Did you miss me? I sure missed you....

Image via WikipediaOne of the things that I absolutely adore about a 'regular' gig, that writing my own blogs doesn't give me, is the fact that I know I'm reaching people that ordinarily, I might not get to talk to.
But...for the last two weeks, I've been finishing up my first year of Uni (errr...didn't I start when we started this blog? That's kinda scary!), and that meant somewhere in the region of 20,000 words that makes sense to my professors...
I think you can see the problem there ;)
Mainly the whole 'making sense' thing, if I'm being completely honest. And then, last week, I caught a kidney infection, and then...I was wiped. Entirely. Which meant that when I'd only intended to be MIA for maybe a week, I've been gone for around two, perhaps more than even that.
I don't take weeks at a time off blogs normally, because one of the main points of blogging is that you have to try to do it consistently - but sometimes life gets in the way.
Writing is like that too. Have you ever sat down and thought to yourself 'I MUST...' and then, instead, vegged in front of the TV? Surfed aimlessly around the internet? Played around with things that you don't really *need* to do.
Yep - most of us do that. Its not life getting in the way, but it is our brain's way of saying 'enough already'. I've given in fighting it - I can achieve 'butt in seat' but I find it wearing if I really don't want to write - so instead, I read, I draft, I plot, I plan. I spent most of this last month reading non fiction books on the 'how to' of plot and characterisation, testing out new pens, finding things that I enjoy...
I'm currently testing out some project support programs that should help me (yes, I'm still at it - I called ceasefire over the last two months, cause Uni got manic) - and by extention, anyone interested - reorganise, reprioritise, and most of all, gain control over my time completely again. I have to stress though, and I'm not in denial - I don't have a time management problem. I really don't. There's just not enough time in the day to do everything all the time. Which is why I'm working on shifting gears, amalgamaing....most of all though, I'm trying to find a way to make sure that my writing time is truly my own again ;).
There is something you could perhaps help me with though. Do you, as a writer, collect, or hoard pens. I do. I've got about a million of them - most of them rarely used - sixteen fountain pens - thousands of ballpoints, both functional and pretty, and fineliners, hilighters, hybrid, fancy, calligraphy and other pens. I've always wondered if it is a 'writer' thing. :)
And if you DO collect them - is it becuase you like pens, or because youve never got one handy when you wanna write? :) I'm talking about this on both my personal blog (Kai's Personal space) and my professional writing blog (Ardentwriter) but I'm curious, so I thought I'd ask here too ;)