Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer Scheduling

(Thank you all for the nice anniversary wishes! I had a wonderful time away! )

Anyhew...I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but school is ending for us this Thursday, which means I have some serious crunch time to put in because I am sooooooooooooo close to finishing my WIP.
I have about two scenes left which will probably put me over my 50K mark, but that's okay.

I have all the confidence I will be able to finish this thing this week. If you remember, this WIP is my Book in Three Months WIP--which technically is turning out to be my Book in Four Months plus 3 Weeks WIP. LOL!

But that's okay too. I'm finishing before summer which will be key. (I'll finish before Nationals too)

In the summer with the kiddo off from school, my writing time gets seriously limited. Time is there, but I have to get creative. So I finally timed it out so I'll have the summer to just spend editing (and maybe do a little plotting) which will be PERFECT. Perfect, I tell you!
I finally have my summer writing schedule down. It only took five years. :-)

How about you? Does summer change your writing style or time?

PS. I saw this video over at Brenda Coulter's blog and had to post it here too: 29 Ways to Stay Creative

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.


Happy writing!

39 comments:

Linda G. said...

Now that my kids are grown, summer has become a pretty productive writing time for me. Hubs is busy staging operas, so I have a lot of quiet time to go at it.

Terri Tiffany said...

Your schedule sounds great! Summer doesn't change my plans as I don't have children at home--used to though a lot!

Karen Baldwin said...

Great video. I love summer writing, all the sunshine gives me more energy. I don't have kids home anymore, so my time is mostly my own.

Rula Sinara said...

Having kids home definitely changes my schedule. I get up even earlier just to get quiet time (as in 4:30 or 5 am).

Anonymous said...

Love that video. Actually I need to take holidays to write and summer is the perfect time to do that.

Mary Aalgaard said...

Awesome video. I'd add, surround yourself with people who give you light. Enjoy the summer with Kiddo, squeeze in writing time whenever it works. Ignore the dishes and read the book.

Anne Gallagher said...

I have to say, I get a lot more writing done when Monster Child is in school. I'd like to think I can plan the summer relaxing by the water and just reading, but I know that's not possible.

She's still asleep as I write this so our first day of vacation isn't going too badly. We'll see what the next 63 days brings.

Diane said...

Enjoy your summer! Where we live it's too short to not take full advantage of it. :O)

Linda Kage said...

I work at a college library, so summer only changes my schedule in that now I have better parking when I come to work!!

In about four years though, when my kid starts Kindergarten, I'm sure my schedules with begin to change drastically.

Wendy Paine Miller said...

School will go on forever here (or at least into next week). ;)

Summer gets a little crazy, but I love that I'm editing and can bring my hard copy anywhere (and editing is actually growing on me). Huh. Go figure.
~ Wendy

Bossy Betty said...

I love summer writing time!!!

Maria Zannini said...

Absolutely. Every season changes my writing schedule. Spring and fall is when I'm busiest. I get more writing done in winter.

Suze said...

Wow-- my daughter's been out since 20 May.

It's been a challenge to squeeze in the writing time, what with traveling and a kiddo underfoot. Nevertheless, it gets done. I find revising is easier than writing during this time.

Good luck on finishing that sucker before school lets out!

Stephanie said...

Good Luck!!!! Last summer, i managed 30,000 word in July, even with the kids home. No clue how....but I think it rained a lot here last summer.

But for this summer, I plan to have the kids in the yard a lot. We now have a trampoline and my son is bigger and doesn't need as much help anymore...getting up the slide, etc....so they *should* be able to play without needing me so much. I just bought a new lounge chair and I will be hand writing during the day, transferring to the computer at night.

Theresa Milstein said...

I'm so happy to hear you're near the end of your WIP.

When I think back the last few summers, I've done more editing than writing from scratch. This summer I plan to do both.

Good luck with edits.

Nancy said...

Sounds great to be you right now. How great to have your WIP almost done. Your schedule sounds more like fun than work. Enjoy the summer with your loved ones.

Carol Kilgore said...

If my temporary houseguests would ever leave, I'd get a lot more done...summer or not. However you spend yours, have a WONDERFUL! one.

Carol Kilgore said...

