I thought of that and booked myself in some new material slots. These mean I have to do it. I have to have a thing, good or otherwise. That's exactly what I need!

So tonight has been a writing night. Nothing I've put down has come from thin air, but I've had to bring stuff up to performable, and have even recorded whispered demo versions of two new songs as my son slept in his cot in the next room. Electric guitars are quieter than acoustics if you don't plug them in!

I'd forgotten the way the writing process can go. It's even better in some respects if you started as I did with some lyrics I'd written a while ago with the ghost of a tune in my head, but no clear idea of whether it would even be consistent as a song. What happens next is awesome. You receive as a musician a half formed lyric and a half formed tune. You make something new. It's shaped by the starting point but it takes on a life of its own. The chords you're searching for, when they come, suggest doing something you didn't expect. The lyric reveals stresses and alternatives that were not there before. As the lyricist you then ponder if you can up your game, since the musician is clearly having a ball... Something happens and you end up with the song you thought you'd have but not in the way you thought it would be.

I made myself laugh tonight.

I just built things on top of each other.

Then I'll try them tomorrow and watch them fail!