Yesterday I went to the library for a glorious two hours and worked on my writing plans for summer. I love the feeling of the whole summer spreading out before me, ready to be filled with words to write and even more words to read! It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

For those of you who wonder how a mother of an active three-year-old with limited summer daycare is able to commit to big writing projects, here’s how I make it work:

1. I get up early. In my twenties, I thought the summer and the weekends meant I was “allowed” to sleep in. But now I know how much more productive and happy my days are if I get started before my family is awake. I can set my alarm a little later than I do during the school year, but I’m still going to be up at 5:45. Years of teaching and using the early-morning time slot for writing makes that time feel reasonable to me. I won’t need to adjust my sleep schedule for summer; I’ll still be going to bed at close to the same time, but it’s rare that I find a reason to stay up late anyway. (Watching more TV is never a good reason in my book.)
2. I use nap time. My son still takes a decent-length nap in the afternoon. This is partly because he doesn’t sleep very long overnight, only about 9 hours, but I’m not complaining because I love that afternoon break. More important than committing to write during naps is having a routine in place. I always start off with some yoga or meditation to help me transition into the writing mentality. I don’t need that transition when I work first thing in the morning, but if I don’t do it during nap time, I procrastinate.
3. I don’t plan everything. I schedule more minor writing-related tasks (i.e. promoting blog links on Twitter) for anytime I can fit them in. They’re floating boxes in my planner; if I see a pocket of time when Edwin is happily playing by himself, I’ll grab my laptop.
4. I use the “pomodoro” technique. I write for a set amount of time, and then I’m done. In the mornings, it’ll be a 40 minute block; in the afternoons, it’ll be a 20 on one project and a 40 on the other. I used to measure by word count, but I found I’m more productive with using time, at least for the “just get it done” draft. It also helps with any mental complaining when I look at my schedule and realize I only have to work for a set time every day, and it’s not even close to the amount of time I spend at work during the school year.
5. I plan ahead. It’s really, really hard to write a first draft when you’re not entirely sure where the story should go. Plot outlining is a must… but when I’m first starting a draft, I don’t like to commit myself to a specific outline. I want the ability to create and discover ideas as I write. So I only outline about 10 chapters in advance. In Scrivener, which is where I do my novel-writing, you can make a little “notecard” to represent each chapter. I write a plot summary for each chapter on the notecard, and then when I’m drafting, I have some rough ideas to start with. I still have the freedom to change, but I don’t have to face the fear of a completely blank page.

Next week: more details on what I’ll be working on this summer, plus a few “sneak previews” from the first draft of Blizzard!