Writing on Summer Days

 We're in the middle of summer--hot days, long evenings on the porch or outdoors, hot weather foods and more. Is it harder for you to write in the summertime than any other part of the year? Or does the heat keep you indoors so you are close to your writing area? 

Even if you hibernate in the cool house or apartment, do you use the time to good advantage? Do you carve out certain parts of the day as your time to write? It takes a bit of discipline, and if you have children in the house, your summer days are filled with more activity than usual. It's hard to set time aside to write. The lure of summer activities looms large.

I've always found that the longer you don't write, the easier it is to continue in that same vein. You tell yourself you'll do it for sure tomorrow. Then the next day dawns, and you get busy with this and that, and your good intention disappears like the morning mist on a river. 

One solution might be to set a shorter time for writing on these busy summer days. Instead of an hour, take 15 or 20 minutes. Oh sure, you say, what can I get done in that amount of time? You might get enough completed to give you the inspiration to get back to it as soon as possible. 

If you have a houseful of kids in the summer, you're giving your all to them, but what's wrong with telling the kids that a certain period of the day is Time for Mom? It could be a good lesson in sharing and being aware of other people besides themselves. 

Try this prompt for a freewrite exercise. Give yourself that precious fifteen minutes. If you have a prompt, you can write once, twice, or more using the same prompt. Different days might bring different thoughts. 

Today's prompt:  My mother told me...