I completed the initial draft of a new novel about three week ago and then the first re-write this week. Sitting back as I saved the document on my PC, I finally had to acknowledge a feeling I’ve been aware of for some time but have been fending off. I need to set myself free.

I’ve had this growing sensation for weeks now. It’s felt more and more as if I’ve been locked in a straitjacket. I suppose another way of looking at this is to say that I’ve been very well behaved and have stuck to a disciplined writing schedule, showing up every day to write stories set out in my quarterly plan.

I should be be giving myself a pat on the back and I have. Discipline is a necessary part of any creative process, otherwise you’ll soon end up flying off to play with one new idea after another without first completing the one you’re already working on. Nothing will end up getting done. So, brownie points to me for being well behaved.

The trouble is, you can’t carry on like this all the time. You need to allow your mind complete freedom every once in a while to go where it likes. To dream and play. To experiment and muck around. Much of what results will be unfit for reader consumption, but that’s not the point. If you don’t allow yourself space to play then your creations will slowly but surely lose their sparkle and become very dull things indeed.

The time has come, therefore, for me to throw off my straitjacket and go bounding out into the wide blue yonder, where I can play like a child, exploring anything that takes my fancy. My fingers are tingling and my mind already racing as I write these words. It’s going to be a lot of fun and who knows what will come out of it. Let me at ’em!

Image by Eugene on Unsplash