The awesome co-hosts for today are: Murees Dupe, Alexia Chamberlynn, Chemist Ken, and Heather Gardner!
My insecurity today: it's summer break!
There are lots of reasons to cheer that, but it also means precious little time to myself to write and all the writing related things. I already feel I'm behind on where I want to be. There's never enough time.
I will attempt to try to get into hyper efficient mode. If I get one hour at night, I must use it to its fullest.
Of course, that's easier said than done. Hot weather drains me. I prefer to hibernate in the summer, and I'm lucky if I have any energy after my little guy goes to bed at night.
If you have kids, how do you or did you as a writer get through summer breaks? Are you a summer person? If you only get a little time for writing, how do you keep yourself focused?
Hi Christine - I can quite see how little time you have - I hope you can squeeze some in ... at some cooler hour of the day ...
ReplyDeleteTake care and enjoy the holiday time - cheers Hilary
So true about there never being enough time. I don't even have kids, so I can't imagine how much more fleeting time is for you. Best of luck getting into hyper-efficient mode!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was writing, I wrote early in the morning before I went to work. There is no way I can write at night after a long and busy day working. Maybe schedule in shorter periods of time where you write (and not do anything on the Internet). And remember, life is not all work and writing. Enjoy your summer with your family. It's a precious time.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, I don't know how you do it, Christine, with your little boy. You're a prolific writer and you amaze me. I tend like Natalie's advice. I'm more of a morning person and I'm wiped out at night. Possibly set an alarm and get up before the little man. But most of all, enjoy these summer months with him.
ReplyDeleteI'm retired and still struggling to find enough time. I live in Mexico and the climate is very hot. I'm the sharpest early in the morning when the day is a bit cooler.
ReplyDeleteI try to take a siesta during the heat of the day. Eat a small meal for dinner. I sleep better. My day is complete when I take time to read a novel just before I fall asleep.
I don't know how those of you with kids do it. My hat's off to you.
ReplyDeleteSummer is draining because of the humidity and long days.
You'll do fine, Christine. I have no doubt. :)
ReplyDeleteSummer here in FL is definitely different for me than when I lived in the Northeast, but I've learned to work with it.
Summer un-focuses me. There is so much that I want to do, and so little time. Writing takes a back seat to some of it. Although, I will admit to feeling drained when the temperatures climb. I love the sun - until then. :)
ReplyDeleteJust as I love winter until the roads are icy. :)
Sorry, today I'm unsettled!
There's never enough time. I don't have kids, but I take advantage of the fact everyone else does and they take breaks over the summer. That gives me a chance to shut down a bit for a few months.
ReplyDeleteI don't now how any of the writers who have kids (particularly the females) ever get any writing done! I have nothing but respect for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm a couple weeks away from this situation, and I don't know what's going to happen, but I do expect my productivity to tank. Sigh. I feel like the ant versus the grasshopper here--I should have done more writing while the kids were in school instead of frittering my time!
ReplyDeleteI have five wonderful children, but finding time to write is difficult--summers being the worst. The heat drains me, too. And the kids want to be entertained. Because my oldest is special needs, I need to keep her reading and doing math skills and thinking. So I give all five kids a few level-appropriate math problems and a topic to write a few paragraphs about in the morning. They each have their own summer note books. They get to choose stickers, beads, feathers, shells to glue or stick into the notebook with the date of selection to show Dad when he comes home from work. I know this is a lot of work for me, but it helps the children and--sometimes--I get to write a few paragraphs myself at the table where we all need to work together. [Otherwise, they get up and leave, if I don't watch them work.]
ReplyDeleteHah! Summer? You mean all year? I carve out a writing time, and no, it's not as long as it is for most authors, but it's all I can spare. The kids are kindly sent away to watch a show, play with a friend or weed the yard. If they disturb me while in my writing time, they feel the wrath. That's the best I can do.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Have some cheese to cool down, eh?
For years, I signed my girls up for summer camps. Some were so long (9 to 4 or 4:30) that I had more time to myself than during the school year! But all good things must come to an end. My younger daughter is fed up with camp and I was just like her as a child, so this year I am not going to make her go to any camp. But I will sign her up for violin lessons and we need to work on her reading comprehension and grammar skills and physical conditioning. So yeah, I'm not going to have a bonanza of time to write during the day, and yeah, I'm pretty much toast once the kids are in bed. This may be the summer of getting nothing done. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know how writers work when there are young kids at home. Eventually I would think kids would do whatever and not have to be watched as much. There's always getting up a little earlier. It sucks to lose some sleep, but it's cooler in the mornings. It might help.
ReplyDeleteI'm already a child, so I don't need more of me running around the house needing constant attention. Really, though, I don't know how you parents do it. I can barely take care of myself on most days and still find time to write. I can't imagine throwing a kid or four into that equation.