Frazzled. Love the video. I'm bookmarking this so I can come back and view it regularly :)

Sarah Forgrave said...

You can do it! Just one final push! (Yeah, they told me that for two hours trying to deliver my son, LOL)

Summer schedule is starting to equal no writing time for me. My son doesn't have preschool, and he's outgrowing naps. Boo! :)

PatriciaW said...

In a way, it gets better. I'm less stressed than I am during the school year. At the same time, my evenings and weekends are consumed with family time in a way that the structure of the school year doesn't require. Not sure whether it's more or less time in the end.

Stephanie Faris said...

Not really...although I have had summers that were more exciting and adventurous than this one. However, every other weekend we have my stepdaughter so I know exactly what you mean. I still find time to write and revise while she's watching TV and whatnot, plus she sleeps late, so that gives me a chance to squeeze in writing time. But she's 11, so I have a feeling those are the easy years when it comes to things like writing!

Laura S. said...

Summer is my most productive time! I don't have kids. I suppose that explains it then, LoL. Actually, the sunshine and warmth gives me strength and energy and I think that's why I'm so productive. Plus I love being outside in the summer and I take a notebook and pencil with me whenever I can!

Kim said...

With a full time day job, teen daughter at home and a husband who owns his own lawn/landscaping business...there is never enough time in the summer...but life is good--and you have inspired me to be creative!

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Anonymous said...

Cool video on staying creative. Sounds like you have a wonderful plan in place to keep moving forward with your writing during the summer months.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing that video!!

Summer doesn't really change my writing time, other than the fact that we're trying to get out more and visit more farmer's markets and other seasonal places. Right now I'm a stay at home mom, so I already schedule my writing time pretty tightly to make sure that I get it in the first place!

Good luck with the rest of your novel :)

Unknown said...

My summers don't change because the days really all go together. I don't have children or anything that switches up in my schedule. I do know that in a few years that will all change. We're trying to plan ahead but we know with children that doesn't always happen.

Sounds to me like you have a lot of it figured out though!

Laura Pauling said...

Yes, my schedule changes. I try to use summer to let a very finished manuscript sit for 6 weeks. I read. I plot new stories. I love to have something ready to start writing in the fall when the kids are back in school. And in August, I read over my wip and make any adjustments! I do like to give my arms and hands a rest for typing! and I like to learn!

TheBookGirl said...

With my daughter home from college, our house gets noisier and busier during the summer...which means I tend to read a little less :(

Karen Lange said...

My schedule does change in the summer. I have more time to write since my teen writing classes have a break till September. Now to use it wisely...:) Happy writing!

Beth said...

Good luck w/ the WIP. I'm so close to done too. I keep hoping I'll finish today and it turns into tomorrow. LOL

Jemi Fraser said...

As a teacher, I can't wait for summer! I'll definitely have more time for writing :)

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Having the kids home definitely changes things for me. I'm pondering doing the early rise again this summer to get my writing in before the girls awaken. It always feels so awesome to know I've accomplished that at the beginning of the day!

Lindsey said...

thank you for the sweet comment! im pretty excited!

Unknown said...

Congrats on getting your wip done by summer. I'm not sure if my schedule, as it is, will change much with summer. My kids all drive now (yahoo!) and can basically take care of themselves.

Love the video--think I might post it on my blog tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!

Susan Fields said...

My kids have been out of school for almost two weeks now, and I wasn't sure what would happen to my writing time when that happened. Sometimes it seems like I actually have a little more in the summer since I do most of my writing early in the morning, and that quiet time lasts a lot longer when the kids sleep in. But what I've found is that I'm sleeping in, too, so some days I get no writing time at all. I suppose I could use an alarm clock, but after getting up at 5am all school year, it's really nice to sleep as long as I want, even if that means the writing time gets cut short.

Good luck finishing your wip before school lets out!

Dawn Simon said...

Happy belated anniversary! As usual, I'm behind in my blog reading...

A book in four months plus three weeks is pretty dang impressive, Jennifer! Congrats on being so close to finishing!

Summer always changes my writing time a bit, but my kids are old enough that it's not a huge shift.

Sandra Cox said...

Good luck with getting those last two scenes done, Jen.

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