Y’all, it’s summertime.
Summer time means long, lazy days by the pool, baseball games, and those warm, romantic summer nights. With all that dazzling life out there in the sunshine, it also might mean that your writing project has completely stalled. Perhaps you missed a week and that turned into two—and now you haven’t even looked at it in months. In the video below, Amanda will describe seven strategies to get yourself out of that summer slump, get back to writing your project, and find the passion you had for that book again.
If you prefer to read your writing advice, continue below the video.
Not knowing how long it will take can be a stumbling block that can impede your steady progress and open you up to self-doubt and unrealistic expectations. Writing your first book is full of unknowns. Who needs one more??
That’s why we created the Writing Plan Calculator. This simple, interactive guide will walk you through the decisions you need to make to figure out how long this process is going to take. Once you’ve made those decisions, just plug them in, and you’ll learn how long your memoir will take, PLUS how much you need to accomplish each and every week to stay on track.
Click here to get a realistic timeline and create your full memoir writing plan now!
If you’ve already accessed this tool and are already off-plan, reading the tips below can help you get back on track and recommit to your schedule.
It can be so hard to write in the summertime. The process of sitting indoors with a cool-light laptop screen feels so antithetical to bright warm sunshine and long days. If you’ve found your manuscript gathering dust and your motivation waning, don’t worry—you’re not alone! Today we’re sharing seven practical tips to help you break free from the summer slump and reignite your passion for writing. The creativity is still there, you just need to find your momentum again.
Tip #1: Embrace the break
Taking a break from writing can be truly beneficial. When you’re working on a long-term goal like writing a book, it’s important to avoid burn out by taking deliberate breaks to give your mind rest and recoup some of that energy. Stepping away from writing can rejuvenate your creativity and provide new insights. Even when your resting, even during your sleep, your brain is still gently working away at the ideas and insights you want to share through your book.
Have you ever come back to a problem after a few weeks, and suddenly you have a new idea of how to tackle it? It suddenly seems obvious, and you wonder why you didn’t think of it before? It’s because that problem didn’t go away for your brain, some part of it has still been turning it around and looking for a new way while you were resting or focusing on other things. The same can happen for your writing. After a break, you may have new ways to approach it. Recognizing and accepting this can alleviate the frustration of feeling stalled and make it easier to get back on track.
Tip # 2: Remember the big picture
Writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. Most first-time authors take at least six months, often longer, to complete a manuscript–and that’s just the rough draft. Acknowledge that breaks are part of the process. Just like elite athletes need rest to avoid injury and perform better, writers need breaks to maintain mental and creative health. Embracing this long-term perspective helps reduce the shame and negative self-talk that often accompany perceived setbacks.
Also, remember that you’ve decided to make writing this book a big part of your life, but it’s not your whole life. All the rest of it still matters too. Without all the rest of the things that make you happy, give you energy and stimulate your mind, and rejuvenate you for long periods of work, you won’t be able to make the book work.
Tip # 3: Be kind to yourself
Self-compassion is crucial. You’re human, not a word-producing robot. If you find yourself beating yourself up for getting behind, imagine it was a friend you heard being talked to that way. Would you allow someone to call your friend names or question their worth and abilities, just because they took a break from something hard that most people wouldn’t even try? Of course you wouldn’t! So don’t let you talk to yourself that way, either.
Be aware of negative thoughts and reframe them with kindness. Instead of criticizing yourself for falling behind, treat yourself as you would a friend in the same situation—with kindness and encouragement. This shift in mindset can foster a more positive and productive approach to your writing goals.
Tip # 4: Make a new plan to get back to writing
When you fall off your writing schedule, don’t try to catch up to your original plan. That plan, for whatever reason, didn’t work out. Let it go. If you try to say to yourself, “I’m going to catch up to my original plan by next week!” you’ll be asking yourself to do more than you’ve ever been able to before in a much shorter time, and you’re just setting yourself up to not meet that goal either. Imagine you were training for a marathon, and you were supposed to run three miles each day for two weeks–but you didn’t. You did some days, but mostly you didn’t really follow the plan. Are you going to wake up tomorrow and decide to run twenty miles to catch up? Of course not, that’s just not how that works.
It’s not how writing works either.
You didn’t meet the original plan–perhaps the plan was unrealistic or didn’t account for enough needed breaks or wiggle room. Instead of trying to “catch up,” remake the plan. Create a new, realistic schedule that fits your current circumstances. Above we have a tool that can help! Use our Writing Plan Calculator to help set achievable goals and timelines. This approach helps prevent the frustration of unattainable targets and keeps your progress on track.
Tip # 5: Take Inventory
When you’re coming off of a break (especially an unplanned break) and getting back into the swing of things, it can be hard to remember all the hard work you have done. Take some time–incorporate it into the new plan–to assess what you’ve already accomplished. On a day when you’re feeling positive, review your writing and make an honest inventory of completed and pending tasks. This reality check helps you understand the true state of your project and motivates you by highlighting how much you’ve already achieved.
Tip # 6: Making writing fun again
There’s a reason you decided to take this on in the first place. Try to find that passion and fun again. Reignite your passion for writing by working on the parts of your book that excite you the most. Choose a scene, concept, or story that you’re eager to write, even if it’s not the next item on your outline. This strategy helps reinforce the joy of writing and boosts your motivation to continue.
Tip # 7: Re-recruit Support
If you’ve fallen off your plan, chances are you’ve fallen out of touch with your writing support, too. Once you’ve made your new plan, engage with your support or find new friends, family, or writing coaches to help support and hold you accountible to your goals. By involving others, you not only gain motivation and encouragement but also model resilience and self-compassion. Specific, regular check-ins can help maintain your momentum and keep you accountable.
