Young Adult Author Michele Kwasniewski Shares Her Strategy For Writing While Preparing For the Holidays

I don’t know about you, but it’s only December 6^thand I haven’t a clue how I’m going to squeeze everything in before the end of the year. I’m already behind on my advent calendars and since one of them is a wine calendar, it’s very concerning! Last week, Christmas seemed miles away. But somehow this week it seems to have zoomed to the forefront just like a bad motion-control shot in a horror movie. Help!

All my holiday preparations are happening under the shadow to the monumental task of finishing Falling Star – the final book in my series.I’m well on my way, but the time crunch is doing little to encourage my creativity. Nothing like trying to write an emotional scene with the threat of school pick-up, preparing dinner looming(after I shop for food, of course), not to mention the teetering mountain of clean laundry I need to fold. So I’ve come up with a quick plan to help me get through the holidays while finishing my manuscript.

Schedule Time to Write: Absolutely nothing can be done other than writing between the hours of 10am-2pm Monday through Friday. Creating a protective bubble around this time helps ensure that I will have at least twenty hours to write while our son is at school, minimizing my family neglect. School break will begin on December 17^thand I must make sure I use every available minute I can to write before then. Hopefully I can find time to write on the weekends as well so I can really knock out some pages and come close to typing those magical works every writer wants to write: THE END.

Casual Christmas Cards:I don’t think I’m going to be able to pull off a formal family photo shoot this year. Already our weekends seemed to be filled with Christmas shopping outings, football and basketball games or get-togethers with friends. I was hoping to have a formal family photo taken this year, but I didn’t plan things out very well and now I’m running out of time. So it looks like another Costco card cobbled together from selfies and snapshots taken on the fly throughout the year. There are bigger tragedies in life.

Laundry Means Washing AND Folding: Often times I wash a few loads of laundry in an evening. But as it gets later, I tend to let the last couple of loads go unfolded and they linger in the dryer for days. But for the next few weeks, if I’m washing laundry, I have to fold it when the dryer beeps or I can’t wash any more clothes. For some reason unfolded laundry piled up stresses me out and this is an easy fix.

Do My Best and Forget The Rest:In everything, I just need to do my best and forget the rest. I’m not going to be able to accomplish everything this holiday season, but if I give myself permission to do what I can and stop stressing over what I cannot control or don’t have time for, it will make these next few weeks much more enjoyable.

Open My Wine Advent Calendar Every Day:  Come on, this is a no brainer. Sharing a glass of wine with my husband at the end of a long day is a sure way to reduce stress. Maybe this should be number one on my list…

That’s it. It might not seem monumentally creative or life changing, but shifting how I see things over the next few weeks will make all the difference in what I get done and what I can comfortably let pass me by. I might not make every holiday event or finish all my tasks, but if I stick to this plan, I should be able to get a lot of writing done while still enjoying the season.

Happy Tuesday!💕🎄