A New Strategy for Writing in Summer

I used to think that playing outdoors in summer interfered with writing. Now I know better.

Summers used to interfere with my writing. There was so much to do – both farm work and fun – that I used to despair about advancing narrative projects and meeting deadlines.

But I do.
I changed my attitude about writing.

Instead of heading straight for my desk after morning coffee, I’ve developed a completely different strategy about these lovely long days, where I’m busy from dawn till well past dusk.

I’m writing all the time – just not at my desk.

I’m writing as I drive to the river where I scull on the flat water at sunrise, when the air is sweet and cool. I slide through the water, the rhythm of my oars lulling me into the effort. I see, hear and smell the wild world while I’m out, notice changes from one day to the next.

Close observation of the world – natural, urban, indoors or out – is a key skill for a writer, one I practice in my boat, in the garden, and on the porch.

A detour through the garden on my way to work can delay me for hours.

After breakfast, I detour through the garden on the way to my studio. Some days, that’s as far as I get. I allow myself to become distracted by weeds or feel obligated to harvest the berries that have ripened behind my back.

I used to resent the need to stop everything to pick and process and pickle when I thought I needed to be writing. But now I know that I am writing while I engage in these summer activities. I’m expanding both my experiences and my store of metaphors. Both on the water and in the garden, my mind is freewheeling, and when I do finally get to my desk, my fingers are itching to press the keyboard.

In summer, I’m efficient at my desk.

How do you negotiate the challenges of writing and play in summer?

Deborah Lee Luskin is a recreational sculler, amateur farmer, and professional writer. Read an Essay Every Wednesday at www.deborahleeluskin.com

The Delights of Summer Irresponsibility

In honor of the solstice and full moon coinciding yesterday to welcome summer – a once-in-lifetime event, by the way – I’d like to share something a little different. This is a piece that I wrote a year ago about the way summer entices us to shirk our duties and indulge in being deliciously irresponsible. I needed to remind myself that it isn’t a crime to surrender to summer’s sultry wiles. In fact, it’s something of a virtue. I’ve been putting in some extra hours lately, trying both to catch up and to get ahead; but while my inner writer wants to be super productive and diligent, I have to remember that all work and no play make Jill bitter and angry (not to mention exhausted). And when Jill is bitter and angry (and exhausted), her creativity suffers.

So, time to think about getting out from underneath the weight of the world. Even writers need to goof off once in a while.

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Irresponsible

“How’ve you been?” someone asks.

My default answer is almost always the same, “Busy, busy but good.” It’s a knee-jerk response that pops out of my mouth before I’ve even had the chance to properly process the question.

I’m usually sorry the minute I’ve said it. It’s an impersonal and somewhat self-important reply that doesn’t really mean anything.

“Busy” has become a sort of modern virtue. If we are not running late for something, we feel inadequate. If we are not multi-tasking, we feel incompetent. If we are not buckling under the weight of a massive To Do list, we feel deficient.

We sit, each of us, at the center of our own personal universe of responsibilities and obligations. With a magnetic pull worthy of mighty Jupiter, we draw an endless procession of cares and concerns into orbit around our already-spinning heads, enough to keep us running in circles forever and then some.

We commiserate with each other over the undeniable demands on our time, lamenting our inability to extricate ourselves for more than a moment.

Even our children are too busy. With the best of intentions, we rush them from here to there and back again. We enrich their lives with all manner of events and activities, cramming each minute of each day full to bursting. I cringe thinking of how many times I utter the words, “Hurry up!” in the course of any twenty-four hour period.

But just in time to rescue us from ourselves, here comes summer – the season of playing hooky and letting things slide, of long lunches and impromptu evening get togethers that stretch out across the hours while the kids run amuck in the dark, hoping the grownups won’t notice the lateness of the hour.

Summer gives us permission to loosen our grip. It makes it easier to believe that we are not, in fact, responsible for holding the world together through sheer force of will. We regain our perspective, and most of our sanity. We are suddenly open to opportunities for play that until recently seemed too ill-conceived to even consider.

In the summer, almost anything seems possible.

