Wednesday 9 January 2013

Writer's Sloth

No, not Writer's block, the subject of much debate between those who believe writers can be crippled by it and those who dismiss any such idea as foolish. Nor even Writer's procrastination which involves doing anything other than writing - even the ironing!
I'm talking about good old Sloth - identified as one of the Seven Deadly Sins no less, though it's hard to understand why.That delicious feeling of doing absolutely nothing,of just being: no writing, no blogging, no tweeting, not even reading. Sitting in the garden (weather permitting),or lounging beside the fire(much more likely), knowing a pile of tasks awaits and deciding to ignore each and every one of them gives a freedom all too rare in this busy age.
Then again, perhaps it's impossible to be entirely free unless you've trained yourself to empty your mind of all thoughts. If not, little fragments of dialogue and threads of stories creep in unbidden, nibble at the empty space until you can no longer resist.
Excuses for not writing come thick and fast, but in the end there is no option - you have to go back to writing before all those characters in your head drive you mad!
I've had enough of sloth (even with the real excuse of Christmas).
In a quiet corner of the garden,Spring is peeping through. Back to work!