Sadly, it’s also inevitable to have not-so-great days. I wish I could share a secret, magic spell that could unleash an overflow of creativity for all eternity. If you find it, let me know. 

It took me more than four years to write my debut novel, After Perfect. I had the story in my heart for years, waiting to be shared, to be set free, and yet there were periods when I simply stared at my computer with nothing to say. There was a time midway when I almost gave up. Thankfully, I didn’t. I persevered. It was my dream after all, and I needed to prove to myself that I was worthy of it. 

I had writer’s block. Plain and simple. But worse, I also had to admit to myself that I needed discipline. 

Writer’s block is not a myth and it’s not specific to anyone because it happens to the best of us. There will be days when the words simply don’t flow like they did yesterday. 

Panic shouldn’t be our default. Recognizing this and understanding what it means may help us come up with simple strategies to lure out our creative juices and develop some discipline. 

Here are some hacks that helped me combat writer’s block: 

Step away for a little bit.

When you don’t have anything to offer, walk away, take a breather, regroup. It’s easier said than done with deadlines, but take a five-minute walk, a fifteen-minute coffee break, even an entire day off. It’s okay. 

Play with your text font.

It doesn’t make sense to some, but it works for me. There is no science to it, or maybe there is and I just don’t know, but experimenting visually helps trigger my creativity. 

Find inspiration from other people’s work.

Words of writers I admire bring out the envious artist in me, and so I usually dive into beautiful prose to inspire me. I try to get into their heart, and in some ways, it helps me reach mine. A word, a sentence, or a paragraph often sparks something within me. 

Find that music that centers you.  

I have a playlist for each of my writing assignments. I pick and choose music that best describes my ideas and my feelings about a particular project. Each time I feel I’m veering away, I just hit play and I’m back on track. 

Find that one object that sparks magic.

It can be a piece of art you’ve seen somewhere that invoked an emotion. A favorite pen that has history. An apple that is so red it reminds you of the perfect lips to kiss. Create a story around that object and conjure the magic.   

Binge watch something.

Watch a show that inspires you and triggers joy or sadness or whatever you need to get your heart pumping. Korean dramas work for me every time.

Be prepared.  

You don’t know when creativity will come knocking. Be sure you welcome it with open arms when it does—keep a pen and small notebook handy at all times. 

Again, let me reiterate that these are the tactics that work for me and it didn’t happen overnight. I had to sit down to get to know the writer in me, experimented some, and took notes. Find the time to think this through, and eventually you will discover some hacks of your own. 

Now, let’s talk about the other factor that could impede our writing process. Let’s talk about discipline. This is on us. And, really, this is probably my greatest enemy. 

Here are some hacks to cultivate discipline:

Stop wallowing in imposter syndrome.

You’re a writer. Own it. 

Make room for your writing. 

Remind yourself every day that this is your dream. It’s up to you to make it happen. Some writers I know get up at 4:30 in the morning to write, and some stay up late until everyone in the house has gone to bed. Find that sweet spot. 

Speaking of sweet spot…

Find that one space where creative energy is most abundant.

It’s unfortunate that mine is in bed, which is never great for my back. Yeah, I’m seeing a Physical Therapist for it. I hope your writing spot is better than mine. I’m still working on this. 

Set alarms.

It’s easier said than done, I know, but that’s why we’re tackling the issue of discipline head on. Set alarms for breaks—whether for food, for errands, and even for social media check-ins. 

Love yourself.

It’s the ultimate gift. If you love yourself enough then you know that you should do whatever it takes to grab that dream. Find that discipline that will take you from points A to the end. 

The beauty of writing is that we grow with it. No strategy is absolute and nothing is set in stone.  Like every story, we are a creation of mystery and we evolve as we move along. Doesn’t that make this profession all the more exciting? Good luck!

What are your strategies for overcoming writer’s block and developing “writer’s discipline”?

Maan Gabriel is a mom, wife, dreamer, writer, and advocate for women’s stories in literature. She earned her BA in communications from St. Scholastica’s College in Manila and MPS in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. She has lived in Manila, Brussels, Dakar, and Mexico City. During the day, she works in strategic communications. Gabriel, along with her husband and son, currently call suburban Washington DC home. After Perfect is her first novel. You can learn more at www.maangabriel.com, or connect with Mann at her Facebook page or on Twitter!

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Does that scenario sound familiar?

