Your Winter Writing Approach & Goals

Posted by David Duhr in ABCs of Writing      60 comments

Dec
7

Discussion questions: What are your writing goals this winter, and/or for the rest of 2019? How does your writing approach change when the snow flies and the wind blows and the sun starts going down at &^(*&^# lunchtime? If you’re susceptible to the winters blues, how do you avoid the winter writing blues?

Snow fell here in NYC this week — preceded by freezing rain and hail, then succeeded by freezing rain and hail — and when I saw the big fluffy flakes through the window, I felt the urge to sit down and write.

I didn’t do it, but I felt the urge.

I’ve probably shared this in previous winters, but I have this fantasy of being locked away in a snowbound cabin from December to March with nothing but a typewriter (and ribbons, or whatever a typewriter needs in order to function), reams of paper, some books to read, and enough food and water to see me through. No TV or phone, or similar distractions.

In the romanticized version, I emerge in the spring with a complete manuscript, even two, and more peace of mind than I’ve ever before experienced.

In reality, I’d probably go bonkers well before the new year and write very little, if at all.

Here in the homestretch of the year, I’m facing the fact that I won’t hit my 2019 writing goals. And that’s OK. I’ve made a lot of progress on my novel; I’ve written more than I did in 2018. I’m satisfied with that.

Before year’s end, I want to write at least one more chapter, ideally two, and finish a short story I’ve been working on. These are manageable, realistic goals.

Especially at a time of year when I begin spending more and more time inside, cooped up in my apartment.

I don’t think my writing approach changes during the winter; I just think I have more opportunity. Fewer things to do = more time to fill with writing.

What about you? Do you write more in the winter, and is it in part due to being cooped up? Do you change your writing approach at all when the snow starts to fall? 

And what are your writing goals from here until the end of the winter? And/or from here until the end of 2019?

Let us know in the comments below.

And while you’re writing out your thoughts, here’s a pretty song about snow from David Berman: “Snow Is Falling in Manhattan.”

WriteByNight co-founder David Duhr is fiction editor at the Texas Observer and co-host of the Yak Babies podcast, and has written about books for the Dallas Morning News, Electric Literature, Publishing Perspectives, and others.

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