IF there’s one thing Scotland is supposed to be good at it’s talking among ourselves. And if the subject is football or what’s on Scottish telly or Christmas shopping, we could probably keep it going for hours.

But what about the independence movement? One of the reasons we achieved as much as we did was because we were brilliant at putting aside all our own wee issues and hang-ups, shoving our self-interest to the back of the cupboard and really putting our backs into working together.

I was on the board of Yes Scotland and when you looked round the table you saw people who didn’t agree on everything putting the effort into focusing on what we did agree on. Which didn’t mean any of us gave up on our hopes. Just that we knew we had an awful lot more in common than separated us and that we all knew none of us could win it on our own.

So what has happened since? If the referendum was like a family wedding with everyone on their best behaviour, the aftermath of the referendum is a bit more like we’re all back in our own houses with the snib on. The Greens and the SNP, who worked so well together during the referendum, don’t seem to have had so much as a cup of tea and a chat about it since. And everyone else who worked so hard for those two years? Many of them are still working hard. But how well are they working together?

It’s two years since we lost and we’ve not really got together to have a proper chat about what we all learned and what we need to do now. And for me, that means we’ve just not built on two of our great strengths – our diversity and our togetherness. If everyone has been waiting for someone to tell them what to do, then that is so not like the independence movement I remember. I don’t remember any of us needing to be told how to campaign, how to get out, how to make the case. Between us, we worked it out.

Mibbe we’ve had our feet up, thinking there was plenty time, assuming someone else was going to do it for us. But I’m sorry, Donald Trump is a President, Boris Johnson is a diplomat and Nigel Farage is like some kind of global ambassador. Rather a lot has happened.

When they start talking about checking the teeth of child refugees before we let them in the country, there really isn’t time to spare. Tea break is over; back to work.

That’s what the Scottish Independence Convention’s conference on 14 January is about. Things have changed. What we did in the last referendum won’t be enough in the next one. We need to look at everything – the way we said we’d build a new Scotland, the way we tried to persuade people, the way we organised ourselves. We need to decide which bits are fit for reheating and which bits are fit for the bin.

I want out of Britain long before we’re peering into the mouths of desperate Syrian children to decide if they’re fit for our pity. But it’s not just going to happen all by itself. It’s down to us. And if none of us could do it alone last time round, that’s doubly true this time.

So if ever there was a moment for a bit of a gab, it’s now. We need answers – and we need them from you. If you’ve got thoughts on what happened last time and how to do better this time, then I’ll see you there. If you weren’t involved last time but want to be this time, even better, you’ll get a warm welcome.

People say the independence movement never died. No, it didn’t, but sometimes we’ve been a bit asleep at the wheel. If 2017 is anything like as mad as 2016, we might need to get ready for a real battle for our future.

So let’s start it with a right good conversation. It’s time to get ready.