Don’t worry, I have been there as well. But I had to figure out something. I don’t think my publisher would have accepted the crying emoji in lieu of a 75,000-word manuscript. For some people, music helps. Others may take a walk. Unfortunately, neither of those worked for me and I could tell I was becoming frustrated. I have since improved my writing process tremendously (it took me a year to write my first book but only six weeks to write my seventh). So, I have compiled a few of the techniques that have helped me to not only get my book written, but get it written fast.

1) Turn the word counter OFF.

A good friend of mine once told me that “a watched pot never boils.” And no truer words have been spoken. As long as you’re watching that pot, it feels like it will never boil. Or in other words, as long as you watch that word count, it feels like it won’t move. There is nothing more disappointing than writing for what seems like hours, only to see your word count has inched up from 700 to 725. And now, you’re concentrating more on the number of words rather than the words themselves. A classic quantity over quality trap that can threaten to dilute your entire narrative. “Only 725 words and I have to get to 75,000?!” Oh the pressure! So, turn that word counter off and focus your attention back on writing your story. You will be surprised how fast the words add up when you are not “watching that pot.”

2) Focus on the scene.

Along the same vein as my previous tip with not concentrating on the number of words, don’t concentrate on the rest of the story you haven’t written. I find doing so will make the task even more laborious, not to mention discouraging because I have “such a long way to go” to the end. Instead, break up the task into bite-sized pieces to make them easier to swallow. The story is broken up into chapters, chapters are broken up into scenes. So, concentrate on just that scene you are writing and watch how easily the words begin to flow. That finish line is mentally perceived to be a lot closer and therefore, more attainable. When I sit down to write, I’m not thinking of words or pages, or all of the story I have left. I’m thinking, I need to sit down and write this scene when Jason gets into a car accident and has to be rushed to the hospital. That’s it and that’s all. And I write fast with only that in mind.

3) Write on multiple devices.

Back when I first started my author journey, I would type my story on my desktop computer. Sometimes, using just this method would belabor my process because if I was out for the day or away from my computer at any point, I would have to wait until I got home to be able to write. That has changed for me drastically since I started writing on multiple devices. My friends and family have seen me write everywhere; from airports to parks, to restaurants and waiting rooms.

When I don’t feel like pulling out my laptop, I write on my cell phone. Then, I email myself what I have written and paste it into my main document on my home computer. Not only does writing on-the-go afford me more opportunities to write, but I feel secure that I haven’t lost any draft pieces because everything can be recovered from my email. The mobility ensures I work fast, at maximum productivity and holds me even more accountable for getting those words written fast, no matter where I am.

4) Consider a skeletal outline.

I have to confess something: I used to hate outlines. I felt they were too stifling and didn’t allow much freedom for my creativity. So, I did away with outlines altogether and took a more free-form approach. Well using this method had me writing and writing with no direction. I would write and write and 50,000 words later, I hadn’t even gotten to the “story.” The process was frustrating, and I knew there had to be a better way. I decided to try a combination of the two. Now, I start off with, what I call, a skeletal outline. It’s very basic, usually bullet points and incomplete sentences. I am pretty much trying to put to paper all of the scenes that are critical for my story to work.

Using my previous example with Jason, if I know my story involves him suspecting his wife is cheating, then I need to jot down a few scenes that corroborate that narrative. Maybe he catches her in a lie about working late. Maybe he follows her one day and sees her out with a guy, or he goes through her phone. Those types of ideas I would outline to act as a roadmap to make sure I don’t get too far off track. This also allows the freedom for my characters to drive the story, which they often do. I’ll find myself writing scenes I hadn’t even thought about, but they make perfect sense. And I can look to my skeletal outline to ensure that no matter how wild or twisted I get with my plot, I will always find my way back to where I need to be.

5) Don’t be afraid to write out of order.

Writing out of order is something I learned recently in my writing career and I wished I had known sooner. I was so used to writing in a linear fashion; chapter one, then two, then three and so on and so forth. But I found that sometimes I may come against a roadblock. Maybe I didn’t feel like writing the scene where she visits her mom because, though necessary, it wasn’t “fun.” Or maybe I didn’t know how the scene needed to play out, just that I needed it. I would end up stalling because I didn’t know how to move forward; that scene was in my way.