ReplyDeleteI work outside the home and the kids go to daycare, so summer won't affect me too much. Maybe you can find a small room and get a portable air conditioner so that you can stay cool?
ReplyDeleteIn the summer, when the days are longer, I used to think I'd get more writing done, but the kids stay up longer too so it's a wash. In the winter, the kids go to bed earlier, but the early onset of night makes me sleepy and I still don't get any extra writing done. I can offer no useful advice. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteI commend you for staying the course, Christine. Having kids, maintaining a home, writing? I believe you have three full-time jobs there, and I'm sure you do more.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I don't have kids. I already don't have enough energy to do stuff. I can't imagine wrangling kids on top of everything.
ReplyDeleteThe weather doesn't affect me directly, but summer holidays certainly disrupts the writing plans. And my kids aren't in school yet, so they throw off my schedule equally all year round. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the heat but when my kids were the age of yours, I didn't get any writing done. Summer was so busy even though I had a lot more energy then.
ReplyDeleteAs we are heading into our winter months, there's just never enough time to keep on doing what we love doing!
ReplyDeleteSo many things about summer make it a hard season to write. Some good: sun, beach, warm nights...some not so good heat, humidity, road work...
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone for visiting! I'm slowly getting to blogs. It was a real hot day today.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sunshine addict, so when the sun comes up at 4:30 a.m., I struggle to stay in bed in the summer. Of course, this means that this affects my winter mornings as well - and I don't want to get out of bed then. So . . . as long as I've had six hours of sleep and I feel fairly energetic, I get up and write early in the summer. This helped me especially when my kids were little, even if it meant that we had "quiet" time for two hours in the afternoon (mommy nap time). I also utilized my husband's super daddiness to help out for summer evenings.
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids, but I help watch my nephews during the summer, so I know what you mean about less writing time. At least a little. I know for you it's harder. I hope you're able to sneak in writing time.
ReplyDeleteI also hate the heat and hide during the summer.
I don't have kids but I do live with two five-year-old twin boys. Hats off to you and other mothers. They demand a lot of energy. Me, My friend and her daughter all live together and they keep all three of us busy. My friend says it takes a village.
ReplyDeleteHope summer surprises with moments of unexpected writing time.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
1) Play dates! Naturally, you have to have kids over at yours too but on the days when the play date is at someone else's you can write!
ReplyDelete2) Another hour can be gained by asking them to tidy their rooms :)Naturally, the room doesn't get tidied in quite the same way as mum does it but that worked for me :)
3) My daughter loved to write herself. So we used to have a writing together slot.
I think snippets of time is best. Chunks of time don't exist when children are at home and really time spent with our kids is so valuable.
Hope this helps.
Have a great week.
What if that hour you allow yourself is in the morning? You wouldn't be drained by the heat. Whatever you decide, best wishes for a great summer.
ReplyDeleteSummer is a really tough time to write - especially if you have kids. The whole schedule is thrown off. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI am not a summer person. The heat just drains me. Perhaps set up some play dates and switch off with other moms so you can get some time off to write.
ReplyDeleteHi Christine,
ReplyDeleteSummer break sure comes earlier over there. Summer break for the children over here starts in mid-July until the first week of September.
Ah yes, there will be those distractions that will take you away from your writing focus. Perhaps you can incorporate some of the experiences you have with your kids into your writing finesse. Yes, the heat can be draining. In the UK, we don't have to worry about that too much.
You take care and good luck.
Gary :)
My son is 14, so I don't have to worry about that! But when he was younger, he went to bed earlier, so that was my time to write. Or naps if they are really young. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI am retired now, but the only reason I was a teacher...well, you get the rest. Your kids have summers off so their teachers can write! Okay, I will duck and run now.
ReplyDeleteOur six week summer holiday doesn't start for another month. I would struggle if I had such a long and early break - once I start writing, I can't stop or I lose the flow completely... just ask my poor neglected children!
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids, but summer can definitely be disruptive. I know some people get up early to write before everyone gets up, but that's not always possible.
ReplyDeleteHot weather can be horrid for getting much productive writing done! It can be so hard to concentrate and focus. Since I don't have AC in my apartment, I sometimes have to go to one of the local libraries and spend the entire day there, until closing time at 9:00 or 8:00 (depending upon the library).
ReplyDeleteWe have hot weather all year around so doesn't make much difference to me :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe knowing you'll only have a short time to write will zoom you into focus right away. Just do all the other stuff in short spurts throughout the day - blog, social media, etc. - then at night go straight to your manuscript. For me, the trick is staying off social media. I'm a long way from mastering that trick - LOL.
ReplyDeleteI adore summer break...because as a teacher I don't have kids :) But it's not easy keeping focused, that's for sure. I *may* have just spent a chunk of my afternoon watching Big Hero 6...
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
ReplyDelete