Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Holiday Spirit or Winter Blahs?

As the Christmas season approaches with all its demands on time, emotions and finances, it affects people differently.  I've read a few posts lately despairing of the progress of their goals for the past year as 2010 rapidly spirals down to its end.  Hopefully one can look back at some successes and carry that inspiration forward into 2011.
Holiday shopping, work and family get-togethers, baking, decorating and all the other joys of the season cut into everyone's writing time during December.  It's quite tempting to set aside projects and busy yourself with the many seasonal events and chores needing your attention. It's not unusual for bloggers to post less often, visit fewer of their blogger friends and otherwise not keep up with the social whirl of online communities. 
I have special reason to keep my fingers on the keyboard for the next few weeks. 
On January 1st, Beyond the Gate, book #2 of The Futhark Chronicles will be released.  Though I've tried to plan ahead, I'm busy polishing posts for my blog tour, making improvements on this blog, getting my promotional short stories for posting online for free and a zillion other little things. 
I've wrapped no gifts and actually have only purchased a small fraction of those I need to find.  The menu for our family Christmas dinner is still up in the air and don't even ask me about cookies.  But I'm getting my writing work done.  
How is your holiday/end of the year schedule working? Are you finding time to write? Have you set it aside or reduced your time spent writing?  

11 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Hi Susan: Aside from stay-cations and days off, my schedule for writing is the same throughout the year. Holidays make no matter.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I did all of my shopping in October and November (during NaNo even!) so I'm good to go except for a few Christmas parties. And yes, I'm working on the sequel to my book every day!

Cate Masters said...

I've started more stories than finished this year, though I did manage to finish a novel after revising it almost entirely, including the theme. Makes me wish I were a plotter. Or that I could give my muse a prescription for ADD, lol.

M.J. Fifield said...

I decided to set aside my writing until at least December 27th so I can (with luck) get all things holiday taken care of (on time) but it turns out that I needn't have bothered because I'm not making much headway on that front either. Must be December.

Looking forward to reading Beyond The Gate next month...

Happy Holidays.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Ivy, you're so organized. We've been having stay-cations for the last three years with two kids in college. I don't mind them at all.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Alex, you're one of those early shoppers. I always intend to do that but I never seem to manage.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

LOL, Cate. A muse with ADD. Sounds like a great topic for a blog.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Haleine, if I didn't have the new release on January 1st, I might take a short holiday also. Hope you get your Christmas stuff caught up.

The Happy Whisk said...

Glad you enjoy your stay-cations too. Tim and I really love them. Take a few day trips and then back home in time to sleep at our own house.

Christina Lee said...

Well, in December my jewelry busienss takes over my writing life--and yeah, I am overwhelmed! good luck with your list!

Victoria said...

I'm taking a break until the new year. My focus took a vacation and didn't bother to inform me. I'm brain plotting a new book though, so I guess that's something...