It feels like six months since I wrote anything not associated with work.

I was going to say �since I wrote a creative word�, but that�s not true because work does require creative writing, just of a different kind to prose or, heaven forbid, poetry.

That aside, the only non-work writing I�ve done for two months (that feel like six) is for this site and for the blog. Since I finished and submitted my manuscript I haven�t returned to work on any of my other manuscripts, notes or ideas.

At first it was because I was without a computer at home. But since I got my shiny new PowerBook I have been moved to re-read some older pieces with an eye to working on them further, but have not yet got to the actual working. Instead I�ve been playing SimCity, watching The Forsyte Saga, reading and packing.

It has certainly been partly attributable to burn-out. I worked for several months solid, weekends and after work, in order to finish the manuscript for the competition deadline, and when I finished I�m fairly sure I would have crashed in a creative heap even if my computer hadn�t been stolen.

But more recently I think it might be anticipation. Anticipation of shortly having a room of my own. Not that I don�t have a room of my own now, but this will be my own study where I can sit at my (as yet unpurchased) desk under my window and write, surrounded by books, with music playing at whatever volume I desire.

Anticipation often leaves me incapable of acting. If I have a meeting in half an hour, for example, the chances of me being able to start anything new prior to that meeting is slim to none. I don�t know why that is, but I suspect it�s at work at the moment. I�m not capable of concentrating on much outside work (and, sadly, inside work given that we�re now exceptionally busy), aside from putting things in boxes and buying new towels that I don�t need but will look very pretty in my new bathroom. I suspect this will continue until after I�m done moving.

I�m still writing in my head though. I�m still turning over ideas, character conversations, and images that could apply to various situations. Just can�t seem to get them down on the screen/keyboard/hard-drive.

I know I�ll get back to it. Sooner than I�m prepared for I�ll be on my own at home without the distractions of digital TV and an endless DVD buying budget, and then the writing will come.

But in the meantime, having this site as a way of keeping the creative juices flowing without having to find large slabs of concentrative time, is a really good thing.

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While my DVD budget may no longer be unlimited, it was given a boost from none to some by my successful tipping of all 8 winners in last weekend�s round of AFL. That achievement, and the cash that came with it, was made all the sweeter by the fact that the 6 people in my competition who tipped 7 and just missed out on sharing the cash all failed to tip the Kangaroos, ie my team, who had another stirring victory on Saturday night.