{"id":587,"date":"2009-05-03T22:40:10","date_gmt":"2009-05-04T05:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=587"},"modified":"2009-05-03T22:40:10","modified_gmt":"2009-05-04T05:40:10","slug":"what-did-you-do-with-your-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/what-did-you-do-with-your-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"What did you do with your summer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is the question I’m kind of worried people will ask me (or I’ll ask myself) when fall rolls around. \u00a0It’s looking more and more like I won’t be going to New York for the internship, so that begs the question–what else are you going to do? \u00a0Are you going to be productive and do something that helps boost your future career, or are you going to waste your time and have this gaping hole in your resume?<\/p>\n

Well…I don’t know what to say. \u00a0I mean, I could use a break, but I also don’t want the days to turn into weeks and the weeks to slip away until I have nothing to show for myself. \u00a0I suppose the best thing to do would be to make some plans and set some goals.<\/p>\n

I do already have a backup plan–or at least, a vision of how I want to use this time. \u00a0And honestly, I’m kind of glad that I’m not going to New York this summer, partially because it means I don’t have to get catapulted out of my comfort zone here in Provo (not a good reason), but mostly because it means I can focus on the things I really <\/em>want–and need–to do.<\/p>\n

I mean, half of me seems to be freaking out, afraid that I’ll just end up wasting this time. \u00a0But the other half is both calm and optimistic, and with good reason. \u00a0My sister and her husband (in a surprisingly generous gesture) offered to let me stay in their spare room over the spring term without paying any rent (just so long as I help out with groceries, dishes, that sort of thing). \u00a0I have no financial stressors, no pressing obligations, access to vast amounts of resources (ie BYU campus), lots of friends in the area that I can call on for support, as much free time as I could possibly ask for…I mean, if ever I had any freedom to spend my time doing what I want to do and working towards what I want to work towards, \u00a0now is that time. \u00a0There are virtually no restrictions, and that’s awesome.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, with all of that freedom comes the freedom to screw it up. \u00a0But I won’t be doing that. \u00a0I know exactly what I need to do, and how this summer can help me achieve my long term goals.<\/p>\n

I want to be a full time writer. \u00a0At least, that’s what I think<\/em>\u00a0I want. \u00a0This summer, I can test that out and see if the full time writing thing is something I can actually stand. \u00a0Since I don’t have any pressing work or school obligations, and no financial obstructions either, I can devote this time to work on my writing, hone my craft, and produce something that I can take to \u00a0an agent\/editor and sell. \u00a0I’ve been writing nonstop for the past two years, but always as an on-the-side kind of thing. \u00a0Now I can see if this is something I can actually stomach for doing full time.<\/p>\n

Goal #1: produce on a consistent basis as if writing were my full time job.<\/p>\n

And, while regular practice is one of the best ways to hone your craft, it’s better to both read and <\/em>write–read the kind of stuff that you’d like to write, and use what you read to help improve your writing.<\/p>\n

Goal #2: read and review, on this blog, 15 works of science fiction \/ fantasy (that’s roughly 1 per week, with a little bit of room for leeway).<\/p>\n

And, so long as I’m honing my craft, I shouldn’t restrict myself to just reading and writing. \u00a0There are a number of good conventions and writers’ conferences, both here in Utah and on the east coast where I’m from. \u00a0Besides the opportunity to hear some great talks and panels by experts on the craft, I might also be able to make connections in the sf&f community, the publishing world, and may even have the chance to sell some of my work. \u00a0At the very least, I can practice<\/em>\u00a0doing all that stuff.<\/p>\n

Goal \u00a0#3: attend at least 3 conventions and\/or writers’ conferences.<\/p>\n

One of the things I want the most from this summer is the long-term perspective and vision I need to make some very important life decisions in the near future. \u00a0Part of that is trying out the full time writing thing, but it’s not limited to that either. I’ll be graduating soon, probably within the next year, and I still don’t have any post-graduation plans. \u00a0Hopefully, the free time this summer will give me a chance to take a \u00a0step back and make some plans.<\/p>\n

But while thinking things out and weighing my options is definitely part of doing that, another very important part is listening to the spirit, praying about my options and plans, and connecting with the Lord on these things. \u00a0Towards that end, I need to work on my personal spirituality, my relationship with the Lord, and take the time to really listen on a spiritual level. \u00a0As a summer nomad, working on this individually is going to be even more critical, because I won’t be settled in one ward for a long period of time.<\/p>\n

Goal #4: consistent daily scripture study.
\nGoal #5: worship at the temple at least once weekly.<\/p>\n

I think it was my grandfather who said that as long as you’ve got your health, you can do just about anything. \u00a0It’s true–being in good physical condition can really help you get everything else done in a much more efficient and effective way. \u00a0Besides, it’s important for it’s own sake. \u00a0With all this free time, if I didn’t exercise at all I would certainly be neglecting myself.<\/p>\n

Goal #6: work out at least five times a week and eat healthy.<\/p>\n

And finally, while I still have enough grant money left over to cover just about anything I want to do this summer, it would be wiser (and helpful for my resume) to carry a few jobs and at least break even. \u00a0I’m not paying rent, but I am paying for food, gas, car and health insurance, and tickets to all those conventions and conferences I want to go to. \u00a0Besides, if I don’t spend the grant money now, I can spend it later on a poli sci internship next school year, possibly in Washington DC or even Scotland.<\/p>\n

Goal #7: find part time employment and try to break even.<\/p>\n

So those are my seven goals this summer; we’ll see how it works out. \u00a0Usually, I’m not that good at keeping goals and resolutions, but I think these will at least point me in the right direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the question I’m kind of worried people will ask me (or I’ll ask myself) when fall rolls around. \u00a0It’s looking more and more like I won’t be going to New York for the internship, so that begs the question–what else are you going to do? \u00a0Are you going to be productive and do… Continue reading What did you do with your summer?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[89,34,82,120,88,203,46,90,30,81,37,119,142,599],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-career-decisions","tag-college-life","tag-conventions","tag-daily-routine","tag-doubts-and-fears","tag-exercise","tag-goals-and-plans","tag-graduation","tag-life-decisions","tag-networking","tag-spirituality","tag-summer-2009","tag-summer-plans","tag-thoughts-reflections","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-9t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}