It’s been a few weeks since my last post. I could blame a busy life, work, travel, kids etc., but really I’m not a subscriber to using time, or rather the lack of it, as a valid reason to not get something done.

As I see it, well actually as science sees it, there are only 24 hours in a day, and there’ll only ever be 24 hours (at least in the foreseeable future of life on Earth. There is no such thing as time management; we can’t manage time, we can only manage what we choose to do with it.

The real reason is that I haven’t felt like I’ve had anything worth saying. Let’s call it writer’s block; although it would be an exaggeration to call what I do writing. I effectively curl my hands in to fists and whack the keyboard until something moderately legible comes out.

It’s been quite frustrating really, as I like the process of coming up with a kernel of an idea, letting it roll around in my easily distracted brain for a few hours or days like a ball bearing in a spray can and then letting it evolve on the page (screen); amongst other mixed metaphors.

I can only begin to imagine what it must be like for someone who does this for a living. Imagine your next pay cheque depended on you submitting a pre-determined number of words to a publisher or a certain number of stories to an editor, but there’s nothing there. All you’ve got is a thoroughly inane Katy Perry song on permanent repeat blocking out all intelligent thought, with no end in sight.

Some writers seem immune. They’re the ones described as prolific. Some are prolifically bad (Jackie Collins, Mills & Boon writers) others prolifically and majestically good. GK Chesterton was a great example. I doubt he would have described what he had as a God-given talent, despite his strong faith. He probably didn’t even think about it, it came so naturally. It could be that he just benefited from a more inquisitive mind than most people mixed with a permanent dissatisfaction with intellectual paucity or a lack of moral fortitude along with a healthy desire for a fight.

That’s not to say only prolific writers share the ability to present ideas in a compelling, artistic ways. Some need few words to say what it is they need to.

I hope I’ll always have something to say, if for no one else’s benefit than my own. Making the time to read books that present challenging ideas, stories, conundrums or simply beautiful use of words help, so I guess I should find some more time to read some.