Return to the Writing Desk
By Amy Groening


Parallels have often been drawn between creative pursuits and nature—seeds of creativity, ideas growing and coming to fruition, and budding artists; it’s no surprise, then, that the seasons tend to have an effect on writing.

Whether or not you actually took a vacation this summer, those warm, sunny days have most likely cast a vacation-like glow across the last few months for you, your friends, family, and colleagues. Summer is lauded as a time for relaxation, spending hours napping in a hammock, lazing by the pool, or sprawled in the sunshine with a good book. For writers, summer can be a great time to recharge, get a new perspective, and find inspiration in nature, in travelling, in a new book list, in the joy of summer weather. With longer daylight hours, summer affords us the time to allow seeds of creativity to germinate.

Now, we have crisp fall weather coming—the perfect atmosphere to push us back into the writing groove. Between refreshing walks in the autumn leaves and rediscovering the joy of pumpkin spice lattes, this is the ideal time to take all those ideas planted during the languid summer days, harvest them, and cook them up into a literary masterpiece—or, at least, the beginnings of one.

It can be difficult, after months of relaxation, to come back to the writing desk—especially amidst the bustle of everything else you are most likely coming back to, whether it be retiring the tent or camper for the year, getting the kids ready for school, getting yourself ready for classes, preparing for the Christmas season (yes, already), we’re sure there are hundreds of to-do lists and rhythms you’re trying to get back into. In all the turmoil, it’s easy to let some things fall by the wayside, which is why it is vitally important to keep writing.

Get back to that writing desk now, before your days fill up! Put writing in your daily schedule, take a book out of library that’s sure to make you itch to pick up a pen, sign up for a creative writing course, find a writing contest you want to enter and mark it in your calendar; take advantage of the back-to-school sales to stock up on pens, notebooks, printer ink, whatever supplies your writing desk requires (even if that means buying a desk first).

All summer we’ve been bringing you articles to pique a writer’s interest and help those ideas take root, but now it’s time to buckle down and get serious about writing—and we’re not the only ones. Fall brings with it many writing conferences, literary fairs, and contests, and now that we’re back to our usual programming we will be bringing you writing news and prompts to draw you back to the writing desk—as well as our usual host of anecdotes and tips from your fellow writers.

About this Contributor:

Amy Groening is a Project Manager at Word Alive Press. She is a passionate storyteller with experience in blogging, newspaper reportage, and creative writing. She holds an Honours degree in English Literature and is happy to be working in an industry where she can see other writers’ dreams come to life. She enjoys many creative pursuits, including sewing, sculpture and painting, and spends an embarrassingly large amount of time at home taking photos of her cats committing random acts of feline crime.

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