I haven’t written much for over a year.
I’ve tinkered with my seemingly Sisiphean task of turning the three volumes of the Iniquities Trilogy into one for over a year and I’ve mapped out the plot for two new books but I’ve always managed to find something else to do rather than sit down and write them.
I’ve done a great many jigsaws – 3000 pieces takes me, usually, about three weeks, I’ve spent many, many hours doing Kakuros and Sudokus, I’ve spent hours tending my collection of houseplants (Tradescantia, Schlumbergera and Epiphilums as well as avocado plants such as this one that seem to just grow and grow), I’ve watched a lot of cricket on television – I’ve even done some housework.
After 20 years of having to make time to type my fiction I’m finding anything to stop me having to face bringing those current writing projects to fruition. It’s not writers’ block – the ideas are swimming around in my head all the time – it’s just that I can’t bring myself to put those ideas into words and commit them to the screen.
Instead of saying ‘I write books’ when asked what I do with my time now I’m retired should I now say ‘I used to write books’?