As we slow down and come to our senses, time moves at a more leisurely pace, creating the illusion of longer days and nights. Our minds embrace a new kind of logic that makes it easy to justify choices that favor ease and indulgence over duty. We abandon the vacuum cleaner for a swim in the creek, accept being late to work so that we can enjoy an impromptu coffee with a friend, and find every excuse imaginable to knock off early so that we might savor just a little bit more of summer’s plenty.

The warmth and light, intensified by our increased proximity to the sun, seem to affect an involuntary shift from our usual pragmatic and responsible Yankee outlook to something more suited to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, or perhaps the south of France.

We relax. We let go of expectations. We rediscover the joy and contentment that can be found in simple pleasures like unplanned meetings that blossom into afternoon adventures, the smoky taste of food cooked over an open fire, the gritty warmth of sand between the toes, and the magic of fireflies in the field.

Yes, here comes summer, our chance to be delightfully irresponsible. Our chance to give up being so busy all the time, and just surrender rebelliously to the spontaneous impulses of the season. In these sun-dappled days, we can recapture, for a moment, what it felt like to be a kid without a care in the world. I can hardly wait.

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Jamie Lee Wallace Hi. I’m Jamie. I am a content writer and branding consultant, columnist, sometime feature writer, prolific blogger, and aspiring fiction writer. I’m a mom, a student of equestrian arts, and a nature lover. I believe in small kindnesses, daily chocolate, and happy endings. Join me each Saturday for the Weekend Edition – a long-form post on writing and the writing life – and/or introduce yourself on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. I don’t bite … usually.
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Friday Fun — Summer Writing and Reading Schedule

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: Ahhh, summer. We’ve discussed what the summer season means to us, but what does it mean to our writing practice and our reading habits? For some, summer brings more leisure time. For others, the pace picks up with kids out of school and vacations to work around. What does your summer look like in terms of time to write and read?

 

Jamie Wallace: I recall the summers of my childhood with great fondness. They seemed an endless stretch of days in which to read and sketch, write and wander, daydream and create. As an adult and a mother, my summers are somewhat less idyllic. More than at any other time of the year (except, perhaps, the holidays), the approach of summer fills me with both happy anticipation and anxious dread. On the one hand, I love the idea of spending some quality time enjoying less structured days with my daughter. On the other hand, I know from experience that having her out of school will amp up the challenge of balancing my freelance work, motherhood, and my own writing projects.

If I’m going to be honest, I sort of give up during the summer. It isn’t that I’ll walk away from my writing practice or my ever-growing stack of to-be-read books, but I definitely lower my expectations. There are only so  many hours in a day, and – more importantly – only so many summers to be spent with a daughter who still enjoys my company (most of the time). So, I’ll allow myself to be a slacker. I’ll sacrifice some productive time in favor of more personal time.

I don’t think I’ll regret it.

Lisa J. Jackson: Summer doesn’t seem any different to me than other months. Work keeps me busy during the week and I may get out more on the weekends in the summer, but I can’t really say that my reading or writing habits change. With no kids or partner to work around, every day is always what I want it to be – the balancing act doesn’t change unless I want it to. Having said that, I just realized that in July I have a few trips that will take me away from technology for 2 or more days at a time — so that will mean reorganizing a few week days to balance the work so I won’t stress about it while I’m playing! (but the same is going to be true for Aug, Sep, and Nov right now, too!)

 

Diane MacKinnon: Summer does change things for me, but I think it balances out because when my husband is on vacation with me, as we are this week, I can get some writing time during the day if he is occupied with our son, but there’s sometimes less time because this particular week my husband is also caring for his mother so I’m in charge of outings with Joey while he’s busy with his mom.

My son still goes to preschool (only they call it summer camp and they go swimming every day) twice a week, so on weeks we are home I still have my regular schedule.

I’ll be driving with my son to PEI, Canada, to visit family later in the summer and I don’t expect to get any writing done that week except a little journal writing at the end of the day. Summer is so short and beach days or park days are so precious, I usually opt to give up writing time to spend more time with my son (and the rest of my family.) Right now my son is napping so we can go see fireworks this evening so I used the time to finish my blog post for tomorrow.

