I’m not going to
lie. Writing a blog every day is hard.
I’m finding it
particularly challenging at the moment, while I'm also trying to put together a solo show.
It makes me feel I have to double my daily output. This pressure is, of course,
entirely self-generated. No-one’s holding a gun to my head, forcing me to write (if they were, it wouldn’t help) - but I can’t shift the notion I should be
doing more than I am.
Inspiration for
the blog comes in fits and starts. I’ll have a week or two when ideas come easy
and I’m enjoying it, then I’ll have a dip. It’s the same with anything
creative: you don’t always have the requisite imagination or enthusiasm to do
it.
The hardest part
is getting motivated, when all manner of distractions crave your
attention (in my case, it's mostly biscuits). I remember hearing French and Saunders discuss their writing
process once in a documentary. They said they spend the whole
day gossiping, doing anything but work, then maybe get a few lines down in the last half an hour. I empathise with that. Every time I meet with
Glyn it’s the same. I think it’s part of the process. It’s a matter of relaxing
your brain, then catching yourself with an idea off-guard.
It doesn't help that today’s been
bitty. My attention has been split over a number of things (including my imminent
tax return); so much so, that I didn’t feel like I’d seen anything through to
its conclusion. I popped into the office late-afternoon to fiddle with
some stand-up, but couldn’t focus on just one thing to work on. Then just before leaving, I stumbled across a short blog
I’d forgotten about that had potential which fired me up a bit. I made a list of
what I’d worked on before going home, which was far more than I’d thought.
I should stop
writing now, as I’m getting tired. If I give my brain cells a rest, they’ll be
fighting fit for tomorrow. Or not. As Phil Collins once said: “That’s
just the way it is”. He also mentioned some nonsense about Sussudio, but we’ll ignore that.