Summer Writing Plans

Summer Writing Plans

Summer is that mystical season with long days, warm nights, and seemingly endless time for trips to the beach and picnics with friends. My summer dreams include completing house projects, going on vacations, planting a garden, and writing a book.

Except it can’t! I have learned over the years that summertime is a bit like a yearly bonus—I have spent it three times over before it even arrives. Finding time to write in the summer is like finding lost keys in the sand. It is possible, but it becomes more probable when I have a plan and tools as well as a bit of luck. So, let’s make a plan, find the right tools, and invite luck. 

For me, a plan starts as a list. But it cannot be just any list of random to-do tasks because dishes and laundry are always waiting to get done as soon as I finish grocery shopping and paying bills. Long ago, I was taught to prioritize things into categories in the Eisenhower Matrix—a four-square grid that organizes tasks between Important and Urgent: Urgent & Important, Important but not Urgent, Urgent & Unimportant, and finally Unimportant nor Urgent.

Filing taxes on April 14 is an example of something that is both urgent and important. We know when a task is in this category because usually it is a high-stress, high-stakes situation. While at the other extreme we have to-do items that are neither urgent nor important. An example of this is organizing a sock drawer; it does not happen until I get rid of my dresser. Businesses are great at tricking us into doing things that are urgent but unimportant like completing a store survey online—if you fill it out by tonight, you could win $3,000! However, most of our to-do lists fall in the category of tasks that are quite important but not very urgent.

Where do you put your writing? Many of my writing projects fall into the category of very important but not that urgent. They are tasks that I want to get done but do not need to finish today. This means that I will often put my urgent tasks (important or not) ahead of my writing. It has been a struggle to overcome this natural inclination. 

There are two simultaneous processes required to prioritize all of those very important things that are not that urgent. First, clear the decks of everything that is unimportant. We must be scrupulous and vigilant to not take on unimportant and non-urgent tasks–especially during the times when we are the most creative and productive writers.

Some of these unimportant things that waste good writing time are distractions that are never on our to-do list in the first place. They include scrolling social media and binge watching TV. These pastimes are not bad, but they have the ability to absorb hours quickly and leave us feeling unsatisfied. They are perfectly suitable when they are put in their proper place and do not take our creative energy. Our days can also be filled with inherited ideas of what we should be doing–ironing curtains, shining silverware, polishing wooden tables. However, if these things are not important to you, they should not find their way onto your chore list. 

Each of us also has an assortment of unfulfilling social obligations on our calendars. These are time consuming and sometimes toxic meetings, dates, parties, and hangouts. They seem required because we have always done them. But, we can stop. If a social activity does not feed you emotionally, spiritually, or physically with loving and healthy energy, stop participating. Make excuses. Doublebook. Leave early. Clear your time to do what you love–writing.

Then, there are the more urgent, but also unimportant tasks that could fill our days. This is where I put house chores because they need to be done regularly to live a healthy and happy life, yet they do not need to absorb the most creative and productive hours of my day. Since I work from home, I try to use these physical tasks as a mental break from my writing work. Washing dishes can be a meditative pause to figure out a logical snag in a piece of writing. Running laundry up and down the basement stairs is a good stretch after sitting in my desk chair for too long. 

The easiest way to prioritize our writing is to make it both urgent and important—but how can we do this?  External deadlines for writing projects can be a great motivator for getting a piece finished. Here are five things to try. 

• Find a writing competition that is cheap or free to enter. 
• Sign up to attend a writing class or workshop. 
• Join a well-organized writing circle with weekly or monthly meeting times. 
• Connect with an accountability buddy to stay on track. 
• Hire a writing coach to get valuable encouragement and timely feedback. 

Adding writing activities with deadlines creates urgency. Befriending fellow authors makes the writing life less lonely. 

 Eventually, internal motivation should supersede the external tricks, and our own personal deadlines should give enough urgency to put our writing work at the top of our to-do list. As an honest aside, it took me time in therapy and coaching to get to the bottom of why I was not prioritizing my writing. I had a lot of guilt and shame about frivolous hobbies as well as stereotypes about being a creative person. In addition, I wasted a lot of time trying to make unfriendly people like me. Finally, I burnt myself out with a high-stress job in a fast-paced city. Only when I worked through the mental and emotional blocks and gave myself time to rest and play was I able to fully embrace my writing life. 

Prioritization takes practice. To find urgency, I have tapped into my life purpose. I regularly ask questions to better understand my personal fate and destiny: 

• What am I on this planet to do? 
• What talents and skills do I have that could help others? 
• Do I hold different ideas, perspectives, or stories that would be useful to share? 
• What happens (good or bad) if I don’t do this work?

The answers to these questions grow and change over the months and years, but they guide me to set my focus on the most important work and find my own urgency to keep writing at the top of my list of priorities.   

This summer, I am going to take a break from writing this weekly article for the newsletter. I enjoy writing it immensely, but I need to clear my mind and my schedule to finish the Pyrrha’s Journey trilogy. The second book has sat open on my laptop for a year now. I have outlined the story and drafted openings to chapters, but the hard work of finishing a solid manuscript is ahead of me. I am going to take the next two months to get as much work done as possible. 

Don’t worry; the regular Friday morning writing time (Inspiration to Write) will continue as usual with only one or two interruptions because of summer travel plans. If all goes well, I will meet my personal goal of completing a rough draft of the book by the end of August when I go back to work at the university. 

How are you going to reorganize your to-do list so your writing projects can become a top priority?