I have to say I used to love sitting on the beach and reading or writing in my journal. But now, I’m happy just to be on the beach, although I always bring my journal and I usually get to write at least a little bit. Reading and the beach will be back when my son is older and interested in other things besides building construction sites and castles in the sand with me and his dad. You know what they say, the days are long but the years are short. Everything changes so I don’t begrudge the time I don’t spend writing right now. The days are coming when I’ll have plenty of time to write.

Deborah Lee Luskin: Last week, I sent copies of Ellen to ten readers, so I’m momentarily untethered from a project that has anchored me to my desk for the past three years. I feel light and giddy and a bit unfocused, which I’m enjoying! I’m also tackling some long-deferred projects, like updating my clips and cleaning my house. Then, I’m heading out for a week in Maine, and taking the novels of Virginia Woolf on my Kindle, already starting to think about my next novel . . . Other projects include updating my website and preparing to start my own blog. But these will all take back seat once I hear from my readers. I expect to dive back in to a final draft by mid-July and to keep my nose to the grindstone, so I can turn in a book to my agent in September. These are subjects I’ll be covering in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!

Susan Nye: After seven years working as a chef at a private club in July and August, I now have my summer back. Or at least I’ll have a little more free time. When it comes to schedule, my summer now looks a lot like the rest of the year. I have weekly, monthly and quarterly deadlines along with a new, part-time job. Plus more members of my family are around so there is often something fun going on. So there will be crazy, busy days and weeks as well as a few relaxing afternoons to read in the shade or kayak on the lake.

Wendy Thomas: Summer, ah the double-edged sword of summer – so much to do, so little time. I have to consciously work on carving out a schedule between the kids’ activities. They are older but they still require guidance and rides to and from work and friend’s houses. In the summer, I tend to religiously rely on my to-do lists in order to get done all that needs to get accomplished (*highlighted* on today’s list is an article that is due by 5 p.m.) My reading changes in the summer, much as I eat lighter food, I tend to read “lighter” books. More stories and more inspirational materials are on the menu – books that can be picked up and put down at a moment’s notice.

Friday Fun — First Day of Summer

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: Tomorrow is the summer solstice – the first day of summer. What does summer mean to you?

 

Jamie Wallace: Summer is not my favorite season. I much prefer the cool and contemplative days of fall, the renewed and hopeful days of spring, or even the dark and quiet days of winter to the hot and somewhat frenetic days of summer. Still, this season does have its charms, something I wrote about in this week’s column for my local paper,

Everything is better done out of doors. A meal eaten on the deck or patio tastes sweeter than one eaten at a proper table in the dining room. A book read in the shade of a tree or at the edge of the ocean sweeps you away more completely than one read curled on the sofa or even in bed. Music enjoyed at an outdoor venue evokes memories and wishes more poignant and true than music contained within four walls.

Living life out in the open seems to invite a little magic into our days. Summer breaks down barriers and breaks us open. The boundaries between inside and outside are blurred and we spend our days gliding effortlessly from one environment to the other. Impromptu conversations with neighbors happen more frequently and last longer as we linger under blue skies on our way to nowhere in particular. People smile more. Dogs wag more. Birds sing more. All around us, creatures are letting loose with spontaneous expressions of joy.

So, I guess while summer is not my favorite season, it does mean (among other things) that we get to live our days more connected to nature and to each other and to all the small, sensual pleasures that abound at this time of the year.

Lisa J. Jackson: I can live without humidity in the summer months, but I absolutely *love* summer solstice – the longest day of the year. Knowing there’s more than 12 hours of daylight makes me giddy and giggly. This year I’ll be spending the first day of summer at a music festival by a river – the weather is supposed to be divine and I’m looking forward to listening to local bands and talking with people about places to visit in NH. I think it’s going to be a great way to welcome in the summer and remove the last bit of chill from my bones from the long New England winter!

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Susan Nye: Hmmmm … fireworks, drive-in movies, collecting fireflies and starfish, learning to swim and sail, sunburns, clamming, family cookouts, baking pies with my grandmother and picking wild raspberries. Although it is a busy time for me now, when I think of summer, I still think of lazy days at the beach and time with family. When I was a little kid, my parents rented ramshackle cottages at the Cape. We were walking distance to both sets of grandparents. I have many fond memories of doing ordinary things with my grandparents and truly appreciate the time we spent together. Instead of the Cape, four generations of Nyes now gather in New Hampshire every summer. That time together is truly a gift.

