Happy Autumn, Readers!

Fall has been with us for a few weeks now, and with that came the start of school.  I have never known anything different; the change of months and seasons brings with it different phases of a teachers life and planning.  My mother was a teacher, so even during infancy, my life revolved around this same cyclical pattern.

As a writer, I find that I have gotten used to this pattern as well.  It may seem strange, but even though my day job begins anew each Fall, I find that as a writer, I look forward to this time.  It’s a time for me to get creative…even more creative!  My time for writing seems to diminish, but it really doesn’t.  I just have to figure out how to use my time differently.  So, for today’s post, I am going to outline the little things I do during Back To School and beyond to include the writing/editing process.  I will use a month-by-month format, because that’s kind of the way my life rolls.

September–The Start Of a New School Year

• Read blog posts!  Read blog posts of others to get ideas about time management/writing organization.
• Get creative! As my work schedule and student load settle in, make a plan for how to fit in daily writing.
• Work on my own blog posts and other shorter works.  September can be tough for me to focus on larger works.
• Follow up with works in progress as I can.

October–New School Year Is Well Underway

• Plan out my NaNoWriMo.  I try to plot something completely new each year.
• Continue weekly blog posts.
• This is a great month for me to do some beta work.  NaNo hasn’t started yet!
• Follow up with works in progress as I can.

November–Hello, NaNoWriMo!

• Maintain my writing goal of 2000 words daily.
• Thanksgiving break is this month, so it is actually very do-able for me.
• Maintain weekly blog posts.

December–The month of sparkles!

• This is a heavy concert month for me, so I focus on editing small bits at a time.
• Those small bits get shined and sparkled!
• My NaNo for that year usually gets set aside until January.
• Maintain weekly blog posts.

January–New Year, New Manuscript to Work Through!

• Dig out my NaNo, and start filling in the holes.  This does take time…I am a lean first drafter!
• Edit through other works in progress
• Maintain weekly blog posts.

February–Short Month, With Some Extra Time!

• President’s Week (vacation!) is a time for me to reevaluate my progress.
• I work on final polishes, if I have any, and prepare to submit things.
• Maintain weekly blog posts.

March–Long Month, But Not Much Extra Time!

• While March is a longer month, here in the North Country, much time is spent digging ourselves out of the snow.
• I tend to submit my polished things during this time, if there is anything ready.
• Weekly blog posts continue.

April–Signs of Spring–And Short Stories!

• Continue work on the year’s NaNo.
• Continue work on other edits and polishes.
• I usually get inspired to write short stories during this time.  Must be the change of season.
• Weekly blog posts.

May–Concert and Music Festival Season Means Time For Some Planning!

• Like September, my teaching life is very busy.  I use this month to keep up with what I can.
• Make a plan for what I will be focusing on over the coming summer months.
• I look to others for ideas.
• Last May, I write a Summer Writing Bucket List
• Weekly blog posts continue

June–End Of School Year, Summer Writing Plan In Place!

• Finish out with finals at school, begin laying out my summer writing work
• Weekly blog posts.

July and August–Write A Lot, Plan For Upcoming New School Year!

• Self explanatory.
• The yearly cycle is complete, until it starts again.

There you have it!  My bare bones writing year outline as it fits in with my day job.  I wonder what it’ll feel like when I retire, and this cycle that I have been living my whole life can change?  I guess that’ll be a new creative challenge for me!

Do you have a day job outside of your writing life?  How do you work writing into your schedule?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by my Writer’s Block today!