In the late summer, many writers get discouraged after their submissions, queries or conference meetups don’t go as planned. Here are tips to get through the summer writing doldrums.

Writing Tip for Today: When you’re a discouraged writer, the answer is write more words.

Wordcount vs. Keepers

Every writer who wishes to be published faces the same dilemma: produce word count or concentrate effort on quality or words that you’ll keep. Those 10,000 hours of practice demand word count, but if they aren’t keepers, what’s the use?

I’ve been cleaning out old files and as I flipped through manila folders, I saw two things. One, a lot of insignificant clips from little “helpful hints” in women’s mags and two, reams of material that never sold or was even submitted.

You might look over your beginner’s manuscripts to get an overview of your own writing journey. See where you started and where your writing began to change. If you count those “drawer” pieces as writer-in-training, those “word counts” feel a lot more valuable. Even if they make you cringe today, you poured your blood and sweat (and often tears) into them.

Writing is Rewriting

The adage is correct. Revision must be an integral part of your writing life. In the beginning, you aren’t sure where to cut, condense or reconsider. Expanding a character or plot point sounds great but where and how to do it? Every writer faces these self-editing questions. It’s too easy to be discouraged and end up leaving the idea altogether.

Books, videos and coaches on self-editing abound, but you can start by asking yourself what did I want the reader to experience? An online or face-to-face feedback group can boost your skill and confidence. But remember—a critique is an opinion. Learn to take what you can use and lose the rest.

Critiques that make no sense or feel too big to fix at a certain time often crystalize later on. An editor or agent or crit partner may suggest a rewrite that feels impossible today. Yet after you process the advice for a time, you might see the wisdom in those suggestions. Set aside edits you aren’t convinced will help your project. Putting it on the back burner can help you sit with ideas long enough to either adopt or reject.

Even journalling can revive a parched writer and rekindle confidence. 

Let Yourself Imagine

Summertime, after conferences and the mad dash to be ready with queries and synopses is past, is a great time to write your heart. Experiment with a genre you’ve never tried. Get out that unfinished novel and see if it might be fixable. Take what you learned at seminars and workshops and see what happens.

Since agents and editors don’t return to their offices until the fall, take time to refresh your writing. If you’ve been discouraged because of rejections, put away the rejected pieces and write more words. Even journalling can revive a parched writer and rekindle confidence.

If you’re traveling write what you see and learn. Not everything you write has to be submitted. I’ve been writing poetry again after many years of fiction and nonfiction. And even if your schedule is interrupted in the summertime, commit to showing up and writing more words. That’s the best cure for writerly discouragement that I know. Keep Writing!