Planning your summer writing time

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Planning Your Summer Writing Time

Here’s an idea for your summer writing: schedule your time as writing retreats.

Summer time is different than teaching terms.

You have much more freedom about how you schedule your work:

For most of you, there are no classes.
There are also fewer meetings (if any).
You may be off campus more with fewer distractions

You probably have the luxury of giving some of your projects the intense focus you crave.

You may have been told that writing in intense bursts is unhealthy or unsustainable. Or, conversely, that the only way to be successful is to write every day.

Sometimes that’s true. But not always. Sometimes this kind of intense focus is beneficial, even if you don’t do it often. And some people work better in intensive bursts.

What if you allowed yourself a period of intense focus on a project to work *with* your hyperfocus tendency instead of against it?
What if you purposefully scheduled time for this intense focus with lots of attention paid to pacing and self-care?
How much writing could you get done with this approach?

This strategy is particularly well-suited to the research and writing tasks that involve a lot of deep thinking.

Tasks like:

Generating a lot of new words.
Making decisions about a draft & planning revisions
Reading to get a sense of a field and see connections and opportunities

Summer is when most scholars have more of the kind of time available to work in this way. But how do you actually make the most of it?

What does a writing retreat look like?

You’ve probably seen writing retreats advertised: they are in some kind of nice place, with a facilitator organizing the days, nice food, and overnight accommodation. That kind of retreat is fantastic, but it’s also expensive, and the timing might not fit with your schedule.

Good news! That isn’t the only way a writing retreat can look.

What if you deconstructed your idea of what a writing retreat *has* to look like and expanded that vision to what it COULD look like?

You don’t have to go anywhere.
You do want to have a space dedicated to writing.

Somewhere that, when you cross the threshold, you feel like you are beginning the process.

That might be your home office (suitably tidied up to remove distractions).
That might be a cottage/holiday home.
You might book a few days at a hotel or bed and breakfast somewhere.

You might do this with other writers, in person or virtually. You may or may not have a facilitator.

How to structure your writing retreat

To start, block off the days in your calendar to work on one writing project. This can be as few as 1 or 2, but might also be 3 or 4. The key thing is that your sole focus during this time is your writing project.

Clear a conducive space and make it inspiring for writing. Collect your materials. Stock the fridge with good healthy snack food. Have a plan for meals. Make sure you have things that can serve as paperweights if you decide to work outside.

Have a practice to start your day, preferably one that gets you moving: dance party, yoga, a long walk, a run, a bit of gardening …

Write in time blocks no longer than 90 minutes, with breaks of at least 15 minutes between them. (If you do short 25 minute blocks, you can do 5 minute breaks but take a longer break every 90 minutes.) Get up and move away from your workspace for every break. Have a glass of water and a snack. Move your body even if it’s just to stretch.

When you feel restless, go for a walk (or a swim if you are near water). A lot of the work of writing is actually thinking. Sitting at your desk staring at your computer may not be conducive to deep thinking. Going for a walk may be doing the work you need to do.

Take your phone so you can record any brilliant thoughts that come to you. (Voice to text using Siri, Dragon Dictate, or similar is genius for this. Or just record a voice memo.) Electronic devices are not recommended for swimming ;-)

Change where you write/work if that helps. Sit in a comfy armchair. Move out to the deck. A change of scenery can unblock many a writing block.

Have a real lunch break. Away from your work. Good food. Some kind of movement activity. Perhaps a nap.

Don’t work longer than about 6 hours per day. After that you can do all the tasks that don’t require your best creative brain — email, making lists of what remains to be done, tidying your writing space to set yourself up for the next day, etc.

Finish your work day with another physical activity: a swim or a walk ?

Do something enjoyable in the evening. Eat a nice supper. Read a novel. Knit. Work on a jigsaw puzzle.

Get a good night’s sleep. Start again in the morning.

Writing retreats complement other strategies

If writing intensely over a few days is how you like to work best, then you’ll need to schedule this kind of thing throughout the year. Writing only during the summer is unlikely to be satisfying, or produce enough to satisfy you or your employer.

The time won’t magically appear, so block time well in advance even if you don’t make firm plans until closer to the time.

Retreats (virtual or in-person) organized by someone else or with other people may provide extra motivation to protect that time for writing.

You can also complement these longer intense writing retreats with regular shorter sessions. If longer intense sessions are particularly suited to deep thinking, generative writing, and making big structural decisions, don’t waste them on tasks that you could do in shorter chunks of time.

At the end of a retreat, allow yourself to be pleased with the progress you’ve made. Make sure to notice progress that doesn’t appear in the document yet.