The Determination of Summer Writing by Mario Kersey

What does summer writing look for like me?

At the end of my hallway is a shaggy mass striped by shadow producing a faint sound that I could swear is a “harrumph”.  I start to speak, but it interrupts by saying, “Don’t bother me unless you’re committed to finishing what you start”.

And so begins the bullying of Mario by all the unfinished and unborn writing projects that, for some, could have been completed over previous summers but were not. I will admit some guilt stirs in my bosom because I procrastinated more than work on my writing. Maybe the shaggy mass isn’t entirely a bully; I just don’t like being reminded of past writing “failures”.

To be fair regarding last summer, I have a new addition to the family crawling around smacking keyboards with his chubby hands. In other words, I will have more, albeit welcome, distractions than the previous summer (I have an eight-year-old, too).  Despite this major development, I still look upon the encroaching summer slightly more positive than last year.  This sentiment could augur greater productivity which would certainly make me feel accomplished by the start of the next school year.

On the matter of productivity, I have several shorter pieces in varying stages of development from earlier this year I am determined to refine over the summer break between family reunions and vacations.

I do intend to unplug from school life and cast all thought of it into Lethe where I can fish it out in August.

This summer I am making the rule that all writing will be “me” writing.

This will be a great summer—at least until the shaggy mass returns.


When not teaching writing, literature, and the sometimes frustrating quirkiness of the English language, Mario Kersey bakes cakes, pies, and biscuits. He’s shy until someone needlessly disparages the five-paragraph essay, then the claws come out. You can follow him @syntaxpaladin.

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