by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I probably should have run this post before Thanksgiving. But getting ready for Thanksgiving made me busy and I was juggling different activities—and writing.
Which is what reminded me about doing a post on writing during the holidays!
Obviously, visiting with friends and family is the most important part of the holidays. But writing is also important to most of us. And we all know how easy it is to fall out of any habit over the holidays—whether it’s healthy eating, exercising, or writing.
Here are my tips for keeping up with your writing habit during the busiest time of year:
- Write early or late. This works well whether you’re at home, hosting, or traveling.
- Don’t try to catch up. There’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like we need to catch up on our word count. But if you have a chance to do a little extra for the next day (in case the following day is busier), then do it.
- If there’s a free moment where you’re alone and quiet, pick up your story.
- If you’re traveling, keep your story on a USB or save it to a cloud like Google Docs.
- Write less each day, but still write daily, or nearly every day, to keep your habit going.
- Let everyone in on your goal. This won’t work well with all families, but if yours is the supportive kind, let them know you’re trying to continue writing over the holidays.
- Be forgiving of yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself or your draft.
- Leave the house to write. Can you go out to grab a coffee and write for fifteen or twenty minutes?
- If you just feel completely sapped and unable to be creative, try doing something with your book. Brainstorm, plan what you might want to write the next day, make random notes on setting, character description, etc.
It’s easy to feel guilty when making time to write during the holidays. You might feel guilty even if no one is around to see you putting time into your story: maybe everyone else is waking up and making breakfast and you’re upstairs trying to write a couple of paragraphs. Or everyone else is still winding down downstairs at night before turning in and you’re finishing a page.
I don’t think we have anything to feel guilty about as long as we’re fully present with our family and friends when we’re with them. If we take thirty minutes to be alone to work on something that’s important to us, that’s nothing to feel guilty about. And I don’t think we have to have an official deadline to justify our daily writing or to place importance in it.
How do you stay on track and maintain a writing habit during holidays or other busy times?
Image: MorgueFile: DTL
Elizabeth – That’s very good advice! There are so many demands on our time at this time of year that it’s hard to keep ‘on track.’ Thanks for ideas for how to do that. I especially like your idea of keeping manuscripts handy in USB format or in a cloud. There are even writing apps for ‘phones that allow one to keep up. I like the idea of using modern technology like that.
Hi Elizabeth – as always a great post … if we stress out we can struggle to do anything. The thing I realise I enjoy is having that space to think … so getting in the car and driving, or going for a walk just gives the brain a breathing space – and sometimes words/ideas (in my case) will just flow ..
Your mind set is to write, apart from family life, so I guess any spare time you have in between life as is – you can put those thoughts into gear, so when you do have that writing space – you’re ready to go, especially as you are obviously so organised.
Cheers Hilary
Thanks for this timely and helpful post!
I’d say letting go of the guilt of not writing as much is the best thing we could do for ourselves. We are already so busy with holiday and family commitments – why add on that pressure?
Great post. I don’t expect I’ll be doing much writing this Christmas, but I’ve already given myself the rest of the year off :-)
This tends to be a stellar brainstorming season for me.
~ Wendy
Like Paul, I now have the rest of the year off! Unless there are more revisions. But no new projects.
It is hard to follow a schedule during the holidays and real people always come before fake people, but I try to write most days too. If I can’t do any actual writing for whatever reason, I tend to at least think about what’s going to happen next or think about a new book :)
Hilary–Lately I’ve been trying to work in some exercise (ugh) and I’ve found exactly what you’re saying…it’s good for brainstorming.
I tend to squeeze writing into short bits of time. I’m wondering if I’d be nearly as productive if I had more time…
Margot–Some great apps, you’re right! Lots of ways to keep connected to our manuscript.
Toby–Thanks for coming by!
Diane–Ha! Well, it’s hard to let go of guilt one way or the other…for me, anyway. I’m either guilty that I’m spending too much time writing, or not enough. :)
Paul–And congratulations on that book release!
Wendy–Brainstorming is a great way to stay productive. And I’ll agree–when I’m not able to write as much, ideas really seem to start popping.
Alex–Yay for time off! :)
Jemi–Me too. And that’s a great way to keep thinking about our story and keep moving forward.
Thanks for another great post, Elizabeth. The holidays are a busy time but you are right, there’s always half an hour here or there to put back into your writing. I also agree with some others that a mini-break is also good for recharging the creative batteries and maybe coming up with new promo and marketing ideas.
Mike Martin is the author of The Walker on the Cape, A Sgt. Windflower mystery.
http://www.walkeronthecape.com
these are wonderful wonderful tips! thanks for sharing. i will heed some good advice. new follower…hi!
Great tips! My favorite is to not put too much stress on myself. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I went three days without writing. And I didn’t worry about it! Family IS the most important thing :)
I also think outlining and structuring is important, for which Kal Bashir’s site is excellent:
http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html
Great tips Elizabeth. Even without the holiday element.