Rethink the Lazy Days of Summer
by Elizabeth Solar
In New England, where the first snowflakes might gather around Halloween and continue through spring like a cruel April Fool’s prank, we guard our summer leisure as a sacred right. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we are smitten with long, sun-drenched days, and often like to fill them with anything but work. After all we’ve been through — the long, frigid, light-deprived months of cave-dwelling existence toiling till sundown. Which falls sometime between 3:00 and 4:30 in the afternoon. But still. For all our suffering, aren’t we entitled to let loose, slow down, stop and smell the roses, sip the rose?
Thing is, if you’re an all or nothing kind of person, you may be getting plenty of nature’s Vitamin D, but aren’t making any headway on your book. And that’s a shame. Take advantage of those energizing rays, set yourself down with pad and pen, or laptop, and write away. What’s better setting up shop on a picnic table, park bench, or a swing, inspired by birdsong, the low hum of a distant lawn mower, a warm, gentle breeze?
Sure, there’s that natural slow down that comes with summer: and the anticipation and realization of journeys far and near. Travel often provides the catalyst for more frequent, richer writing sessions. My own book is inspired by a summer vacation.
And then there’s the relaxation. We know creativity flourishes in a relaxed state. Now, barefoot and carefree, use this time to let your imagination flow.
Indulge your sun-kissed inner child, and those flights of fancy by sending them to camp. My writing sister Victoria Fortune wrote about Nano’s writing camp which continues through the month of July. She talks about preparing for it beforehand, but if you’re willing to take the plunge, you still have to weeks to grab your proverbial swimsuit, and hiking shorts then run amuck, climb that proverbial mountain, or cannonball right into the pool with the rest of us.
While it’s the slow season, it’s a good time to think about your social media platforms, if you haven’t already. How do you want to communicate with potential readers? What are they interested in? What do you have to offer them? How do you construct a social media persona — And when you find out, can you let me know? Some of us avoid social media like the plague — often with good reason — but it’s an essential element in telling people who you are, what you’re doing, and giving them a reason to care. Stake out social media territory you like, and can realistically maintain, and make it part of your writing routine.We all have that pesky chapter or two that isn’t quite fleshed out to our, or our beta readers’ satisfaction Now’s a good time to bring a sense of urgency and renewal to those segments of our novels that lack the energy, logic or je ne sais pas that contribute to the cohesiveness of our story.
Reach out to your writing tribe. If you’re on official summer hiatus, you can still be in touch, discuss what you’re working on, where you’re stuck. Meet for coffee, or a cocktail. If liquor is a social lubricant, imagine what it will do for your craft.
Wasn’t it Hemingway who said ‘Write drunk, edit sober.’?
Summer is a precious time - both shorter, and longer than you think. Take the time. Luxuriate in the fragrance of ambrosia and hibiscus. Feel the salt on your skin, the sand between your toes. Take a deep breath. Plunge into your keyboard with a solar-powered resolve.
Note: this post was powered by sitting on the dock of the bay — not the song, but actually sitting on the dock — and vodka and soda. Salut.
