What the Greeks Taught Me About Writing

Vicki Childs
May 2
3 min read

Updated: Dec 14

On writing, time, and learning to trust the right season

Recently, I found myself staring at my calendar and wondering how on earth the months had slipped through my fingers. Time felt slippery and unruly, rushing ahead whether I was ready or not.

And then I ended up having a long (and surprisingly delightful) conversation with an AI about time — specifically, how the wise old Greek philosophers understood it — and the explanation felt so insightful, I wanted to share it with you.

The Greeks believed time existed in three modalities: Chronos, Kairos, and Aion — but for today, we’ll focus on the first two. (Don’t worry, this is not a philosophy lecture. I promise.)

Chronos: The Measurable One

Chronos is the ticking of the clock.The calendar pages flipping. The to-do list that never gets shorter.

It’s the linear, countable, deadline-driven version of time — the one most of us wrestle with daily.It’s where we get the word chronology.

a clock on the wall and cozy candles burning

Kairos: The Meaningful One

Kairos on the other hand isn’t about minutes or hours.It asks a deeper question:

“What is this the right time for?”

If Chronos is urgency, Kairos is significance.It’s that intuitive sense of right timing — the moment you feel a door open inside yourself and realize now is the moment to act, create, rest, repair, begin, or let go.

We still echo the idea in phrases like “seize the day” or “strike while the iron is hot.”Kairos isn’t measurable, but you feel it when it arrives.

When Chronos and Kairos Collide

Earlier this year, I had a beautifully organized plan for launching my Davis Crest series. (I love a plan. Just love it.)

But the deeper I got into the drafting and editing, the more reality pushed back. My timeline was too tight. My workload too heavy. My mug was too small for the amount of creative coffee I was trying to pour into it.

My teenage son summed it up perfectly:

“Mum… you’re trying to pour 32 ounces of coffee into a 12-ounce mug. It’s not going to work.”

Kids. Brutally efficient in their honesty.

Still, I dug my heels in.I tried to manipulate the timeline, stretch it, squeeze it, force it into submission. I thought: with enough caffeine and stubbornness, I can make this happen.

But the truth was simpler. And, annoyingly, wiser.

Yes — I could have released the Davis Crest series this year. But as I sat with it longer, I realized I would be doing the story (and myself) a disservice.

I wasn’t listening to Kairos.I was listening only to Chronos — the part of me that wanted to tick the box and meet the deadline.

The Season You’re In Matters

At one point in my reflection, a metaphor came to me:

I could plant the seeds now and force them to grow…But is this the right season for them to flourish?

Planting something too early doesn’t make it grow faster — it makes it struggle. It might sprout, but it won’t thrive.

And suddenly I knew: It wasn't the right time to release the Davis Crest books. Not yet.

So I made the painful but necessary decision to push the launch into 2026 — not because the work isn’t exciting (it is!), but because I want to give these books the space, the season, and the care they deserve.

In the meantime, I’m still hard at work. Two of the books are written, and the third is growing beautifully. And when they’re ready — truly ready — I’ll share them with you. (Remember to join my newsletter group for updates if you haven't already)

a mug of coffee in a fall colored forest

And Now - A Question for You

One thing my readers constantly remind me is that we’re all navigating seasons of our own. So I’ll leave you with the same question I asked in my newsletter: