November is the worst possible month for Nanowrimo. Sorry, it’s the truth. Thanksgiving chaos, vacations, kids out of school. Plus for kids in school the semester is wrapping up so there’s that to deal with.

But as a professional writer, every month is Nanowrimo, so I had to learn to write on vacation without actually missing out on the vacation or my family.

For me that means squeezing writing in during down time. Between all the hustle and bustle and busy places. Morning is great too. People are tired, shuffling around, drinking coffee. It’s a socially acceptable time to be anti-social. I can squeeze at least an hour in. Which isn’t much in terms of writing time, but that’s the other thing about vacations. Daily expectations must shift to something realistic. If I get anything done, that’s a win. I’ve found I actually get more done when I take the laid back approach of not caring about word count goals during vacation than if I plug away until I reach a certain number. During the rest of the year, it’s the opposite, but if I do that on vacation, then it’s almost a guarantee that I won’t be able to use a word of what I wrote past what should have been my stopping point.

When do you get your writing in during vacation?