I'm FREEEEEE!

Most of my writing has been done inside walls - be they genre rules, time constraints, or scholastic pressure. The gift of SummerCamp is that it was so freeing, even now I'll write anything that pops into my head whenever I get a few minutes.

I'm still a sucker for schedules though, and if I can't find competitions to write for then I set my own artificial deadlines. I found two contests this month, both for short pieces, both with Halloween due dates. The one I hadn't finished was one about the lady and her neighbour's chair. Remember, the other day I took a nap and got a huge way forward with it?

Well, yesterday I took another nap and last night I just couldn't type fast enough and it's finished and I love it. And I don't have to send it in for another three weeks.

So - I'm freee! Free to make elaborate Halloween costumes and dig holes in the garden and move plants around and position pumpkins and knit and bake tons of bread!

And also, oddly enough, free to go back to my novel, from which I ran sobbing last June. I think all my writing since then has given me the perspective I need to make friends with it again.