 

Deborah Lee Luskin: I’m with Jamie on this one, and admit that summer is not my favorite season, maybe because it’s both so hyped and frantic. That said, I may be in for a good summer this year. I’ve decided not to drive this summer: no rowing, no CSA, no unnecessary trips or errands. So far (okay, not even officially summer), I’ve benefited from more time at home, especially  more gardening, and a great sense of s-l-o-w-i-n-g down, which has allowed me to smell the flowers – both literally and metaphorically.

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Julie Hennrikus:  I don’t love humidity and excess heat, but I love summer. I love the food. BBQ, blueberries, rhubarb, cotton candy. I love being able to walk outside with layers and layers of clothes. I LOVE the Red Sox specifically, and baseball in general. My life is on an academic season, so I also love the renewal and refreshing of the summer months.

Saturday Edition – What We’re Writing and Reading

Welcome to this Saturday Edition of What We’re Writing and Reading.

We’re taking a little detour on the weekends now to share some of what we’re up to with our writing (when we’re not here) and what we’re into with our reading (around the web). We’ll also pull back the curtain a little to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what went into a piece.

We hope you enjoy this little diversion and encourage you to share your own posts and picks in the comments.

Happy writing! Happy reading! 

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Jamie Wallace: Hello again. Another week flown by, and with it the last bits of the summer season here in the northern hemisphere. Though we may be granted a few more warm and sunny days, the routine of the fall season is full upon us.

I’m glad.

Summer has been wonderful, but I’m ready to resume a steadier, autumn pace. As some of my fellow writers have voiced, the fall feels like a time of renewed energy and resolve. The year’s end is in sight, but still a ways off, making these next few months perfect for reflecting and taking stock, for measuring progress and recalibrating direction.

But, for now, let’s just say farewell to the week.

What I’m Writing:

This wasn’t a week for much writing. I had the pleasure of spending a few days up at the stately Mount Washington Hotel with my daughter and my beau. It was so nice to get away for a few days, but my daughter’s appetite for activity left little room for the joys of idleness. There was time, however, for some cloud gazing and inner storytelling. I always find that being in the mountains awakens a hunger for magic in my writer’s mind. I wonder what creatures share the deep forest with deer and moose and bear. I imagine spectral beings in the dense, mountain fog. I see hidden stairways in the stony cliff faces.

So, even though I didn’t put pen to paper, I did let my imagination run just a little bit wild; and that always comes in handy later on when I have the time to play with words and stories.

Before we left, I did wrap up a feature piece and a column. I’ll share the column here next week.

What I’m Reading:

Affiliate Link

Though I’m reading a couple of other novels, I took a little time out this week to revisit an old favorite. Inspired by the recent Friday Fun question about favorite myths and fairy tales, I pulled George Macdonald’s The Golden Key (affiliate link) off the shelf. I do not remember when I first came across this slim tome, or when I first acquired my own copy; but, the aura of this gentle yet brilliant fairy tale has always stayed with me. Like many of the books I’ve been reading lately, it is a quiet story about the lifelong adventures of the girl Tangle and the boy Mossy as they journey through fairyland and into the heart of the Earth and beyond.

And let’s not forget the blogs. Here are a few of my favorite writerly posts from this week:

• Passion – How to tap into yours every time you write by @cslakin via @writetodone – Sometimes we need to stoke the fires a little. This post explores the difference between enthusiasm and passion and why you need both.
• Is social reading the end of an intimacy? by @Porter_Anderson via @JaneFriedman – Porter Anderson’s posts are always so rich and full, but this one was particularly interesting to me because it includes an in-depth discussion about “quiet” books.
• A key book marketing principle that authors must learn (or not forget) by @JaneFriedman via @WriterUnboxed – Writing and publishing expert Jane Friedman answers the question, “Does social media really sell books?”
• Writing Tips: 25 rules for keeping it short and snappy via @huffingtonpost – An excerpt from How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark

Finally, a quote for the week:

Thanks for spending part of your Saturday with me. Happy reading & writing! 

