This morning feels like the first of summer. Not literally, of course. But my diary has changed. From having quite a lot in it, and a string of commitments, it is finally looking like the one I wanted if I am to have any chance of completing a book this summer. In other words, it's become a lot more empty.

That does not guarantee successful writing, but for me it helps. Whilst I seem to write almost constantly, book writing is not like putting other words on the screen. That's especially true when contrasting it with writing for the blog.

When writing here I am aware that time is of the essence. I need to get an idea developed, written, edited and debugged of typos (not always successfully) in under an hour, even for the longer ones, with rare exceptions apart. There are rough edges as a result. Sometimes there will also be missed issues or nuances that require correction. I now trust the comments to correct much of that, and in most cases to add to, develop and enhance the discussion.

That's not possible in the same way in a book. The process of printing is expensive. The final draft has to be the best possible. There is no comments section, as such. The pressure is greater as a result.

And there's always the fear that as events unfold that you might be writing the wrong book. Seeking to answer the question ‘How are you going to pay for it?' is important. But is ‘What should the Opposition do now?' even more important at this moment?

The honest answer is you don't know until the book is done. And then, if you're lucky there might be another one, time permitting.

The book is by no means my only task for the summer. There is other work, mainly writing, to do. But it will dominate the next couple of months, without a doubt. That's both the good and bad news. But overall, I am looking forward to this.