Hi, friends! Happy Wednesday. I’m super excited to have my friend and fellow Bethany House suspense author, Jaime Jo Wright, guest blogging today. Enjoy her lovely post.
A writer told me once they couldn’t wait until summer when they had more time to write. But if you’re like me, summer ushers in a massive amount of chaos. Frankly, I’m not a fan of writing during the summer. I have two kids who are not preoccupied with school and are all about being active, active, active! My husband is a teacher, so he is home the bulk of the summer. For them? It’s vacation time! For me? I want to scream “some of us still have a job to do!”
So how do I maintain a writing schedule and my sanity during the summer, enough to enjoy the glory of story while not committing crimes against humanity?
There’s a few key steps I’d love to throw your way and I hope they help you as they have me.
- Set reasonable expectations. This may mean you step back and relook at your schedule for the summer months. You may need to decrease the word count for the week, or perhaps lump a full day of writing into a Monday so you’re free to gallivant with the kids on Tuesday. Regardless, if your expectations aren’t reasonable, you will stress out, and the chaos will get the better of you.
- Communicate with your family. This seems like a no-brainer, but I have a horrible habit of not communicating what I need to get done and then blowing a gasket when the pressure becomes too much to bear. Often, I find out if I’d just communicated to my spouse that I need five hours this week for writing, he’d make it happen. But instead, I try to please everyone and I don’t share my own needs and then in the end…well, let’s just say “when momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”. So communicate your needs and don’t hide them.
- Drink water. This sounds so dumb. But did you know your productivity will actually increase with a proper water intake? Lots of us are walking around as dehydrated mummies and we don’t even know it. Think about it. A mummy? Imagine what their brains look like. So let’s not be dehydrated brains trying to create masterpieces while managing stress and summer chaos. Instead, have that water next to you at all times. Don’t be like Jaime who forgot to drink water today and now is trying to write a blog post that has some element of intelligence to it.
Summertime can be a fun time to write, but it can provide it’s challenges. Be careful you don’t set yourself up to fail but being unrealistic, overpromising, under communicating, and so on. This is the season to step up your game—not in your writing, but in your life/work balance and communication with family. You’ll find it becomes a little bit more manageable and you can see a glimpse of story-glory shining through like sun beams!
Jaime Jo Wright
(www.jaimewrightbooks.com)
is the author of eight novels, including Christy Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She’s also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo; her husband, Cap’n Hook; and their littles, Peter Pan and CoCo. To learn more, visit
www.jaimewrightbooks.com.
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This really brought back memories! When we still had kids living at home, I always tried to get my deadlines arranged so I didn’t have to write (or at least I wasn’t on a tight deadline) during the summer months. Like you, our summers were hectic back then with four kids in numerous sports and summer activities and it was nice to be able to enjoy them without guilt. Thanks so much for posting on the blog today!
Even though I no longer have kids at home, summer writing is hard for me because it is still so busy in different ways that the other 9 months of the year! Great suggestions for getting through it!
I continually live under the delusion that in summer I’ll have more time. I do not. It’s been a roller coaster since they sent all the kids home from school in March 2020. During summer, my teens are pretty self-sufficient, but my two youngest still need a fair amount of guidance while I try to play catch-up with all that didn’t get done during the school year even before the writing
I really like Jaime’s books. I especially enjoyed in the post about drinking water. For most of my life I’ve carried water with me and tell others to drink water. It is so healthy to stay hydrated. I live in a dry climate so it’s vital.
I remember when the kids were little and every summer I’d think we were gonna have a relaxing summer…Ha! NEVER once did it play out the way I envisioned. Even though I don’t have kids underfoot anymore, your point about communicating was well-received as I have a tendency to this hubby can read my mind. BTW, that doesn’t usually end well either!