IT’S ALL ABOUT . . . SUMMER VACATION WRITING TIPS

By Melissa Stoller


I always look forward to summer, with its allure of time to rest, relax, and rejuvenate. Aside from working on manuscripts during August, here are some other writing-related activities you can engage in to help propel your writing life all year long:

Spend time in quiet reflection - Take stock of your writing over the past year. What will you focus on starting in September? If you are like me, and have school-aged children, this academic calendar timing will resonate! Think about how you will prioritize your writing career, such as finding story ideas, writing and revising, searching for an agent/editor, focusing on a book release, working on marketing and promotion, and all the tasks in between. 

Fill your creative well - Enjoy your time off! And also jot down a few ideas based on vacation experiences. Perhaps a special dinner will spark a story about food. Or a day at the beach will turn into a non-fiction book about oceans. Keep a vacation writing journal where you can sketch and jot down any snippets of conversations or ideas that you can pull from later. 

Create a writing vision board - Use vacation photos and mementos to create your board. Add vacation memories such as flower petals, restaurant menus, recipes, shells, sunset photos, maps, and anything else that might help you feel inspired when you are back home. 

I hope these ideas help you feel inspired long after your vacation ends. Let me know in the comments!

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BIO:
 
Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush, Ready, Set, GOrilla!, and Sadie’s Shabbat Stories. Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written with Callie Metler and Shirin Rahman, illustrated by Kate Talbot), releases from Clear Fork Publishing in October 2021. Melissa is a Blogger and Course Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, and a founding member of The Book Meshuggenahs. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and long beach walks.

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