by Blythe Daniel @ByltheDaniel

Where would you like to travel if you could? Can you take a virtual tour of a castle? Or a city that your story is based in? This summer, why not take a virtual tour to some of the places you dream of going and be inspired as you place yourself where creativity is on display.

You see, even if you don’t get to go to the places you wanted to go this summer to write, you create the environment to write. It’s time to launch your “summer writing secrets.”

Here are some ideas for you to write around this summer.   

• At the same time that you have your children or youth reading or studying, plan to study and write as well. Many of us have been in this model toward the end of the school year – there’s no reason why we can’t continue it. It’s good for everyone!
• Start a reading group to test your material. Around the pool, park, or your back yard – why not allow others to read what you are writing and do the same with them?
• Offer a “friends help other friends read” book campaign. Help each other swap books and read the genre of book in which you are writing. Staying well-read and well-versed on what other books are covering is a great way to help improve your own writing.
• Keep your writing fun and relaxed. Don’t put the pressure on yourself to try to finish an entire book (or series, for the overachievers..) this summer.

Focus on the fun of it. Take sips, don’t feel like you have to gulp down an entire novel or nonfiction book that you’re working on. You know how you enjoy reading a good book – picture your reader doing the same. Anticipate your story, techniques, anecdotes, parallels and don’t sell the reader short because you want to see the end.

Years ago my son wanted a “super soaker” water gun for the summer. I bought it for him not because I thought it was full of value for me (and goodness knows I didn’t want to get wet in our cooler Colorado summers) – but for him. You see, sometimes it’s about the value it brings to other people. Now, he did soak me that summer in the pool whenever I’d allow myself to get in. But sometimes, as the writer, it’s not about us – but the consumer.

Soak it in this summer, my friend. Your words, let them go deep in you before you offer value to others.

There’s a push to think, “I have the whole summer to write.” And yet, we can miss opportunities to see what’s around us that deserves our attention. Who knows, it might even make it into your book when you take some time to think and get outside of our stories. But when we push and write out of a self-imposed deadline, we miss the beauty of creating. It’s like looking back at the summer and thinking, “What did I do this summer? Did I make any memories with my family or was I on the computer most of the summer?”

What if the biggest thing that can be said of you this summer is that you wrote some, laughed more, and played the most? How would that feel to you? We can push ourselves to be productive, but how does that reflect in our writing? Our writing needs to breathe, like we need to.

Great words, thoughts, and writing need time to develop. If your goal is to write this summer, think of terms of what characters you will develop, what type of chapters you will create in a nonfiction book and what the plot or the practical applications will do for the reader (not how many chapters or how many you need to write in a month, week or day.)

But focus on the moments you want to capture both on the page and in real life. The stories will come when you are rested and aren’t forcing them to breathe on their own.

I don’t know about you, but the stories I enjoy the most are the ones that were written in a season that the writer allowed themselves to learn from. The writer who takes years of soaking in the words. They come out like a welcomed gift. What will others say of your writing at the end of summer?

Maybe our words need a good soak in the pool of patience. Be kind to yourself this summer, realizing that the best may come after you’ve had a chance to rest. Whatever this season looks like for you, honor it well. Write from a place that brings refreshment not struggle. And your reader will find you and you will be offering value to him or her.

Super soaker anyone?

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).

www.theblythedanielagency.com; www.ourmendedhearts.com