For most people, calling the holiday season chaotic is an understatement - regardless of which religious/traditional celebrations you keep. For me Christmas is all about family, but the to-do list still seems to get longer every year.
Picking out, wrapping and mailing presents. Getting the tree, lighting and decorating it. Cookies, carols, elementary school holiday pageants. Snowball fights, sledding, and snowmen with the niece & nephews. Free time is a forgotten luxury this time of year.
Which can be particularly stressful for writers whose "free" time is actually writing time.
So how do you keep your writing mojo strong during the chaotic holidays? Do you vow to write every day - even if you can only spare the time for jotting down one sentence? Do you take a hiatus from the writing grind and come back to it refreshed after the holidays are over? However you do it, odds are you're going to have to find some method that works for you, some way of keeping the writing fires burning as bright as the yule log.
I like to take into account holiday madness when I'm making out my writing schedule. This year, I have an added obstacle. One of my very best friends is getting married, in St. Thomas, the week before Christmas (this week!). The bridal party is sailing down together - away from email and cell phones for a real vacation! I don't have any writing goals for the next two weeks (cruise & Christmas), but I'm taking my computer with me. I may not write much on the ship, but I would go through withdrawals if I couldn't write for ten days. And who knows what inspiration will strike me on the high seas? Maybe this vacation from schedules and goals will be just what my writing needs to be reinvigorated.
What are your writing plans for the holiday season? A holiday from the demands of the pen or a diligent continuation of your usual good habits? (I'm giving you the benefit of believing we all have good habits. If not, that's what New Year's resolutions are for, right?)
Happy Holidays and Happy Writing!
P.S. I have a free holiday story now available at the Samhellion - mistletoe and mischief, shape-shifter style. Enjoy!
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Last year I read a great tip on the Wet Noodle Posse. They suggested a 100 words a day. I'm usually in "revise" mode (after entering the GH) so I changed it to 1/2 an hour a day. Some days I write more than 1/2 an hour, others not at all. But this keeps me moving forward until Jan. 1. I'd hate start the new year scratching my head and wondering who the peeps are in my MS :)
It worked really well for me last year. I started Jan. with both barrels loaded and ready to shoot. I finished my revision by the end of Jan. (one of many haha). I was ready to start my next MS by Feb.
But no guilt. I want to enjoy time with my friends, family and chilling.
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