Every 1 January many people want to start fresh by making resolutions for the new year. Many, if not all, fail before the month of January has ended. But what if your resolution has a shorter period, say ten weeks. Well, that’s what I’ve done. My writing goals for the summer are my resolutions.
The summer break looms in the distance like some grand dirigible ready to take flight, but I’m burdened with the baggage of self-doubt. The usual routine of school will be absent for a few weeks which, ironically, gives me more time to fail. Some of you may hear the unenthusiastic timbre of Eeyore’s voice in these sentences, but I assure you I’m not that pessimistic.
I dispel my doubts by setting resolutions for my summer life before the school year ends. As of this writing, I have several deadlines I intend the meet before the summer even break starts.
For me, the most important thing is keeping my goals realistic. In the past, I have written two feature-length screenplays in one summer. That was easy. The revisions were the real challenge, but I did accomplish my goal.
This summer I intend to exercise more because I need to be healthy. Speaking of exercise, I think of making summer resolutions as a sprint versus the marathon of year-long resolutions. Like my essays, I can see the ending of the summer a lot faster than the year. I’m more focused in the summer since I don’t have school.
Besides better health, I intend to gather up a few dozen poems and revise them. While poetry may take the better part of my summer writing, I will work on a few non-fiction pieces as well as a screenplay to round things out.
My ultimate goal is to reach parity between summer and the school year. I have shown signs I am carving out more space for writing through the school year much to benefit of my sanity. This will be a great summer of writing and living. I hope you do the same. Happy New Summer!
Mario Kersey teaches English to twelfth graders. Writing has been a part of his life since the first grade.
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