Then I read somewhere that an author tried writing out of order and it was like breaking down a dam. Sure enough, I skipped ahead and wrote another scene entirely, and the words poured forth like water. Not only that, the sudden engagement had me re-motivated so I was able double back and write that scene I originally skipped. Sometimes having already touched the finish line is motivation to keep writing fast, and enough to go back and fill in the gaps you may have missed along the way.  

Writing can be tough so there is no point in making the process even more difficult than it has to be. Yes, it is okay to take breaks. But you should not allow certain challenges to linger or you risk losing the drive to finish and further delaying the process. Or even worse, not getting that story written at all. Only you can write that story and if you don’t, the world will never hear it.

Briana Cole is an acclaimed author known for exploring unconventional relationships and making readers question all expectations about love, lust, and monogamy. Her newest book is The Marriage Pass (Kensington). An Atlanta native, Cole graduated cum laude from Georgia Southern University and is a proud member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In addition to a published author, she is also a motivational speaker, sex educator and actress. Her motto and ultimate drive toward success is a famous quote from Mae West: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Connect with Briana online at BrianaCole.com, and on Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter @BColeAuthor.

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Write about a time period that you love or has some significance for you because you will be doing a lot (a lot) of research.  

I chose the three historic time periods for A Witch in Time based on my personal interest in Belle Époque France, my obsession with Hollywood in the 1930s and my personal experience growing up in the 1970s.  By now, I’ve probably read almost every history book from those time periods, but those hours immersed in research were labors of love for me.  For A Witch in Time, I have an entire bookshelf for the three periods and find that I tend to think in those time frames for all future novels so I might get multiple novels from my initial research.  By contrast, as a reader, I love historical fiction based on time periods that aren’t of interest to me.  For example, one of my favorite historical fantasy writers, Nicola Cornick, often writes time slip novels during the Elizabethan period.  It’s not one of the time periods that I actively work in, so this distance actually allows my brain a bit of time to indulge, rest and “enjoy” her books and admire her craft. 

Write small, big and universal.

This is one of the best writing hacks for a historical writer. Strategically pick a few areas to research so you don’t get overwhelmed.  For example, start with the big, over-arching historical details of the period. What were some of the major political and social themes going on?   How would those have impacted your characters?  This exercise can be different if you’re writing a book on the fictional version of Richard III versus a commoner living during that time. You don’t need to bite off every piece of history from the time period.  Remember, you’re not writing a non-fiction history book. 

After the big major themes, you can write small.  What is the typical day in the life of your character?  How did people dress or wear their hair?.  Think about the food of the time.  Were people hungry?  Were certain things rationed?  Drink?  Music?  Art?  Those are all important aspects of daily life.  What was the price of theater ticket?  A glass of wine?  Find one or two things (tangible and small) and write everything about them. 

In my novel, The Ladies of the Secret Circus, one of the best writing hacks I discovered was simply finding a cookbook called, The Found Meals of the Lost Generation: Recipes and Anecdotes from the 1920s Paris by Suzanne Rodriguez-Hunter. The author was specific about what foods were trendy during the time and the ingredients that were available.  In my research I also found a nice detail about all the poor artists stealing both food and silverware from the Café de la Rotonde in Montparnasse. 

These tiny details actually make the time period authentic and tangible.  In this phase of my writing, I actively search Pinterest boards for research use them as notebooks for each of my novels.  If you’re looking for an example of how tiny, daily details can really define a time period, I recommend Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women (1952) which makes even the most mundane elements of post WWII British life fascinating. 

Some extra writing hacks: pick a universal topic or detail and write it.  As a modern-day guest at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, I took special note of the smells and sounds of the hallways. Since it was an old hotel, I could imagine that many of the senses involved were the same then as they are now, so I used these details in the scenes where Nora lives there in A Witch in Time.  In another example, eating French Onion soup probably hasn’t changed much since the turn of the century in Paris, so I used soup in The Ladies of the Secret Circus where Cecile and Emile have their first date.  When placed in an historical fiction piece, a universal detail can take on the antique aura of the time period.  Make sure the detail fits first.  If the item wasn’t invented yet, then obviously you won’t want to use it.  It’s a bit of a cheat, but there are just some things that haven’t changed much and readers will actually be drawn to familiar details they know. Your writing is a balance between identifying timeless, universal truths and serving as a tour guide to another time period.

