Summer Writer Slump: Writing struggles in the summer.

Are you a mom who writes? Do you find it hard to do anything productive with your personal projects in the summer? Is it safe to say that you are basically NOT a writer during this season? Join the club. 

I look forward to summer as a mom. I love having my kiddos home with me. I love the slow pace on days when there is nothing. We go from a million obligations to almost zero, and the sense of calm I see overcome my boys is simply magic. 

But–I still want to write. 

I’ve been pursuing creative writing on the side for four years now, yet I still can’t figure out how to write creatively during the summer. Writing a book with kids is no joke. My motherhood instincts take over, and I go full-on into summer mode with them. 

It’s not like I don’t have adult obligations in the summer. I’m a freelance mom, so I have to work. The problem is that working at home with kids takes all my energy and small moments of free time to accomplish. After that, there’s not much left, leaving the creative projects in the dust.  

So what’s the solution? Psh, hell if I know. This is one of those blogs where I don’t have much advice. Only hope.

I’ve tried a few things: wake up earlier (kids wake up earlier), stay up late (kids still wake up early), work at lunchtime (kids spill things on my computer), schedule ‘quiet time’ during the day (ha), visit the library so they read and I work (used to work but now there is a baby), get a babysitter (four kids…not worth the price). 

I was close to a creative work-life balance before I had my fourth little kiddo. I was getting some creative writing and business writing done. I was working on my poetry here and there and writing manuscripts for kids' books on a whim in between blogs and virtual admin work. I felt like I was on my way. 

Baby girl had other plans. 

At this point, it would be easy to sink into the idea that I will never have a creative life. My usual toxic creative writing cycle involves convincing myself that I can do this, only to lose belief in my abilities slowly.

There’s also the mom myth that always creeps in, affecting moms of all ages and stages and industries: maybe now is not my time. I need to wait until my kiddos are older so I can have uninterrupted time. Interruptions are the killers of creativity and are not easy to write through. Life can feel like an endless string of interruptions when you have young kids. Unintentionally, of course, and not malicious.

I’ve accepted all the negative beliefs before. They got me nowhere.

Instead, I’ve been trying to accept where I am. I’m a creative person, a creative writer, a freelancer, a mother of four, and a bonus mom of four more. To fill my cup, I have to find time for all of it, even if only in little bits of time. No more sacrifices for the sake of my artistic needs. 

I used to be the kind of person who would never try things half-assed. I would wait until I could focus my full attention on my passion before I tried. I’d wait for zero interruptions and quiet or simply a space where I could concentrate 100%. That works unless you can’t find those moments. Kind of like now.

It’s time to try something new, go against my natural instincts, and half-ass some things instead of doing nothing. I know I’m not working with the same cards as other mothers and writers; I’ve known this for a while. And yet, I keep trying to follow their advice on how to be successful and keep up, only to fail trying. 

My first task is to get back to my poetry book and continue working through the weeks of The Artist’s Way. I kind of fell off this because every time I woke to do morning pages, I was interrupted. I’m just going to have to write among the chaos. If I have to start all over, I’ll just learn more the second time around. 

Hoping my half-assed efforts will be leading to more blogs! I’ll keep you updated. Till next time, dreamers,

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