By Jaime Jo Wright, @jaimejowright
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Advent, alllllllll the things that come in late November and throughout December, don’t particularly lend the months to a great amount of writing. So how, as writers, do we stay productive and meet deadlines, when there is suddenly a plethora of other opportunities and obligations.
Here are a few tips I’ve applied to get myself through the holiday season. Hopefully it will help you as well.
- Identify Obligations
This is important. Because there are so many choices and requests and invites of things to do, tasks to complete, places to go, and people to see, it is important to become selective on which ones you do. This means, identifying what are obligations versus opportunities. That can be difficult, especially if you want to do all the things.
I’ve found a few ways to identify obligations are to ask myself these questions:
- Is it critical and will something/someone suffer if I don’t do this?
- Are all of these people really needing homemade or can store bought suffice?
- Will my absence hurt or offend or merely just be missed?
I’m sure these questions don’t cover everything, but I’ve found them to be helpful. My lofty ideas of making homemade ornaments for my kid’s teachers can be resolved by a short thirty minute trip to Etsy.com. Sure, it may cost a tad more, but the thought is still there and the time spent is not.
Also, I don’t attend every single church event around the holidays. Gasp! But I don’t have pre-schoolers in my family, so my need to attend the pre-school Christmas musical isn’t a high priority. On the flip side, when my daughter is singing a solo at the nursing home Christmas Eve service, that’s one I feel is a priority to be at—for her and for the residents.
- Don’t Overcommit Your Writing
Be realistic. Writing is just not going to be at the level of intensity that it might be in say, January. So set realistic goals. Be cautious not to say “yes” to every holiday blog tour, promotional opportunity, article, and Facebook Christmas party. Pick and choose and be selective on which ones are valuable to you and your readership and which ones are fillers that, if sacrificed, are no major loss.
Keep in mind too, that your people want to see your face. This means, pre-plan to set your computer aside on the days when you’re preparing and or at the family. That way you can be invested in the people around you, and not the imaginary ones in your head.
- Communicate with your Commitments
I’ve found so much can be resolved with a simple email! Often, I’ll find myself still somehow overcommitted for a day or so and instead of just emailing the person I’ve committed to, I try to barrel through it or fulfill it and becomes a shoddy job. Instead, don’t be afraid to reach out and say, “hey, is there a possibility to get this to you tomorrow?” or something of the like. Often times, people are super cool about it simply because you’ve communicated. A lack of communication and then below par jobs or late work can become a source of extreme frustration.
All in all, balancing writing around the holidays needs to be handled carefully. With respect to your craft and respect to your personal life. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to either. Sometimes, it’s necessary to. It’s okay to set boundaries and balances.
Now, if someone can remind me of everything I just said? That’d be AMAZING! LOL
Merry Christmas to all of you!
To save the innocent, they must face an insidious evil.
Wren Blythe has long enjoyed living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, helping her father with ministry at a youth camp. But when a little girl in the area goes missing, an all-out search ensues, reviving the decades-old campfire story of Ava Coons, the murderess who is believed to still roam the forest. Joining the search, Wren stumbles upon the Coonses’ cabin ruins and a sinister mystery she is determined to unearth.
In 1930, Ava Coons has spent the last several years carrying the mantle of mystery since the day she emerged from the woods as a thirteen-year-old girl, spattered with blood, dragging a logger’s ax. She has accepted she will never remember what happened to her family, whose bodies were never found, and that the people of Tempter’s Creek will always blame her for their violent deaths. And after a member of the town is murdered, and another goes missing, rumors spread that Ava’s secret is perhaps more malicious than previously imagined.
Two women, separated by time, must confront a wickedness that not only challenges who they are but also threatens their lives, and the lives of those they love.
Jaime Jo Wright (www.jaimewrightbooks.com) is the author of six novels, including Christy Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Christy Award Finalist Echoes Among the Stones. She’s also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo; her husband, Cap’n Hook; and their littles, Peter Pan and CoCo. To learn more, visit www.jaimewrightbooks.com.