More bonus writing hacks:  an overlooked aspect of an historical fiction is the setting.  Try to find an old photo or a painting of the place you’re writing about and write every detail you see in it. Think about how the place felt, smelled, sounded.  Trust me, you will use this “sketch” somewhere in your description of your setting.

What you read while you’re writing is really important. 

When writing, your reading list should be prescriptive to your goals. I’m such a fan of writer Philipp Meyer and recall him telling The New York Times, that he has an exhaustive reading list developed to address his current writing goals, saying that, as writers, “you have to treat your mind the way an athlete treats her body.”  Set writing goals for the book your working on and try to balance your reading list for craft elements you’re trying to work on to improve your craft. My next book features many late 1960s gothic romance features, so my reading list includes, the old Victoria Holt romance novels from that time period.  For A Witch in Time, I read Emile Zola’s L’Assommoir.  These books help get the language right.  Figure out what “style” you want your book to be and begin a reading regime to match.  This also extends to music of the time period and films (if they exist) of the time period.  “Trapeze” was very important to my research for The Ladies of the Secret Circus and films from the 1930s (William Powell and Carole Lombard in particular) were so helpful in “hearing” the language of the time for A Witch in Time.

You need a story that is timeless. 

This is probably the most important thing so I saved it for last. Yes, you’re writing an historical fiction novel, but you must throw all that out and flesh out a good story—a story of solid plot and character that transcends the historical timeline you are going to build around it.  Your characters have to feel “real” regardless of the time in which they live. Don’t have a full plot?  Think like a screenwriter and write down 8-10 key scenes you need in your book and let those “frame” the narrative so you don’t wander. 

At the end of the day, it’s the story that drives the book, not the history. 

Constance Sayers is the author of A Witch in Time. A finalist for Alternating Current‘s 2016 Luminaire Award for Best Prose, her short stories have appeared in Souvenir and Amazing Graces: Yet Another Collection of Fiction by Washington Area Women as well as The Sky is a Free Country. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

She received an MA in English from George Mason University. She lives outside of Washington D.C. Like her character in The Ladies of the Secret Circus, for many years, she was the host of a radio show from midnight to six.

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The problem is not that we can’t write; we know we can. The problem is that fear-boredom-anxiety-busyness, resistance, or the big green monster, or whatever you want to call it, has taken its death grip, and we can’t even get our butts in the chair. It’s hard, so hard.

And, Wow!…don’t I know, exactly how steep of a mountain climb lethargy is. I get it; I really do. You just can’t do it. Not today. Mañana-mañana, please.

If given in to my preferences, I’d sip a warm sencha, and proceed to whim everyday away until years later my manuscript is still sitting on the hard drive. (Been there, done that.)

Magicians have all sorts of hidden secrets up their sleeves, yet we still ooh and aah when they slice the sword through the wooden box, seemingly chopping their victim in half, only to whirl the box around and find their assistant totally intact. This is how it works with writing tricks too. You will ooh and aah when suddenly you find yourself in a groove, unable to shut down the computer because you can’t stop yourself from writing.

Here are the five super-easy, painless tricks to rev us all towards that glorious tipping point where our brain-heart-body and fingers-on-keyboards want to go, go, go.

1) Set a low, low bar

I’m talking real loooooow. Have a heart and assign yourself one of the following gentle tasks:

• Set one-minute alarm; write anything that comes to mind.
• Write one sentence for the piece you are avoiding.
• Write, pen to paper, two questions you have about your project
• Mind map about your story, chapter, scene, or characters. Again, one-minute only.

Of course, if you feel the desire to keep going…enjoy. This low-bar distinction saves me over and over and over again. Ironically, it also gives me more back-door access to productivity than any other trick I have up my sleeve.

2) Open the file.

When it gets so bad that I just can’t bear the thought of cranking out a single word, I simply open the document I feel I ”should” be working on. Yep, that’s it; that’s all you need to do, Sista. Keep it open on your desktop for tomorrow’s low-bar assignment.

I can’t tell you the number of times that overcoming this one-minute barrier to entry turned into an hour-long writing sesh. (If not, that’s perfect, too!) Before you diss this profound trick for its crazy simplicity, consider that you just skimmed bits of your work and jump-started your conscious thinking on the matter. You’re also set to get typing tomorrow; no clanky document to fiddle with.

3) Dessert first, hell yeah!

