Summer’s nearly gone.  Around here the community swimming pools are closing, coinciding with the start of a new school year. Sure, there are a handful of places holding out until Labor Day weekend.  But there’s already a sensation of change, of moving away from warm-weather activities, and preparing for the new season.

Various projects that occupied the front burner of my schedule all summer are drawing to a close.  I find myself making plans for projects that will unfold across the fall and winter months.  There’s already a quiet purpose to the shorter days.  A sense of snuggling into something that will take shape and come to life with the unfolding of our next spring.

Sometimes we forget to take advantage of the shifting seasons, expecting that our energy and focus will be the same all year long.  But science has disproved that, and we’re gifted with the opportunity to use the slower energy of those colder months to think, create, and move into a new space in our writing careers.

I’m eager to move into this new energy, if not into the cold and dark of the months ahead.  There are characters and stories awaiting my attention—attention that’s harder to give when the sun shines and friends and family make plans.

Last week I talked about the new writing space I’m planning.  It will be finished before the leaves fall and snow covers the ground.  I know it will entice me to create something rich and meaningful, as the days wax shorter before they lengthen once more.

Have you been thinking about the winter months?  Are you taking time to plan ahead so you know what you will be working on, and what your word-count or page-count goals are?  I’d love to know what you have brewing in your imagination, and when you plan to move into gear with your cold-weather creativity.  Will it be with the start of the school year, or with the Labor Day finale to summer?  Leave a comment and share your goals so we can all support each other.