Wicked Wednesday – Summer Writing Habits

It’s Wicked Wednesday, when we all weigh in on a topic. And it’s Liz here, thinking about how it’s hard to believe we’re well into summer. (By the way, thank goodness, and please let it last for a LONG time!). But it begs the question of summer writing habits. With longer, warmer days, the tempting waves of the ocean beckoning, and the lure of the ice cream stand after dinners at the picnic table, it seems only natural that our writing habits would shift along with the weather. While my day job makes it so my schedule is pretty consistent, I still find myself doing things differently in the summer, such as writing on my porch swing or writing later into the night because it just doesn’t feel as late as it is.

So Wickeds, what about the rest of you? How do your writing habits shift in the summer, if they do at all?

Sherry: Writing habits? I’ve confessed before that I’m notoriously bad at sitting down at the same time every day and writing. So the seasons don’t really change my writing patterns. And this summer I’m in that odd purgatory of not knowing if my contract will be renewed to write more Sarah Winston Garage Sale mysteries or not. I’m working on a short story but it wants to become a novel. And I’m dusting off my old books that have a gemologist as a protagonist. So in a way it’s been a summer of experimentation but just not at the same time every day.

Edith: If anything, I get up even earlier than usual because of that darn pesky sun. So I’m still at my desk every morning, and I never write at night. But I do make time to take an hour out to go blueberry picking a few times in July, and my daily walk gets shifted earlier, because it’s just too hot and sunny at 11 AM. I keep telling myself I’m going to the beach to sit and write, and yesterday I finally did! But I got there at 7 and left by ten-thirty. My Celtic skin just can’t take the sun anymore, no matter how much I love it.

Jessie: I seem to keep having September 1 deadlines which means my writing is in a completely different place in summer than it is the rest of the year. Just as the weather tries to convince me to take it easy, my conscience goes into overdrive. Also,since I have school-aged kids there are different demands on my time during the day while they are on vacation. I also enjoy entertaining in the summer so there are plenty of excuses to play rather than to work when we are lucky enough to have company. All in all, I have to be more disciplined and to awaken before there rest of the household in order to make things work.

Julie: I just hit submit on Book #2, so this summer has had a wicked schedule. In general, my writing rhythms are dictated by deadlines. But, generally, I find summer harder to buckle down and write. There is so much else to do! I am also in a lighter mood, which makes it challenging to plot death and destruction.

Readers, tell us about how your habits change with the seasons. Leave a comment!