I’ve heard that eating a little something sweet before our meals allows us to absorb nutrients better. Sometimes, too, the spirit needs an up-lifting break before producing good work.

I’m not saying gorge yourself on an entire cake (real or metaphorical). But, allowing 15 minutes to satisfy a craving might just open the floodgate of ideas and help you concentrate when you couldn’t before. Watch a sunrise with a cup of coffee. Read a few pages in a crime thriller. Make love to your spouse. Take the dog for a brisk walk. Go on down that rabbit hole of the Internet. Even, eat some chocolate. A mini-massage, an afternoon at the movie, a lunch with friends? All are fair game.

4) Create a clearing

When all the items weighing on our minds have built up too much, they will distract us and slow us down. I like to give myself half an hour to tackle the pile. Wash the dishes, return some phone calls. Get that email response off my chest. The goal here is to clear enough energetic breathing room to focus, to have the headroom to even think up what we want to write down. So, take some time to first empty out your own internal operating system—not completely as this is a fruitless task—but enough to create space. Then, see what emerges.

5) Put on the pajamas

In her book Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert, wrote about taking out “the goddamn scrunchie” and dressing up to get to work. Part of the message seemed to be that your muse doesn’t really want to smell you anymore; the other part focuses on self-love.

In my book, love starts with accepting ourselves in pajamas. Sometimes, the only way that muse will be fed is if I bring it into my bed. When we don’t feel like being all writer-business-like, I say, get comfy and crawl under the covers. With love, grace, and of course, the laptop. Don’t worry if you doze off while you are working; allow it. When you wake up, rest the laptop back on your thighs and write a paragraph from that sleepy head, the glorious place where ideas have a chance to live before being scheduled or squelched out by all the to-dos.

Remember: It’s up to you to flesh out what tricks and tips magic-ify your life. The rest that don’t? Dump ‘em. Repeat your personalized, cinchy tricks as often as necessary, every day if you must.

Elizabeth Bartasius applied each and every one of these tricks (often!) to complete her award-winning novel, The Elegant Out, praised by Kirkus Reviews as  “…a riveting tale of maturing womanhood and an insightful peek into the creative process.” She lives in the Caribbean with her husband. Connect with her and access an array of tricks & treats in her private creative gallery at www.elizabethbartasius.com.

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We all know that writing is notoriously difficult during summer—which is partly why we tend to concentrate our creative efforts during fall and winter (such as NaNoWriMo in November and for New Year’s resolutions in January). But just because the weather is warming up, doesn’t mean it has to melt you into a puddle of unproductivity! Besides finding an air-conditioned coffee shop to work from, you can also use certain techniques to help you focus and write faster. And of course, once you’re meeting your writing goals head-on, you’ll be able to actually enjoy that time by the pool, without feeling like you’re putting off important work.

To that end, here are five tried-and-true hacks to help you write more this summer—not least so you can reward yourself with a nice cold piña colada.

1) The Comic Sans hack

You may have already heard about this one, as it’s been popping up pretty regularly on Twitter lately. Some people love it, some hate it, but most have begrudgingly admitted that it works… even if it’s not exactly pretty.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Comic Sans hack, it goes like this. Rather than using the favored 12 pt Times New Roman or Arial to write, you change your settings to 14 pt (or larger) Comic Sans. That’s right; Comic Sans—the eminently mockable typeface, the Jerry Gergich of the typography world—might just be the key to unlocking your creative potential.

The idea behind this hack seems to be that, while “serious” fonts like Times New Roman can be mentally intimidating, “fun” fonts like Comic Sans allow us to loosen up a bit and write more freely. As this article on font psychology notes, Comic Sans was “designed to feel fun and playful, and that’s a tough emotion to resist”—especially when you’re slogging through your third hour of writing and you’d gladly sacrifice your firstborn for the smallest hint of joy.

So when writing starts to feel like a chore, give this hack a try. Swallow your pride and embrace the possibilities of a font that resembles your elementary school handwriting: it might just help you slip back into that carefree mindset again.

2) The FocusWriter hack

On the other hand, sometimes when writing, you find yourself having a bit too much fun—switching back and forth among ten different fonts, falling into a Wikipedia hole while “doing research” etc. If you’re like me, you definitely have days when you basically need a sensory deprivation tank to keep yourself from getting distracted.

