I started work on a couple of entries for the writelink Christmas song competition a while back. To say it's not going well would be an understatement!

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Everything was fine till last week when I was hit by the 'Oh, my xxx it's nearly Christmas' syndrome. Combined with the whole family catching colds, it has been a fairly unproductive ten days. First, there was my son's Christmas fair, his birthday invitations, then sorting Christmas cards and a hat for his Christmas party. Around the middle of last week it dawned on me that my Mum's 60th was next weekend and I needed to get that sorted. I also realised that was my last chance for getting presents to my husband's family...but before that they had to be bought and wrapped! (The presents, not his family!)

Touch wood, I do seem to have managed it. But I've now got a nasty irritating cough and don't feel particularly festive, which doesn't bode well for writing a cheerful Christmas song. Of course, this has made me all the more determined to do it anyway, and I have been reading a very interesting article in my latest (quite a few weeks ago now!) Poetry Review by Don Patterson about predictability and surprise in music and poetry. I have been trying to use this theory in writing my competition songs. However, it has just occurred to me that I might be best to actually finish the article before pinning all my hopes on the little I've read so far. ;-)

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