When you don't want to write by Veronica Bright

 

What do you write when you don’t want to write? When you feel there’s nothing else you want to say? Hasn’t everything worth saying been said a thousand times? Hasn’t everything worth writing been written already by people more talented than me?

It’s half past four on a January afternoon that’s been damp. Beads of water have gathered on the grass. They hang from the washing line. Every single twig on the azalea holds droplets, like small glassy fruits. 

My eyes move back to my screen.

Twenty to five. The sky behind the bare branches of the silver birch is an exquisite mixture of pale orangey-pink and mid-grey, with the tiniest hint of blue. 

Ten to five, and the colours linger, floating gently above our small town. God rewrites his sunsets and his skies every day. I never tire of them. They’re so full of hope, a bit like spiritual hugs.

Moment by moment the sky changes. It's grey and cream, and a bird flaps past, a steady purposeful flight that defies the earlier rain.

I realise I do want to write, desperately, something worth writing. Ask God, a voice whispers. Ask God, and just do it. 

I look out of the window again and it’s not quite dark.
I smile. I am my husband's carer, with not much time to call my own, but I’m a writer, too. When I look at the sky tomorrow, I’ll remember that.    

Veronica Bright has won over forty prizes  for her short stories, now published in three collections. She is the ACW short story adviser, and runs the ACW Writing for Children group, whose members meet up monthly on Zoom. For more details look on the Writing for Children Facebook page.      

Veronica Blogs monthly at http://www.veronicabright.co.uk