Friday, March 29, 2013

Exercises in creativity

I've been working on the fourth book in the Caribbean Adventure Series for over a year. The cover is just about ready but the book is not. It has been delayed by many distractions; other books detailing Chee Chee's earlier adventures, Seascapes and then books that I have published for others. I recently received the push that I needed to complete it, an actual deadline, and so I have dedicated the last week on completing this book.

I tried everything. Setting aside particular time for writing, a particular space, a target number of words, but the issue has never really been a lack of time or dedication. The main reason that I haven't finished this book lingered. I had several ideas for the ending and no clue of which lead to follow. So tonight I took a break, and spent the evening writing (clean) limericks and 17 syllable haiku-like poems with my son. Here is one of our more serious efforts (it's tough to be funny and find rhymes for Trinidad at the same time):

There was a young babe born in Trinidad
To a man who had never yet been a dad
But he bathed him and dressed him,
Hugged him and carressed him,
And that was all the baby needed in a dad.

We wrote many more and although it may seem a bit silly and random, but when I went back to book four, I found that the exercise had awakened some hidden part of my imagination and suddenly I saw the way out and polished off my ending in record time.

3 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Glad to hear of the progress. Whatever it takes to jump start a project. And we find it sometimes in odd places.

Jewel Amethyst said...

There in lies the solution to overcoming writer's block. Sometimes you need to step away to find your mojo.

Liane Spicer said...

Ah, the mysteries of the creative subconscious (or is it 'unconscious'?) I've been busy writing haikus and tankas, villanelles and ballads for a poetry course and I can't say it's had any effect whatsoever on my output in other areas. I live in hope...