I hope you’re making progress on your current writing project, in spite of the fact that it’s summer. This season can make it difficult to stay on task for a number of very good reasons:

•  The distractions of children being home all day instead of at school

•  The lure of the great outdoors with its cheery sunshine and smelly goodness

•  The increased responsibilities that you must undertake because it’s summer, yo!

In other words, summertime can make it difficult for you to keep up with whatever current disciplines you may have in place that allow you to keep on writing.

I’d like to suggest 4 possible tips that may help.

1. Consider moving your writing time to a different time of day

If you know your days are going to be full of various responsibilities and tasks, then purpose in your heart to wake up earlier or stay up later than everyone else in the household. The good news is that summer actually makes it easier to do this. It gets lighter sooner and gets dark later, and there’s something about the season that prompts humans to want to stay up longer! Of course, the morning option would be my first choice since that’s when you’ll be the freshest, and if you have children, then this may be the only time of day when you’re likely to have some alone time. But no matter what time of day works for you, the point is to carve out some time when the rest of the household is relatively quiet. The main thing is to keep up the discipline of daily writing, even if the time of day changes. 

2. Consider temporarily reducing how much time you’ve set aside to write

If you already have a dedicated writing time each day but you’re worried about how you’ll be able to keep it up given your increased responsibilities, one thing you can do is keep the appointment, but reduce the total amount of time you write. This allows you to keep the habit in place, which is essential, while also allowing you to accommodate your new and busy schedule guilt-free. Once fall comes along, it’ll be easy for you to simply add more time to this already established time frame – and in fact, you’ll find yourself eager to do so.

3. Consider moving your workspace to the great outdoors

If you’re like me and the idea of sitting indoors when it’s gorgeous outside fills you with dread, then consider setting up your “office” outside during these precious summer months. Being outside in nature is a healthy desire. It may even feed your imagination in surprising ways. Obviously, you’ll want a space that provides shade and/or some other means of keeping cool, and allows as few distractions as possible. But being outside can be a wonderful change of venue that can actually inspire the imagination and refresh the soul.

4. Switch your focus to an online course or work with a coach

Another way to stay productive during summer months is to take an online course or to work with a coach. These two options will usually force you to keep writing and stay on task. Even if your focus changes temporarily (so that you’re focusing on acquiring and improving your skills rather than completing a specific project), this is still a way to keep up momentum. Sometimes, it’s even a BETTER use of our time, since ideally we’ll end up with better skills.

The point is that sometimes it’s just too difficult to keep up with your writing regimen given the distractions of summer, but you can still stay productive by turning your focus to a different aspect of writing that will improve your craft and feed your creativity. If this idea strikes your fancy, feel free to check out The Storyteller’s Mission website, where we currently have two classes available for a ridiculously low discount price, including Zena’s conference workshop series, Hollywood Storytelling Tools, and her class for screenwriters, Formatting as an Artform. To learn more about either of these two classes, check out the website at https://www.thestorytellersmission.com/classes.

It's not too late to make 2023 your best writing year yet! All you have to do is stay productive.