How many times have you thought “this summer I’m going to get all those manuscripts written that I’ve let pile up because now I’m not teaching, and I will have a lot more time to devote to getting some things to the finish line!” And how many times have those best-made plans somehow evaporated because, despite the somewhat slower pace of summer and fewer required meetings, our plans to produce somehow drift away or get subsumed by other competing demands?

The best advice I’ve been given about turning this around is to view the act of writing the same way that one views training a muscle. Set a goal, find a consistent time to work that muscle (even if on some days it is only re-writing something you already have written), write something every day so that writing becomes a regular part of the day and not something that is viewed with dread. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in the short time between semesters. Set the “just right” goal that ends with achievement instead of frustration and disappointment.