For many folks, from the end of November to the beginning of January is holiday season. From American Thanksgiving to Hanukkah, Christmas to Kwanzaa, folks around the globe have lots of festivals to celebrate.

So how does that impact you as a writer?

For some, the holidays do not lend themselves to moments of private time for writing. For others, the holidays bring on heavy emotions, stunting a writer’s ability to be creative. There are dinners, visits, company coming to stay and for others, like those who also work in retail, stores are often open longer and shifts can be extra stressful, obliterating writing time.

And that’s okay!

Since many writers equate progress with word count, what happens when they aren’t able to get those words down on the page?

For me, even during the busiest of times, if I look over my schedule for the holiday tasks and the social events, I try to find even snippets of ten to fifteen minutes where I could do something to keep me connected to my current WIP. Maybe one day that means writing for a few minutes before I face my day. Another time it could mean using a few minutes of my lunch hour to work on my writing.

So what could I do in these short sessions?

I could brainstorm a scene I need to write.

I could start writing that scene.

I could look at the character arcs of my protagonist and antagonist. What do they want? What obstacles will I put in their way?

If my brain is too overloaded to write, I could read a blogpost, an article, or a few pages of a craft book in an area that applies to my current writing project.

If I’m revising, I could spend fifteen minutes researching one aspect of my story? (But beware, any research can take you down a rabbit hole quicker than you can say Happy Holidays, eating up far more time than you might think.)

I could vet one new agent or publisher.

I could read over the last couple of pages I wrote previously to keep me in the story.

I could have a short chat with a fellow writer about our stories to help us brainstorm our next step.

It’s amazing how much I can get done in a fifteen minute session.

But, I could also look for a day where I have more time in my schedule and set aside forty-five minutes for a longer writing session. And for those who belong to any online groups who do community write-ins, I could try to find a couple sessions that would work with my schedule and have the motivation of working alongside fellow writers.

But what if you truly can’t see your way into slotting in writing time. Perhaps you’re traveling. Perhaps you’re burnt out between all the preparation and then the aftershocks when it’s all over.

That’s fine!

Give yourself permission to take a break. The writing will still be there after the holidays, and for those who live in colder climates with darker days, staying indoors to write, preferably with a nice hot drink, makes it all the more enjoyable.

Give yourself permission to take a break.

See you in January 2026.