Enter the FocusWriter hack. Again, you’ve probably heard of this one in some capacity; FocusWriter has been around for about a decade now, and many writers swear by it. So now are you wondering what the “hack” is? Well, it’s the extra couple of things you can do with FocusWriter to get the absolute most out of it.

Firstly, you can set a timer (under “Tools”) for a given number of minutes, during which you’ll concentrate solely on writing—similar to what you would do for the Pomodoro technique. Secondly, you’ll always want to use the app in full-screen mode to minimize distraction. And thirdly, if you still find yourself thinking about the tantalizing prospects of the Internet, consider using a website/app blocker to restrict your access…or simply disconnect your WiFi.

The result should be a completely immersive, distraction-free writing interface. You’ll end up writing for however many blissful minutes straight (don’t worry, the FocusWriter timer will send you a notification when the time’s up). Then you can allow yourself a break—or if you’ve managed to enter “the zone,” which I’ve found happens pretty frequently with this particular hack, simply reset the timer and keep going!

3) The Tetris hack

Of course, we all need to take a break occasionally. That’s where the Tetris hack comes in.

I’ve experimented with many different types of breaks to come up with this one (well, “experimented” being a generous term for “procrastinated”). As you might expect, I’ve found that watching Netflix or scrolling through social media tends to be a little too enticing (i.e. you won’t actually go back to writing when your break time’s up). On the other hand, meditating or doing laundry isn’t enough of a break to clear the mind: I usually just keep thinking about my work, which doesn’t help if I want to come back to it with fresh eyes.

Luckily, playing three to five games of Tetris turns out to be the perfect balance of satisfying and structured. You enjoy the game, but it’s not so interesting (no offense, Alexey Pajitnov) that you get sucked into it for hours and hours. It requires physical and mental concentration, so you’re forced not to think about your work. Yet you remain in a goal-oriented state, which makes it easier to transition back into writing when the time comes.

In other words, Tetris is just the ticket for breaks, especially if you’re doing a prolonged writing session. I like the Free Tetris platform online, but you can also try downloading it on your phone, so long as your other apps won’t distract you. Speaking of which…

4) The iPhone Notes hack

The iPhone Notes hack is pretty much what it sounds like: instead of drafting on a desktop word processor, draft on your phone’s Notes app. (Any smartphone will do, but I have an iPhone, so that’s how I’ll be referring to it.) This one works best if you’re often stuck on public transport with nothing else to do, but can be just as useful if you’re looking to shake up your general routine.

Similar to the Comic Sans hack, the iPhone Notes hack relies on the psychology that a slightly different aesthetic presentation will encourage you to write—though in this case, it’s not so much the typeface as the associations of the phone keyboard that motivate you. Because what do you use a phone keyboard for? Sending texts—which are typically much easier to write than full-on stories. If you can get into that same relaxed mentality, your writing will start to flow as quickly as texts to your friends.

The main downside of this hack is that you might not have your previous work loaded onto your phone for reference. However, this can actually be a boon if you’re the kind of person (like me) who tends to get caught up in editing rather than actually writing.

And on the days when you find it hard to write anything, you can pick up your phone and just start freewriting, or take a look at some writing prompts to inspire you. Ironically, sometimes letting go of restraints—like your standard word processor and current project—is just what you need to get back on track.

5) The Hemingway hack

Finally, we have the Hemingway hack—named so because Hemingway himself used this tactic back in the day! (Nothing to do with the Hemingway app, though I’d definitely recommend the latter if you have trouble with purple prose.)

All you need to do here is: every time you take a break, stop writing in the middle of a sentence, and ideally in the middle of a paragraph/section, too.

It might seem counterintuitive to intentionally not finish something before a break, but if you already have some idea of where it’s going, it’ll be that much easier to get back to it. If you stop writing only when you’ve run out of ideas for the time being, you’ll feel accomplished…but then when you sit down to write again, you’ll realize it’s a lot harder to start something (e.g. a new chapter) than to pick up where you left off.

Hemingway said, “Always stop while you are going good, and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time.” I can’t vouch for the subconscious part, but I do know that this hack works damn well.

Of course, everyone has their own quirks, preferences, and optimal strategies as a writer. So feel free to pick and choose among these, depending on what you need—just remember that summer is no excuse for unproductivity. Trust me, that piña colada will taste so much better when you’ve really earned it.

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories. During the summer, you can usually find her sitting outside with an iced coffee, trying to will herself to work.

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