady progress even during busy, distraction-filled summer schedules.
How Writers Can Stay Productive During Summer Without Burnout
by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn
Summer lied to you.
Don’t feel bad. It lied to me too.
Every spring, as I hang on through the chaos of baseball season and deadlines, summer tells me that all the time in the world awaits. Summer seduces me with visions of long, lazy days where I rise before the kids, sip my coffee, and pound out 1000 words before the heat of the day reaches my back deck. Summer tells me I will be so productive that I’ll definitely be able to finish my book before the leaves fall.
Summer productivity is a myth.
Why?
Have you ever heard of Parkinson’s Law? Parkinson’s Law says that your work will expand to the time available to complete it.
We know it’s true. You’ve lived it. I’ve lived it. Picture this: It’s Saturday morning. You have two hours to get your house clean before company arrives. Two hours later, you’re tired, but your house is clean and you’re ready for your guests.
Now imagine that your company won’t arrive until 6:30 p.m. Do you get your house clean before lunch? No. Why? Maybe you tackle a few extra chores that could have waited. Maybe you get distracted by side quests. Regardless, it takes you all day to get the house clean.
This is Parkinson’s Law in action.
The same is true for our writing. When you only have an hour a day to get the work done, you become laser focused on the task at hand and make the absolute most of every second. But when summer rolls around and hands you an entire season, there’s no urgency to drive you. Summer tells you there’s plenty of time, so…what’s the rush?
Y’all…I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to open my manuscript on September 1st and have nothing to show for my summer writing!
So what do we do? How do we fight back against the sweet siren song of summertime and the immutable truth of Parkinson’s Law?
I’m so glad you asked! We all know that a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down, so I’m going to help you navigate this time.
Five Sweet T’s for Summer Writing Success
Sweet T #1 - Think Tiny
Summer tries to tell you to think big, but this is a mistake. Think tiny goals. Tiny challenges. Tiny wins. They are doable and they add up. Don’t think “I’m going to write 5000 words every day this summer.” That is a recipe for disaster! Go for the tiny win. “I’m going to write 200 words today.” If you wrote 200 words every day this summer, you’d have 18,000 words by Labor Day. No, it isn’t a completed novel, but it’s a manageable goal for most writers.
Sweet T #2 - Tick Tock
Set a timer when you write. Maybe 200 words a day is the wrong goal for you. Maybe you need to shoot for 10 minutes a day. Or maybe you want to set a timer three times a day for twenty minutes. You’d have an hour of writing by the end of the day. There have been times in my life when I could only squeeze in a ten minute session a day. But that ten minutes kept the story front and center in my mind and helped me stay on track. The other piece of this is that setting a timer creates a goal where you can see the end from the beginning. “I’m going to write all day” is vague and undefined. “I’m going to write for the next twenty minutes” is specific and clear.
Sweet T #3 - Tether the Task
Tether your writing to another task that you’re already doing. When I was a young mom, I would take my laptop and write for fifteen minutes before I went into the grocery store to do my shopping. As a baseball mom, I often bring my computer to ball games. Do your kids or grandkids love the pool? It might be time to consider a FreeWrite Traveler or good old fashioned pen and paper. It isn’t easy, but you can make progress while sitting outside.
Sweet T #4 - Tune in for Two
Before you open a social media app, before you check email, and before you sit down and mindlessly scroll for five minutes (which we all know will turn into thirty minutes), tune into your manuscript for two minutes. That’s it. Two minutes to ground yourself in your storyworld before the day takes off. If you can give your manuscript two minutes at the top of the morning, you’ll be setting yourself up for success all summer long.
Sweet T #5 - Take some Territory
You may not have the option of claiming a room for yourself, but I bet you stake your claim on a cozy chair or a corner of the dining room. Your writing brain needs to take some territory and make it her own. Over time, if you consistently work in the same spot, your brain will get on board every time you sit down there. Another way you can take some territory for yourself is to set a mood - light a candle, diffuse some essential oils, or listen to the same playlist every time.
I can’t guarantee you that following these tips will result in sky rocketing word counts, but sliding into summer writing without a plan is a slippery slope that leads to end-of-summer sadness.
You know what else would lead to summer sadness? Spending the entire summer in front of your computer! Practice the Sweet Ts and you’ll be able to crush your writing goals and still have plenty of time to relax with family and friends by the pool, lake, beach, or fire pit.
Grace and peace,
Lynn
TWEETABLE
Lynn lives in South Carolina with her husband, children, and an overprotective goldendoodle. She writes her novels in between homeschooling, parenting an adult with special needs, watching her boys play baseball, and teaching at conferences. You can follow along with her real-life plot twists by signing up for her newsletter at LynnHBlackburn.com and connecting with her @LynnHBlackburn on social media.
No comments:
Post a Comment