To the Season of Hallowe'en

I've mentioned before that I write seasonally. A few of my pieces, I only work on during certain periods of the year, during October and its build up to Hallowe'en, for instance. One drawback is that it can stall the writing process. Even if I have some ideas brewing, I tend to hold back until the proper period rolls around again. One advantage is that it helps flavor the writing with authenticity to the season. Another drawback is that it can slow me down until I have multiple pieces going all at once. Another advantage in that regard is that I can therefore tend to finish pieces all at once as well.

This year, I finished a poem I had been working on for a couple of years, a story I'd been writing for a couple years longer, and a draft of a chapter book five Octobers in the making. Along with an assortment of short verses that have been hanging around for a while. The ends all came one after another after another. It has been ages since I felt so accomplished at my writing desk. 

One other advantage to writing  in such a seasonal manner is that while the season "seasons" the writing, the writing also "inscribes" the season with a certain character. This year, though I have been extraordinarily busy at work in the school library, my writing has helped maintain and even expand the feeling of Hallowe'en, serving to make the whole of October a celebration of the holiday...just the way October should be.

The first pumpkin I ever successfully grew and harvested,

carved into a Jack-o'-lantern!