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.