by Katherine Reay, @Katherine_Reay
Summer is here! Or almost… I have one kid graduating high school this month and another graduating college. I can’t decide if I should celebrate or hide. 🙂 A lot of change!
But that’s part of what summer is… A time of change. A time to get outside more, let schedules relax more, lift our heads and look around more.
It’s also a wonderful time to infuse fresh thoughts into writing and fresh insights into how we approach it. Here are a few of my favorite ideas…
- Head outside. Nothing clears the head like a good long walk or a run. I am getting back into running right now and I love how it gets the ideas flowing — and if you’ve got woods or water near you, all the better.
- Work in your garden – or a garden. It doesn’t need to be large. The small patch by my front door always needs a little attention. Digging around in dirt, planting new plants, vegetables and flowers is soothing and stimulating. I often find plot difficulties untangle themselves when I’m focus on something else.
- Brainstorm. Whether you are at the beginning of a new story or deep into one, take a moment and ask a few What if questions — maybe on that walk or run. What if the character didn’t yell at her mom? Didn’t find that smoking gun? What if that scene was set in public rather than private? Sometimes giving ourselves permission to imagine something new, even if it’s just a sentence, can change everything.
- Read. This is an “always” thing, but now you can do it outside. I try to pick a new genre each summer that I dip into just a little — maybe science fiction, YA, horror or cozy mysteries… I love this approach as a way to learn new aspects of story, voice and set up.
- Write Daily. Just like a plant needs water and sun daily, write a little each day too — and in a variety of places — to get the most growth in your writing journey. Journal. Letters. Blogs. Articles. Your novel. All these different types of writing will pull something new from you and build your skills. So while you might take some time off this summer to travel or doing something incredibly special, take a couple writing tools along with you.
I hope these tips help you have a wonderfully productive and stimulating writing summer!
All the best,
Katherine
Katherine Reay returns to the cozy and delightful town of Winsome where two people discover the grace of letting go and the joy found in unexpected change.
After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and turned her world upside down. She is broke, under FBI investigation, and without a place to go. Having exhausted every option, she comes home to Winsome, Illinois, to regroup then move on as quickly as possible. Yet, as friends and family welcome her back, Alyssa begins to see a place for herself in this small Midwestern community.
Jeremy Mitchell moved from Seattle to Winsome to be near his daughter and to open the coffee shop he’s been dreaming of for years. Problem is, the business is bleeding money-and he’s not quite sure why. When he meets Alyssa, he senses an immediate connection, but what he needs most is someone to help him save his floundering business. After asking for her help, he wonders if something might grow between them-but forces beyond their control soon complicate their already complex lives, and the future they both hoped for is not at all what they anticipated.
With the help of Winsome’s small-town charm and quirky residents, Alyssa and Jeremy discover the beauty and romance of second chances.
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including Dear Mr. Knightley, The Printed Letter Bookshop and the upcoming Of Literature and Lattes. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and brings that love to her contemporary stories. Katherine’s has also written one full-length nonfiction work, Awful Beautiful Life. She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University and currently lives outside Chicago, IL with her husband and three children. Publishing credits also include Redbook, USAToday, Christianity Today and FamilyFiction. You can meet Katherine at www.katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay.