How to Carve Out Time to Write During the Festive Season

So, you’ve made the decision to put in some writing time over the festive period? Good on you! Maybe you have a nearly-finished NaNoWriMo novel in the works and you want to keep up momentum rather than potentially stunting progress with a long break. Maybe you want to chip away at a new story idea that’s too tantalising to ignore. Or maybe you’ve just got the bug for writing right now and want to keep going during the holidays simply for the joy of it.

Whatever the project, here’s how to spot and utilise portions of time to write during the festivities – without sacrificing quality time to relax and be with your loved ones.

Identify Small Pockets of Writing Time

Before you set yourself any lofty goals for writing over the festive period, look at your calendar. Add in reminders of the dates you have plans to go to a Christmas market, visit family, go shopping for presents, have a potluck with friends or take a trip for New Year.

Once all your set plans are displayed in front of you, it’ll be easier to earmark days where you can invest some time in writing. And if your festive itinerary is chockablock, identify small pockets of free time in between your other commitments.

By loosely planning amongst the festive busyness, you’ll be more likely to sneak in some writing sessions.

Prioritise Bit-By-Bit Consistency, Not Strict Goals

Giving yourself a strict goal of reaching a momentous word count by January 1st won’t only be intimidating and restrictive but it could, in fact, be counterproductive. The more rigid your goal is, the more likely you are to be hard on yourself and even give up altogether if you fall off the writing bandwagon.

“Confronting limitation is about understanding how true it is for almost all writers that little and often is the better path to a productive output than writing in binges,” according to prolific author and journalist, Oliver Burkeman.

So, instead of trying to maximise the 1-2 weeks holiday and cram in as much writing as humanly possible, set yourself the goal of consistency instead. And your version of consistency can be more sporadic than writing 1,000 words every single day. You could aim for 10 minutes of writing every day or writing for half an hour every other day.

Consider what the most doable, low-pressure goal would be for you to keep the wheels turning without sacrificing quality time with your loved ones – or time to just relax. And if spontaneous plans come up over the festive break, put the pen down and go have fun!

Prepare a Writing On-The-Go Kit

As busy and exciting as the festive period can be, there can also be a lot of waiting (and lazing) around.

If you’re going to be travelling over the holidays, you’ll probably have some idle time on planes, trains and automobiles. Or maybe you’re staying with loved ones this festive break and don’t want to take your computer along with you. Whether you’re travelling or staying elsewhere, why not create your own portable writing kit?

Your kit could be as simple as a notepad and pen or the notes app on your smartphone. Or you could take advantage of spare time by getting a mini bluetooth keyboard and downloading the Scrivener app for your smartphone or tablet so you can capture ideas and have micro-writing sessions on-the-go.

Snacks for sustenance and headphones for playing relaxing sounds are not mandatory for your remote writing sessions. But they are highly recommended.

Communicate Your Goals With Loved Ones

If you need complete silence and peace to write but you’re going to have a house full of people over the holidays, it’s a good idea to let your friends, family and visitors know that you plan on doing some writing.

This doesn’t have to be a strict do-not-disturb request. It could be merely letting the household know you’re going into another room to write for an hour and asking them to try not to interrupt you unless absolutely necessary.

If this won’t be doable, another option is going out for some quiet time. You could take yourself and your portable writing toolkit to a cafe for a seasonal artist’s date and treat yourself to a mince pie while you get some words down.

Be Kind to Yourself

If you have made the choice to carve out some time to write over the festive period, the important thing to remember is: be kind to yourself and take a well-earned break when you need to. After all, for some, the holidays are one of the few extended breaks they get throughout the entire year.

Make sure you’re choosing to write during the festivities because you want to and not purely because you’re pushing yourself hard to cram in a milestone before the year’s end.

Give yourself gentle and attainable targets. When you miss a writing session or fall out of the habit of writing regularly, don’t beat yourself up. And when there’s an opportunity to spend quality time with those around you or take part in one of your favourite festive activities, take it and come back to the writing later. Your project will still be there and ready for you come the New Year.