That Guy: Nothing should come between a man and his idea

Take One: Think tank. Take Two: Perspiration. Take Three: Sleep on it. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and if that was the case I would be earning a lot more than normal for this column, but I doubt very much whether that will happen.

This is a photo essay depicting the process I go through when writing my columns.

Leigh in spa pool

It always begins with a think tank. Here I am sitting in the pool with my PA contemplating the week's news and issues and thinking up fresh ideas.

Alcohol can help, but remember in a warm spa pool you are far more likely to become inebriated and touchy-feely. I think it was Keats who said: "Ideas are like backsides - everybody has one." He is correct but, no matter how good the idea is, it needs to be honed and whittled into something of substance.

Leigh at barbecue

Thomas Edison said: "Good ideas are 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration", so here I am standing by the barbecue taking a germ of an idea and working in my mind to develop it into something worth publishing.

Note how the computer hasn't even come into play yet. Writing is like making love. It's not like prison sex - you need to ensure that everything is done slowly and just right if it is to be enjoyable. You don't want to make the mistake of typing before you are ready.

How can you be sure it is a cracker of an idea? Well, I normally like to sleep on it.

Leigh sleeping

Here I can be seen sleeping on the idea. If I wake up in the morning and it still feels good, then we will look at running with it. If not, well, it's back to square one I'm afraid.

I think it was Mark Twain who said: "It's better to be one or two days over deadline with no idea than on deadline with a bad or weak one."

Finally, when I have a good idea, now it's time to start writing. I will turn on the computer, then spend some time checking my emails, Facebook and other social networking sites I happen on, just in case I see a better one.

I also like to take a quick scan of all the TV channels just to be sure. Once I have done this, I send an email to the editor and let him know that the column is on its way and, in this case, mention that I will need extra space for photos.