Friday Fun – Summer Reading List

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: Happy first day of summer! What’s on your reading list? Does your summer reading change?

Lisa J. Jackson: Is summer *really* here? Honest? Seemed like a long time coming! My reading does change over the summer for some reason. I give myself more freedom to  read whatever catches my eye. This year I plan to clean up a bit of my TBR pile and catch up on a couple of series I enjoy.

I have a couple of the novels in these series to read: J.D. Robb’s “In Death”; J.R. Ward’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood”;  Brett Battles’s “Jonathan Quinn”; Steve Ulfelder’s “Conway Sax,” I’d love to read a few more Walter Mosley books, and to mix things up I might add a few historical romance beach reads to my stacks.

I think it’s the longer days that inspire more ‘free’ reading for me.

Jamie Wallace: Happy Solstice! Today is the longest day of the year. I love it for that reason, and yet it also makes me a little sad because from here the days begin to wane as we head towards another season of harvest and hibernation. Don’t get me wrong, I love those seasons even more than summer, but I feel the same was as Lisa – like summer just got here and it’s already half over!

My reading doesn’t really change that much over the summer. I still have to make a concerted effort to fit leisure reading into my life. No school for my daughter does not, unfortunately, mean no work for me; so I’m still in full-on hustle mode. I will, however, probably get to spend at least a few days at the beach with my girl, and will get to spend at least part of those days camped out in a beach chair with a good book. We just had the annual beach picnic for the school kids in town, and I managed to finish Alice Hoffman’s book, The River King. That felt good, even if the ending was a little anti-climatic.

Next in my reading queue I’ve got Neil Gaiman’s latest novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I listened to the audio recording of the first chapter or so compliments of Audible. I’m already hooked. I have a whole bunch of samples downloaded to my Kindle and hope to find another worthy candidate among them. We’ll see.

If anyone has any good magical surrealism titles to recommend, I’d love to hear them! 

photo: M. Shafer

Deborah Lee Luskin: I’m still not reading fiction – it creates too much static as I continue working on my new novel – but I’m rediscovering the joy of picking books off the “New Non-Fiction” shelf at the three libraries I hold cards to, and I expect that’s what I’ll continue to do over the summer. In order to find time to read, however, I’m finding I need to have serious limits to my time on-line. I’m trying to check email and Facebook only three times a day. Ideally, I’d cut it back to two. . .

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Diane MacKinnon: My reading habits don’t really change over the summer. I’ve always got a couple of nonfiction books going, but the only fiction I’m reading these days are books I listen to in the car. Like Deborah, I usually just grab an (audio)book from the “New” section in my library. I often have a difficult time choosing fiction books because I usually want a guarantee that it’s going to be good before I put the time into the story, but I’ve found a way around that by grabbing whatever book catches my eye at the library (I’ve even let my son pick them randomly off the shelf)–if I don’t like it, I just stop reading it, return it, and try another one. The best book I have read so far using this random, no expectation, system is Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. I loved it and can’t wait for her next book!

Julie Hennrikus: Summer is my reading season. I balance between non-fiction (prep for teaching) and catching up with the downloads on my Kindle. I am also going to be moderating a panel at the New England Crime Bake on YA mystery fiction, so I will be delving into that genre. (I have a reading addicted niece who is pretty happy about that.) I really think I need to start listening to books–I walk a lot, and would love to “read” at the same time.

 

Wendy Thomas – Summer is a time of reading for me. Lot of pool time and lots of time waiting for kids to be done with activities. On my list are:

• A revisit to A Year in Provence – an inexpensive way to visit France
• You Can’t Make This Stuff Up – nonfiction writing book
• Inferno – hated the last one but liked D’Vinci Code so much I’m willing to give it a try
• 50 Week of Green – a farmer, CSA love story with recipes, what’s not to like
• Behind the Cloud – thoughts on running an organization in the cloud (don’t get too excited, it’s for a client)
• The Spark – a mother’s journey saving her Autistic child
• The Giant’s House – an up-north indie bookstore recommendation – good enough for me.