Hey Wit!
Someone oughta send out an APB on Summer because it has a sneaky way of making writers disappear.
One minute they’re posting their writing goals and promising launch dates. The next: They’re nowhere to be found.
/cut scene
A writer standing in their kitchen eating watermelon, wondering where the entire month of June went.
Okay, maybe Summer isn’t a criminal, but you gotta admit, it is kinda criminal not to enjoy everything it has to offer.
There’s…
☀️ Vacations
🏕️ Kids are home
🌻 Gardens need tending
🍦 And the weather suddenly becomes way more interesting than your manuscript.
Before you know it, your writing routine has melted faster than a popsicle on a driveway.
I know you know. I see you.
And, I’ve got you.
Because over the years I’ve learned something I want you to know:
Summer doesn't require better motivation.
It requires better survival skills.
🏕️ Survival Skill #1: Camp Light
Nobody hikes into the wilderness carrying their entire house on their back.
At least, nobody who wants to make it very far.
Yet every summer, writers try to carry impossible expectations:
- Write for two hours a day
- Finish the draft by August
- Revise three chapters before vacation
- Become the Most Productive Writer Ever™
Then life happens.
But the solution isn't more discipline.
It's a lighter pack.
Choose a summer minimum:
- 100 words
- 10 minutes
- One scene note
- One character question
The goal isn't to summit the mountain.
The goal is to stay on the trail.
A story that's touched every day keeps breathing, folks!
🧭 Survival Skill #2: Leave Trail Markers
Summer creates strange little pockets of time.
→ Waiting for fireworks.
→ Watching kids at the splash pad.
→ Sitting in a lawn chair while someone else fishes.
Most writers assume writing only counts if they're sitting at a desk.
But stories don't care where inspiration shows up.
Leave yourself trail markers.
Keep a notebook.
Use your phone.
Send yourself voice memos.
Capture:
- Snippets of dialogue
- Story questions
- Character discoveries
- Weird observations about the guy wearing socks with sandals
(That's definitely a character.)
When you leave yourself breadcrumbs, it's much easier to find your way back to the story later.
✨ Survival Skill #3: Watch for Shooting Stars
The best parts of summer are often unexpected.
✨ A meteor streaking across the sky.
✨ A moment of perfect joy.
✨ A conversation you weren't expecting.
Stories work the same way.
Instead of trying to force entire chapters into existence, spend the summer collecting sparks.
🧨 A line of dialogue.
🧨 A scene idea.
🧨 A realization about your villain.
🧨 A better understanding of your hero's wound.
You don't need to build the whole campfire today.
You just need to gather kindling.
By September, you'll have way more than you think.
🔥 A Message from Future You
Imagine it's September.
The kids are back in school.
The weather is changing.
You sit down with a cup of something warm and look back on your summer.
Future You doesn't say:
"Why didn't you write 50,000 words?"
Future You says, "Thanks for not disappearing."
That's all.
Not perfection.
Not massive productivity.
Just staying connected to the story.
Because every day you show up—even for five minutes—you reinforce an important identity:
"I am a writer."
And identities are built the same way campfires are built.
One small piece of fuel at a time.
Remember:
You don't have to sprint through summer.
You just have to avoid getting lost in the woods.
Happy writing! ☀️🏕️🔥
