Writer's block

27 March

Some writers, actually, quite a few of us really, experience what is commonly called ‘writer’s block’. Other writers say there is no such thing as writer’s block. Well, I’m one of the former group. In fact I’ve been like this now for many months. In fact, I sat down to do this and realised that even though I had made a few notes for inclusion here today, I just sat here looking at the screen with my mind a total blank. The term writer’s block again, came to mind and that is what has led me to start off.

Right now I have at least two novels part written, no, three actually. It seems I get so far into a story line and everything just dries up, or gets so muddled that can’t see where I’m going with it. At that point I leave it and move on to something else; and that is where I am right now with the follow up of Shipshape. Eventually an idea comes and I quickly make a note of it which allows me to carry on for a short while. That is why I was able to say a few weeks ago that I had managed to get a few more words done. The danger as I see it when working like that is that you end up throwing everything in and clogging it up even more. I’ve just had one such idea and added a note of it. I’ll see later what I can do about it.

Earlier I said that I had made a couple of notes ready for here; one of them is a news item about calorie counts while sitting down in the office. A comment was made about people emailing the person next to them being a sign of, well, laziness I suppose. I suppose there might be something in that when one person emails the guy next door to ask how they are doing. But hang on a mo … one guy finds or receives something in his box which needs to passed on to his colleague, well, he is more likely to do that be email than call them over to read it, or print it and take it to him. I find such sweeping generalisations of the office emails as being rather daft really.

I always tend to wonder what it is they are trying to sell when these things come up. Every so often someone will dig up a story that men have stopped buying under wear and only buy new when they have to. I’ve seen a similar one aimed at sock sales too. We should all be able to see this as the marketing ploy it obviously is, so why do so many of us go and buy loads of new pants and socks? I have a draw full of both and I have no idea how many of each I have. I use a clean pair every day and then they get placed in the laundry, so a single pair of pant may only get worn one a month or so. Same with the socks. So in that way then, some men don’t buy new socks and pants very often. However, it’s not because they can’t be bothered but because they have enough to last for some time.

Jan is off out right now. She is visiting Kile’s mum and later she will bring him round here for the weekend. But he breaks up from school today, which means we may have him for slightly longer. I can’t see us going anywhere this weekend right now because of the rainy forecast the whole country is been given. He does like the Stratford on Avon butterfly farm though so we might take him down there for a few hours tomorrow. At least that is an indoor thing and he can have a play with his camera.

And talking of a camera …

One from the other day, a swan's nest just off the town centre.

Today’s funny …As we waited for a bus in the frosty weather, the woman next to me mentioned that she makes a lot of mistakes when texting in the cold. I nodded knowingly. “It’s the early signs of typothermia.”