With summer now a mere memory for most of us, winter can be a great time to get down to some serious writing!
A regular feature of November is National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo - and there is still time to join in. The aim is to encourage people to produce 50,000 words by the end of the month, ideally by writing every day - but the aim is just to get the words out anyhow and anyway you can! With tools, resources, support groups and online fun, it can be a great way to motivate yourself and kick start your writing whatever your final end-of-month word count. Find out more at nanowrimo.org
Winter time (at least in the UK!) is great for being more tempted to stay inside (ideally in front of a roaring log fire...), it's easier to make excuses for hermit-like tendencies and more understandable to refuse social invitations.
Many people come back refreshed from their summer break to do 'some writing' but may have put if off because writing a book can seem like a pretty daunting task. If you still haven't yet started, the colder, darker nights can be a great time to get going. Start with small steps, try writing flash fiction, short articles, or set up a blog and post regularly. Get into the habit of writing regularly, make it a daily habit, set time aside in your diary or get up a bit earlier.
You can also make great use of any time off work over the Christmas holidays to really make progress. The run up to Christmas Day may be too busy, but what about the week in between Christmas and New Year? Buy yourself a brand new planner for and use it just for setting your writing goals, deadlines and schedule.
Winter can be a long, long season - make the most of it!