13. Some things
On writing, and the good, the bad and the incongruous.
Dear Reader,
My writing ‘system’, such as it is, usually comprises writing up by hand any thoughts I’ve had for posts or jottings in my take-on-hikes pocket notebook to then expand and polish into a half-decent chunk of typewritten text for my readers here on Substack.
I did some work in the van recently when I had found myself surplus to requirements on a shoot. When I’d had my fill of wrestling with budgeting spreadsheets I turned to my writing notebook, as I knew I had a draft to review and get into electronic format. I settled in to copytype it, editing as I went, and enjoyed the reviewing, tweaking and polishing process.
I made relatively short work of that task, and remembered that in my pocket notebook I had some notes about a recent walk that I knew I wanted to describe in a future post. So I set about writing those up. Despite my writing notebook being right beside me, I found that in the van I wasn’t in my most comfortable position for writing by hand. And reader, my laptop was open: what could be the harm in writing my first draft straight onto the computer?
The harm for me, it transpires, is that I edit as I go. I mean, I do that with my ink-on-paper writing, but the edits in that case are represented by single-line crossings-out, omission marks and corresponding words or chunks of text to add, plus no end of arrows and exclamation marks, not by blanket deletions or additions of text that I can’t then refer to or contextualise. On paper I can get it all down in ink regardless of the order it leaves my head, knowing that I can re-order, delete or add to my thoughts, words and paragraphs as I type at a later stage.
Direct typing? Reader, it’s not for me. I lose so much along the way!
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE INCONGRUOUS
THE GOOD:
It’s lovely to seize little snatches of uncomplicated joy in life, isn’t it? Here’s a text I sent my parents on Thursday after a cheeky trip to the beach after work:
Cards on the table, reader, this talk of ‘body surfing’ is ridiculous. I can’t even swim. Well, I can, but it’s never a highfalutin’ stroke like front crawl, backstroke or breaststroke. No, I’m happy to float – either upright or on my back – and I can doggy-paddle for ages like a child or – yes – a dog. I can survive in water. Not much else.
But Thursday, let’s say I body-surfed. Because I did.
THE BAD:
Call this a footpath1? Reader, I was wearing shorts, and thistles are prickly. And shoulder-high thistles, of course, are prickly all the way up to my shoulders.
THE INCONGRUOUS:
Have you ever set out on a school trip, or to work, or on a walk, with a delicious hot packed lunch in a wide-necked Thermos, like stew or chilli? Reader, me too.
Imagine that one day you’d forgotten to take your spoon along with you, or had somehow lost it before lunchtime. How bad would that be on a scale of one to ten?
That, for me, would be a twelve. Oh the anticipation of a promised hot lunch remaining unrequited! The dilemma of the ‘should-I-just-scoop-it-with-my-fingers-or-tip-it-into-my-cakehole?’ question! It would be a disaster of a disappointment, wouldn’t it?
I came across this spoon beneath a stile on a walk last week. What had its owner had in their flask that they had been unable to enjoy at lunchtime?
Let’s hope that they survived their trip!
Love,
Rebecca
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What’s the most incongruous thing you’ve ever found on a walk? I’d love to know!
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A footpath is a right of way that allows the public to walk along it. The landowner is responsible for the maintenance of stiles or gates on public rights of way on their land, and for trimming back overgrown vegetation from above or to the sides of a path. However, it is the county council’s responsibility to clear vegetation growing from the surface of the path, and the thistle horror story fits into this latter category.
Click here to read what East Sussex County Council have to say about problems with rights of way.
it looks like you need to walk with a machete :-\
i shouldn't tell about the most incongruous thing i found beneath a stile. i sat down to take a sip of tea from my thermos and a quick protein bar during an all-day hike along hadrian's wall. after my snack-break, i stood up from the stile to gather my things. to my horror i looked down to discover that i had been sitting beside a fossilized human poo the whole time. afterward, i checked my surroundings thoroughly before choosing another location to rest.
Nice reading and fun as usual. When I saw the line about the spoon, I thought I hope she doesn't tell us she picked it up and used it. LOL.