Saturday, June 2, 2018

99 Days

By
Scott D. Parker

(Note: I published this on Memorial Day so the number today is 94.)

Ninety-nine days. That’s the length of Summer 2018. Traditionally, Memorial Day (today!) kicks off the summer while Labor Day closes it out. For me, it’s always been a more relaxed time, even when I wasn’t in school and had the summer off. I drink different wine and beer, I watch certain kinds of movies (summer blockbusters!), and I read certain kinds of books. It’s a great time, even here in the Houston heat.
But I’m wondering how many of y’all think of the summer as a productivity time. With its unique bookends, summer is always a set time. How many of y’all take on a project or two specifically to complete in the summer months? As a writer, I love the joy of beginning and ending stories in the summer. Typically the stories that emerge out of these months are more action-packed and fun. (Well, truth be told, I consider all my stories fun.) But the types of stories I write in the summer just possess a different kind of vibe.
I’ve got my own projects set out for Summer 2018. Just today, I started my latest novel. It’s a complete redraft of an earlier story I completed. It’s been sitting on my shelves, waiting to be rediscovered for a while now. I’m opting for a redraft over a revision because I am a better writer than when I first wrote this tale. It’s exciting, frankly. I easily woke up this morning, grabbed a cup of coffee, and forged ahead. And with 2865 words already written today, I’m well on my way.
Along the way, I’m going to complete a short story for an upcoming anthology and probably a few other projects. Some of those things are business-related, including a revamp of my website, the expansion of my YouTube channel, and an upgrade to my Facebook author presence.
So, how about y’all? What projects do you want to accomplish this summer? If I may paraphrase the sentence that got me back in front of the keyboard five years ago: Come Labor Day, you’ll wish you had started on Memorial Day.

1 comment:

Dana King said...

I'm with you. Summer is when I like to slow things down a little. The past several years I put my major writing projects on hold and recharge my batteries. For example, last summer was what I called my "Summer of Western Research," where all I read were Westerns and non-fiction about the American West; the vast majority of movies I watched were Westerns. This year's a little different, as some family matters have kept me largely unproductive as a writer since last fall so I'm going to have to be a little more proactive, but next year I plan to get back to a more relaxing summer.

And, just like you, for me summer begins when I get off work on the Friday before Memorial Day and ends the day after Labor Day.