WOW! Women On Writing Blog: working vacation

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Taking notes on Bocce ball at the beach.

So it’s July and the sun is hot and the water’s cool and the beach reads are calling my name. But I’m a professional writer, and writers don’t get paid unless they work, so of course, I’m deep into…uh…goofing off.

I can’t help it, y’all. From my earliest school days, summer meant freedom. Free to sleep late and to stay outside till dark, to play hard or to plop on the grass, daydreaming. When I was doing the stay-at-home mom thing, I made sure to keep our summers schedule-free. And even when I had a regular paycheck, I taught so I’d have my summers off. Working in June, July, and August just feels wrong. And so I have to find a way to sort of "trick" my summertime brain into working. Honestly, it's not that difficult with a brain like mine:

READING

I love to read in the summer, probably because I associate that reading with long, lazy afternoons, gobbling up all the stories I wanted to read (rather than long, dreary months of schoolbook and homework reading). And so this is the time of year that I gobble up all the books I’ve been itching to read. It’s also a great time of year to catch up on all the best-sellers from the previous year that I never quite got around to reading. But mostly, I read the award-winning books from the genre I’m writing. And because I’m a writer, I notice things like tension and pacing and exceptionally good word choices. I’ll pick apart a plot or dissect a character. I’m learning while I read and loving every minute of it—and when I do get around to writing, my brain takes what I’ve learned and applies it. Brilliant, right?

RESEARCH

All work and no play make Cathy—and you—a dull writer. We need experiences, the stuff that sparks ideas and informs our writing. Why, right now, I’ve got a book with a setting taken directly from a museum I visited a couple summers ago. And I have a character based on a girl that struck my fancy on a June tour of an antebellum mansion. The more details gathered, the more authentic the writing will be. So go have fun on your vacation—and don’t forget to grab bunches of brochures!

WRITING

So, as much as I read and research, I still must get my writing in; I’ve learned from past experience that if I put the writing aside, it takes forever to get back into the groove. And so in the early morning when sunbeams and birds interrupt my snoozing (I have no idea how I managed, way, way back in the day, to sleep until noon with all that racket and glare), I’m off to my desk, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I tackle my writing projects, whatever they might be, before lunch because that’s when my concentration is as good as it gets. But for you, it might be late afternoons or even evenings. The bottom line is to get some work in—even if it’s just 30 minutes—so your writing stays in shape and those creative juices keep flowing.

I mean, it takes creativity to find a way to goof off and work, but if I can do it, so can you. (Happy summer, y’all!)

~Cathy C. Hall

4 comments Cathy C. Hall, reading, research, Summertime writing, working vacation

A Writer's Working Vacation

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

So now it’s June and all you really want is a nice, long vacation.

Dang it, you’ve worked hard at your writing career, right? You’ve pushed through a 60,000 word manuscript, or sent out a ton of submissions—or both. You’ve blogged religiously and updated statuses and tweeted your fingers off. You’ve read till your eyes are crossed, and taken enough notes at conferences to fill four three-ring binders.

You deserve a break.

Except it’s not a good idea. You need to keep working.

And you need to put down that laptop you want to throw at me.

I promise you that I get it. I want a vacation, too. The thing is, I know how hard it is to get back to work when I take off, how much writing ground is lost when I get out of my writing routine. And so I take a working vacation (which sounds weird, even as I write it). But it works for me, and it can work for you. Here’s how:

1. If you’re working on a manuscript, it’s really important to keep at it. You can’t afford the time it takes to constantly reacquaint yourself with the story. So even if it’s just thirty minutes, work on your manuscript every day. Even if you’re on a cruise, you can find thirty minutes. (But don’t be surprised if, once you start working, you find another hour or two. Or that your manuscript is mysteriously margarita-stained and smells like sunscreen.)

2. If you’re in between projects, you might think you have a perfectly legitimate excuse for a break. But your creative juices will dry up if you don’t keep them flowing, so choose a couple of fun summertime projects and work on one every day. Contests, writing challenges, or opportune …er, opportunities pop up like summer showers. I plan to watch this free Scrivener webinar because I missed it the first time around. Now I can watch it whenever I want, but please note that it’s only available till this Friday, 11:59 PM EST. (I especially like to use travel time for creative thinking and plotting and such. The casual kiddie observer might accuse you of sleeping, but you will know that you are hard at work.)

3. It might be too late to sign up for a summer writer’s conference, but research now and you’ll be ready for next year. In the meantime, schedule a writer’s retreat with friends. Plan for a long weekend at the beach or mountains or a state park. The plus side of a retreat is how relaxing it can be while getting work accomplished. (And if that retreat involves a spa package and dinners out on the town, then you can pat yourself on the back and go guilt-free because you’ve put in your writing hours. Or at least your writing thirty minutes.)

4. Sometimes, you will find yourself without Internet access, stuck in the middle of, say, a family reunion. Preparedness is the key to getting your work done. Have plenty of paper and pencils on hand. Print out needed materials. Insist on a long time-out, perhaps at a coffee joint to use the wi-fi. (You might also find yourself labeled as that “rude writer in the family who always claims she's working.” But that, my friends, is the price you pay as a professional writer.)

A working vacation…sounds a little crazy, and even a little funny. But it’s June, you know, and it’s the best idea I’ve got.

~Cathy C. Hall