Why now is a great time to start writing

We’re heading into my favourite time of the year and it has nothing to do with tinsel and ham or any other festive celebration.

Nope, the best period of any year, for me, is that weird period between Christmas and New Year. Long days with nothing much to do except eat leftovers and watch cricket on television (if one should feel so inclined).

It’s been described as ‘Yuletide’ (if you like the classics), ‘Twixmas’ (for a more modern take) or ‘Romjul’ (if you’re Norwegian). There are more options here if you like research.

No matter how you describe it or what word you use, however, the fact is that it’s a writer’s friend.

In fact, let’s name it Writers’ Week and be done with it.

This is a week where no-one expects much from you. You can safely avoid post-Christmas events by saying you’ve got visitors or you’re just ‘festived out’ and no-one bats an eyelid.

This leaves you free to make the most of this glorious downtime in whatever way you see fit.

I’ve got three suggestions to get you started, but, really, the best part about this week is that you can do whatever you want.

1. Fill the creative well

This might be the one week of the year when you need to make no excuses for lying around reading a book or watching a movie – in fact, it’s practically de rigueur to do so (I don’t make the rules).

If you’re feeling more athletic, visit a gallery, a museum or an outdoor exhibition. Go to the nearest Botanic Gardens and think about the journey some seeds have taken to be there. Go to an observatory and consider how far it is to the nearest twinkling star.

Pull out the watercolour set the kids got for Christmas or get some more robust paints and try painting your front door. Take your iPhone and walk through your neighbourhood, capturing it from different angles.

Creativity takes many different forms, and the best time to wallow in it is when you have time.

2. Make a start

Most of us seem to hit a wall at Christmas and then lie flat to recover in the days after. While writing might be the last thing you feel like doing when the days are long and hot, as they are in Australia, the truth is that there’ll never be a better time to start writing something new.

This is not the moment for a resolution along the lines of ‘I will write my novel in 2023’ – such resolutions tend to peter out on about 27 January. But if you commit to writing a little bit each day during Twixmas, you’ll have made a start. If you need some help on this, check out my course Make Time to Write.

By the time 1 January rolls around, you’ll have words on the page and be underway.

It’s kind of like sneaking up on yourself.

3. Set aside some time

Chances are you’ll still have commitments to attend to, even in the No Man’s Land of Twixmas – particularly if you have a family that, confoundingly, requires feeding and entertaining each day.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t also commit to yourself and your writing dream. Pick a time that works for you, whether it be 6am, 10am or 9pm, and block it out for writing. If you need some help check out my Creative Writing 30-day Bootcamp.

If you don’t want to work on a longform project, try writing something new – poetry, a picture book, a short story, something you can complete this week so that you begin 2023 with a sense of satisfaction.

Catch you in 2023!

Author bio

Allison Tait is the author of three epic middle-grade adventure series for kids: The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries. A presenter at AWC and former co-host of the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, Al’s next middle-grade novel will be out in July 2023. Find out more about her at allisontait.com.