stay up late. watch the last crummy programme on the worst tv channel, even the almost interesting things on the history channel -I sold Martin Borman his underpants, vets in Cheltenham lance a boil on a hedgehog, I had a penis transplant - then changed my mind, Emily Bronte - did she escape and marry the Sundance Kid......

then coffee and blank sheet of paper.....third time you wake up you can go to bed

Write a letter to an old friend, if nothings happening just to get you writing. Seize the moment though, you can finish off the letter any old time. If you get an idea, run with it.

All these are not so much a road to creativity - more a way of life.

Joyce said the the best road for an artist was 'silence, cunning and exile' - think hard, is that really what you want out of life?

Exile isn't necessarilly geographical - it also describes the gap between you and other people. The mudcat is full of examples of this. for some people folk music/songwriting is what they do every morning and evry night and all points in between - for others its a sort of social club.

I'm not sure who has the best of it.

Enjoy your music.