How to Think About Summer Writing: The Big Picture

And...my book is available for pre-order!

Hi friends,

In the US, we’re wrapping up the spring semester/eeking our way to the end of the spring quarter. You know I’m all about transitions around here. First, you know that means I think you should read murder mysteries/go kayaking/binge all those Netflix shows you missed/have a conversation with your partner that doesn’t involve the words “student,” “provost,” “grading,” or “chatGPT.” Then, once you take a (real) break, Ask yourself how you are transitioning into the new part of the year.

I’ve been having lots of conversations with folks about how to write over the summer, and they basically break down into three categories:

• “how can I manage the tyranny of freedom of an unstructured summer calendar?”

• “how can I fit [all the things left over from the year] into these three months and still remember what my kids look like?”

• “how do you even start to structure your day when you don’t have teaching and grading and committee meetings?”

Hey, that sounds like three blog posts! So here it is, the first of three musings about how to think about writing over the summer. This first one is about identifying your summer vibe.

Last year I surmised that summer writers fall into three camps: the glampers, the weekend warriors, and the backcountry adventurers. and then all of the fellow parents of the world immediately reminded me “hey—school’s out, and summer caregiving is no joke.”

As we stare down year three living in a city where we can’t afford summer childcare, (having all three kids in camp this summer would be about $25,000—not in this editor’s budget!) I get that the summer feels bittersweet and fraught for a lot of folks. But before you come crashing back to the world of what has to get done, I think it’s worth thinking about what you want the summer to look and feel like.

Summer Vibes

So yeah—what do you want your summer to look and feel like? I know it’s kind of a wishy-washy question, but I think it’s worth contemplating as you ease into the new season. Grab a pen, set a ten-minute timer, and think about what you want/don’t want for the summer.

Last year, my summer goals were something like this: finish a full draft of the book (which I did at the Atlantic City retreat…and then promptly ghosted all summer) think about how I wanted to grow my business (more clients doing great stuff! writing circles! retreats! a book workshop!) and to run “Camp Mom” in a way that kept all of us sane. And I did it (mostly).

This year, my goals are different. I want to give the book a good launch into the world, make my argument for why people might want to read it, and actually celebrate the fact that it exists. I want to keep thinking about what I might want my next project to be, whether it’s solo or with collaborators, a big project or a bunch of little projects, etc.

And I know how I want the time when my kids aren’t in school to feel. I want to yell at people less, nag people less, wake people up less, multitask less, leave my phone off more, find places they can run around and be loud and get dirty more. I want some time away from screens and email. All of this looks like finding our way outside of the city for a while.

AND I want to sit on patios and drink and eat good food and talk about fun stuff (which goes back to the collaborator question above).

Your turn!

Your list probably looks different! It might look like a summer of completely unplugging, or a summer of pivoting away from academia and reinventing yourself as a professional LEGO builder or a summer of intense travel. Or it might look like uninterrupted time to focus on research and put the work you want to do into the world. But my advice is that, before you start planning (which I’ll write about next week) spend the weekend dreaming. And then we’ll get to work.

More soon,

Kelly

Housekeeping

Thanks to everyone who wrote with us during ApWriMo! I’m already excited about AcWriMo in November.

OOO - I have some May travel coming up! First to a retreat on Skywalker Ranch out in California, and then to the retreat Mirya and I are hosting in Mexico City (woohoo!). I’ll be hard to get in touch with and likely not write newsletters for a few weeks, but will be back after Memorial Day.

Fun things - The Book Workshop starts Monday! If you’ve been on the fence and just forgot to fill out the form, I can squeeze one more person in, and there will be a few seats open for new folks to join us in August. Get in touch! I’ll also have information about the fall writers’ circle in early June, so keep an eye out for that.

Editing/coaching - my summer calendar is almost completely full, so if you have any projects that need to get done before September, this is a great time to reach out. You can make an appointment here.

As always, I feel so lucky to have all of you as part of my community—thanks for doing what you do!