There’s a whole lot of focus on writer’s block. Right now though I seem to be suffering from the opposite. I have too much writing wanting to stretch out onto the page. Currently my notebooks have about eight short story ideas between them. Then there’s the constant nagging from a possible novel and a definite children’s fiction book aimed at 9 to early teens age group; plan is to write this book so that my eldest son will have something of mine to read in a few years time.

And with that and a bubbling of other ideas I find myself hampered by Writer’s Grump. I have found in recent months that days I can’t write are days I get snappy and irritable with those around me. By can’t write, I mean physically can’t find the time. Two kids, a part time job and a house to keep running will do that. I tend to plan writing in my head while hanging out washing or hovering then rush to slap it down when my youngest naps or is in nursery. The method here is probably best described by the following quote from a Writers On Writing, NY Times article by Walter Moseley:

‘How can I create when I have to go to work, cook my dinner, remember what I did wrong to the people who have stopped calling? And even if I do find a moment here and there — a weekend away in the mountains, say — how can I say everything I need to say before the world comes crashing back with all of its sirens and shouts and television shows?

“I know I have a novel in me,” I often hear people say. “But how can I get it out?”

The answer is, always is, every day.’

So apologies to family and friends in advance for any Writer’s Grump related incidents. They stem from too much to write and too little time. At least I’ll have a backlog of stuff to tinker with when the inevitable block hits.

Any other Grumps out there?