The Writing Practice

It's BIW time again (Book-in-a-Week) and I'm participating for the first time in months. And despite the fact that it's mid-summer, there are 98 participants this go-around. I'm SOOOOO glad to have the added writing incentive. I've been so busy with projects other than my novels that I lost my page-a-day forward momentum.

Summer's an easy time to lose that momentum, isn't it? Sometimes it's okay to slow down the pen-to-page writing, though. Take five minutes to consider what would be best for your writing life this hot and lazy month of July:

• Daily page assignments! You need a deadline--and possibly a taskmaster--or you won't get anything done this summer.


• A few weeks to read and relax. Yes, writing's all well and good, but writing burnout isn't. You need to refuel with someone else's words for a change.


• Play time, anyone? You need some idea-generating freedom, maybe a new pen and notebook, to discover some new characters, plot twists, and settings.


• A date with your WIP. You're ready to write, but perhaps the fluid schedule of summertime life has kept you from spending as much time at it as you'd like. You need a date with your work-in-progress and without distractions.

Summer can turn your writing life upside down--but if you're intentional about what you want and need, you can emerge from summer already rolling down your writing road.

:) Cheryl

PS--Pictured are three of my favorite inspirations/distractions. Ain't summer grand?