Tip 7: Create a Family Mission Statement
To successfully write during the summer months, you will have to have your family on board for the ride. In other words, they will have to agree to your being absent sometimes to write and complete your word count every day.
This may mean that they will have to agree to do some of the chores every day. They may even have to pick up groceries if they are needed or pick up dry cleaning. Further, they may have to agree to do small, yet time consuming tasks such as cleaning out the litter or taking the dog for a walk. Most family members will be more than happy to help, and some may even be inspired by what you are doing.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen writers make is not to communicate with their family members and tell them that they will have to write consistently every day. If you don’t tell your family members what you plan to do, they will start resenting when you leave to write for an hour after dinner or they will wonder why you are waking up earlier yet again.
If you have children, working towards completing your goals can teach them valuable lessons. Setting goals and being serious about completing them can demonstrate how they too can be resilient and how consistency can lead to success. It can further show kids that hard work can result in success. Therefore, there can be many benefits to writing during the holidays.
However, there is nothing worse than having to fight for every minute or hour that you need to write. Writing is hard enough. You don’t need additional stress and pressures put on you from your family.
Therefore, if you don’t get cooperation from your family, you may want to find a public place to go to, like a library or café, to write for an hour. Once your family sees that you are serious about your writing, they will stop being as upset about it because they will realize that you will be habitually writing.
So, it is up to us to set up the ground rules in our family. I’ll show you how to do this later when I discuss creating a family mission statement. Most families don’t understand the life of a writer. So, you will have to teach them that writers tend to disappear for part of the day so that they can write.
If your family members are willing to work with you to prepare the mission statement, they will also be willing to let your writing become a part of their life too. Ideally, your spouse and family members will do something else while you’re writing. So, all of you could win from your need to write.
Tip 8: Deal with Distraction
It's easy to become distracted during the summer months. Almost anything can distract you, if you allow it to. It can take a long time to learn how to focus on your writing in such a way that distractions will be minimized, if not avoided altogether. Most of us can learn to focus on one project and write for an hour, four to five days a week with a bit of planning.
Distractions can take many different forms. We could be distracted by our children, spouses, family members, beautiful weather, or internet, phone and email. Limiting these distractions can be easy, if you take a few steps. Here are a few to consider.
Set an egg-timer
I find that setting a timer helps a lot. I set it for, say, 30 minutes to an hour, and during that time, I don't do anything but write. The timer gives me the structure I need to keep my eyes and mind on the manuscript that I am working on.
Do nothing but write during your allotted time
Nothing, except an emergency, should move you to do anything else than write during your allotted time. If you are serious about writing, make sure that you actually write during your planned time.
Shut out all outside distractions before sitting down to write
It is important for writers to shut off the ringer on the phone and cell phone during your allotted writing session. Do nothing but write.
Communicate your writing times to your family
Tell your family what your writing schedule will be for the week. Then when you’re writing time comes, honour it so that your family can honor it too. Don’t be persuaded to do anything but write during those times.
Work on one project at a time
Successful writers usually complete all their writing projects. They work diligently through discouragement and rejection. They also find a way to work consistently on a project until it is complete.
Writers will usually hit a lot of distractions when they set out to write during the summer. This is to be expected and is very much a part of writing practise. Try not to give up and quit when the going gets tough. Just keep finding ways to write here and there, even if it is for short periods of time. It all adds up.
I always encourage the writers who I coach to write as often as possible during the summer. They have all made a commitment to write every day, even if it is for a short time such as 15 minutes. You have no idea how much momentum and success this brings to your writing life until you try it. So, part of our motto is Write every day! And that is the promise we make to ourselves, as writers.
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