Keeping going in the summer holidays - Alex English

The school holidays are looming, in fact, here in France they've already begun and will go on for nine (nine!) weeks. These long summer months are a great time to relax and unwind with the kids, but not so great for getting any writing done. Here are a few things I've tried to help keep my writing going while school's out.

Summer's here!

1. Down tools for the summer

In the absence of deadlines, the most obvious option to the summer conundrum may be to stop writing and take a break. Unfortunately for me, while working around the children is difficult, not working is even worse! Ideas bubbling inside me with no time to write make me a tetchy and irritable mum. So, while I've tried this before, I don't recommend it unless you want a break.

2. Embrace childcare when you can

This is an obvious, albeit sometimes expensive one. We live in France so grandparental help is limited, as are holiday clubs, but whenever there is a chance to palm the kids off on someone else and write, I am not ashamed to take it.

3. Work on mini projects 

When the kids were babies, I wrote in nap times. I was mainly working on picture books at that point, which were easy projects to pick up and put down. I sometimes even worked alongside my children. If they were busy playing with Brio trains on the floor, I would sit alongside them and scribble picture book ideas longhand in my notebook. As long as I was sitting with them, and not staring at a screen, they were happy to play alongside as I doodled. So, a picture book text or a few poems might be the sort of writing to do over the summer to keep your writing brain well-oiled and ready for September. Similarly, bits of research or website admin can be easier to do in small snatches than longer pieces of fiction.

Drawing lizard characters for my WIP with my co-conspirator

4. Co-work with the children

As my children have got (a little) older and started to enjoy colouring and drawing, working alongside them has become easier. My boys' love for drawing has inspired me to start myself, so often in the holidays I can be found sketching maps of book settings with my children, drawing my characters or key props. I also like to test out potential school visit workshop ideas on them, or take them to interesting museums for research under the guise of 'fun'.

5. Get up early

Longer fiction demands periods of deeper concentration, and this summer I was loathe to completely stop work for two months when I had just put together a synopsis for my next middle-grade novel and was bursting with inspiration. I've often read about writers getting up early and writing before the children wake, but have only recently tried it for myself (night-time waking and general knackeredness had always precluded it before). Anyway, I am pleased to report that it really works! I don't write masses, but I tend to get around 300-500 words done by jumping (staggering) out of bed thirty minutes earlier. A bit like running, I never want to do it but I am glad afterwards that it's done. There's something very liberating about having a little bit of writing complete before I've even had breakfast, and it leaves me free to enjoy the rest of the day with my boys.

6. Don't beat yourself up

Lastly, life as a writer with kids is tough. If after all this, you get nothing done at all, don't beat yourself up. There's always September!


Alex English is a graduate of Bath Spa University's MA Writing for Young People. Her picture books Yuck said the Yak, Pirates Don't Drive Diggers and Mine Mine Mine said the Porcupine are published by Maverick Arts Publishing. More picture books and her first middle-grade novel are forthcoming.
www.alexenglish.co.uk