Photo: CC/Flickr/Roman Boed v on Timeout Chicago

It’s officially summer in Chicago. Bring on the summer festivals, sunny days, beachwear, and… your summer writing schedule?

Yes, the summer writing schedule. The last day of my workshop class, my professor didn’t ask what we had planned for the summer or where we were going. No. Instead she asked:

What’s your summer writing schedule look like?

No one was prepared.

For Creative Writing MFA students, the summer is crucial. Everyone doesn’t have summers of ultimate freedom, where they can dedicate eight-hour shifts Monday through Friday to writing and revising their works in progress. Some of us work one or two other jobs. BUT… the summer does allow the writer the opportunity to carve out a schedule that works best. There are no three- or four-hour classes, no reading assignments, no essays. It’s really just the writer, the writer’s life, and the page.

It is up to the writer to determine how to best use that time wisely.

Now that I am completely done with classes, my summer will be dedicated to revising my thesis.

First full draft of my thesis!!! Wow.

My job has slowed significantly over the summer. So I’m able to do some personal work at actual work. Therefore, I have decided to carve out at least two hours each day Monday through Friday to editing, revising, and rewriting. One additional hour each day has been dedicated to writing new material. I can admit that I haven’t been as consistent as I would like. But, it’s a start.

I encourage you, fellow writers, to find what seems to work for you—even if it’s just the start of a schedule and not something you’ll do every day for the entire summer. Make a schedule. Stick to it when you can.

And then let’s see what happens.

Happy Writing.