It’s a bit of an odd time of year. On the one hand, things are starting to wind down for the festive season. On the other hand, there’s a mad dash to get work projects finished before the Christmas break, as well as (with any luck) plenty of social events to fill your time from now until the beginning of January.

It’s easy to let our writing slip at this time of year, either because we’re so busy getting in to the spirit of the season (or else frantically trying to finish that big work thing before a looming deadline) or because it’s too easy to give into the temptation to relax, thinking that we’ll get back to it in the New Year.

However, rather than letting things slip right now, we should really be ramping up our efforts to finish that book and get it published before Christmas. Here are three reasons why.

The mental space to think

If you’re one of the lucky ones who is now on a countdown to Christmas and not particularly busy at work, you’ll probably have more time than usual to think about your writing. If so, take advantage of it.

If you’re not so lucky, and are instead facing a packed, stressful schedule from now until December 24th, taking just a small amount of time each day to focus on your book and get it finished should be a welcome break from all those other things on your plate.

The goal of getting a book out by Christmas should be enough to focus anyone, and with any luck, it will make the time sail by.

All those Christmas e-readers

Loads of people got e-readers for Christmas last year, and it seems that this year will be no different. When all those people open their Kindle/Nook/some other e-reader on Christmas morning, it stands to reason that they will be eager to log onto Amazon and start buying some books to fill their new device.

Make sure your book is there for them to find. It’s a good opportunity to make some sales, so it’s certainly worth buckling down for a while to get that book done in time to take advantage.

Get the New Year off to the right start

Finally, it’s worth getting that book out before Christmas so you can get the New Year off to the right start. If your New Year’s resolution is to make 2013 the year you make a success of your writing, it will certainly help to already have a finished product to get you started.