Keep Writing Over The Summer

I've decided to come up with a few ways for people who love to write, like me, to continue writing over the summer just for fun and stop writing Without You because I am not going to have enough time to finish it. If you love writing, then here are a few ways to keep busy this summer.  

Travel Journal

https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Journal-perfect-travel-companion/dp/1481963686

1. Even if you don't travel to any exotic places like Bora Bora or Paris, it is still fun to write about your vacations. Personally, I don't travel very much; I go to Wildwood every summer and that is pretty much it, but I still love using one because I want to remember every second of it. The best way to remember everything is by writing it down. This way when it is twenty degrees below zero and your sitting on your couch wrapped in a blanket drinking hot cocoa, you can read this journal and hopefully be warmed by the thoughts of the sun burning your body and the waves crashing against you. Your vacations don't have to be filled with activities 24/7; you can be laying on the beach all day and just describe how amazing it feels to be there and hear the seagulls squawking all around you or how relaxing it was to lay by the pool and have not a worry in the world.

Writing Prompts

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/292522938295038875/

2. Right away "writing prompts" sounds very boring and annoying because we hear this term in school all the time. However, if you choose to do this once every so often, you can pick and choose your own writing prompts. If you go online to Pinterest or even Google and search for writing prompts, there will be so many different results that you can choose from. Some prompts may leave an opening line or two for you to start with, or some may just be a topic and you can make up the entire story beginning to end. Once you find a prompt that you are passionate about or you think could create a good story, you can write a short story. After you have written it and if you decide that you really like it, you can turn it into something bigger, but if you don't then who cares! No one is grading you or anything. It's all for fun and being creative. By doing this you can also learn what type of writing styles and genres you like best. If you tried to write a Sci Fi piece and you struggled, you now know that Sci Fi most likely isn't one of your strengths, but you can discover that writing romance is. 

Start a Blog

https://flyingcork.com/blog/for-the-love-of-blogs/

3. What is something you are really passionate about? Sports? Cooking? Traveling? If you have a very strong passion for something then starting a blog may be a very good option for you. Let's say you love to cook. You can create a blog where you can write about all different types of recipes. Some for dessert, some for dinner, some easy, and some hard. Your blog can consist of all different recipes from all different ethnic groups. Not only will you enjoy writing the blog, but it could also help people. If someone loves to cook, but they have no ideas or no new recipes to try, then finding your blog can be very helpful to someone with a similar passion for cooking. A blog is a perfect way for you to be able to express yourself, do what you love (writing), and write about something you love even more. There are websites out there, like this one, that allows you to sign up for free and create an account. If you find that this is something you love to do, then it would probably be worth it to invest in a more advanced website that allows you to do even more so you can take your blog to the next level!

Daily Journal

https://www.baronfig.com/products/grow-daily-journal

4. Similar to a travel journal, you can write in this daily journal about anything you would like; good days, bad days, feelings, or drama. After a very stressful day, there is no better feeling that just being able to just let it all out. However, that can be hard to do because you may be mad at someone around you which makes it hard to talk to them, so what other options do you have? Write it down! You can let everything out and not hold back because no one else is going to read it! It's for you and only you! Also, you will hopefully have many great days this summer, some days that you just don't want to end, but sooner or later it will. I don't know if this is just me, but after a really good day I just want to talk to people about it, but then I feel annoying because I won't stop talking. So I turn to my journal to write down how amazing of a day it was. Then, I am able to look back on a bad day, re read it, and hope it will bring me that same joy I felt while writing it. 

Creative Writing

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/174021973082183479/

5. This option is my favorite and the most fun in my opinion. Creative writing can be similar to daily writing prompts, but with this you have total freedom (which you do have with writing prompts). You get to come up with your own story line and figure out how it is going to start and how it is going to end. However, it can be hard to free write because most times, people don't know what to write about, including myself. One strategy I use is to think about what types of books I like to read. Personally, I love to read romance novels, so I think about how I can include pieces of romance in some of the stories I write. From there, I simply just try to think about a scenario with romance and create a scene. Most times, I have no idea how I am going to start the piece, but I know what is going to be in the middle and sometimes how it is going to end. That is also another strategy; writing the end before the beginning. No one is going to know how you wrote it, as long as you are pleased with it and you were able to come up with a story line you like that makes sense, there is nothing wrong with crafting the story out of order. Try to just write it all out and get your ideas down and then go back and edit everything. Don't get so caught up with the little things like grammar or names of a character. 

The best part about writing on your own and for you is that there are no rules, no one is grading you or correcting you. All of these ideas are just for fun and a good way to pass the time doing something you love. I hope you found some of these ideas interesting!