The Twelve Posts of Christmas - Day Seven: When You Get The Writing Itch, You Have To Scratch It.

So, it's Christmas Day, and I'm writing a blog post. 

It will just be a quick one today, because if you feel the urge to write, then you just have to. This happened to me last night, Christmas Eve, but not for the blog, for a story that I am in the process of writing, my first attempt at fiction. 

Here's what happened.

I fell asleep last night after an early evening carbohydrate rush took over. I woke up around ten and pretty soon I wasn't sleepy at all, I started to think about something that had been on my mind about the story that I am writing. That was the opening line and first few pages. I've read that it should be dramatic, set the scene for what's to come. I looked at the first page and the opening line of fiction books that I owned. They all had a fairly dramatic start. Authors on Twitter X comment on this occasionally, and I looked at what I had written so far. The start wasn't that dramatic, I would even say it was mundane, I needed something better.

The thought that suddenly came to me, late night Christmas Eve, was around a character that I had planned to introduce later in the story. It occurred to me that it would make a good opening to the story, so I got writing. Several hundred words later, I think it works. Time will tell.

I also discovered something else recently about my own writing. I watched an interview recently with the author Cheryl Strayed, who described herself as a binge writer. She is not one for writing every day, she seems to write better when the inspiration is there to do so, and I suppose when the ideas are ready to flow. Others require the commitment of writing every day. I think I am more of a binge writer than the latter, although I try to mix both. Science says that binge writing is bad for you, who would have thought?

Binge writing

All I know is that when it comes to having ideas, I work better when they just come to me. I struggle when I try to force things. 

It was the same when I was at school.

 

If I get the urge to write more today, like an itch, I just might struggle to resist the temptation to scratch it.

Merry Christmas!

 

Book Review: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I finished reading Cheryl Strayed's book Wild a few weeks back and have been meaning to write about it, a review. As often happens, other things got in the way, so I thought it was about time that I did that review, because it is a good book. 

 

Wild is a memoir that describes her adventure as she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. The book is subtitled, From Lost to Found and starts off by giving us her background history. The author is very open about her own flaws, her failed marriage, drug use and relationship with her family, especially her parents. Her mother died young of cancer, a battle that did not last very long. Her mother's death had a big impact on her life. 

Strayed embarked on what becomes a journey of self discovery.

It has been a long time since I read a book that started with a prologue. Wild has a very good one that achieves its objective, which is to encourage you to read on, to find out what happened.  

Strayed tells the story of when she loses one of her boots over a cliff edge. Now, barefoot walking is a thing, but out in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere, miles from any help? With stones, sharp rocks, rugged terrain, you are left wondering, what is she going to do now? 

No spoilers, you will have to read the book!

These Boots Are Made For Walking... Something Wild and the Law of Attraction — Part two

A few days after I found my “new” walking boots, I was searching my book collection for something to read. I say ‘collection’; it’s not that large, perhaps two to three hundred books. They are the ones that have survived the years. Books that I have read, or am unlikely to read, I often give to charity shops.

Books can take up a lot of space.

When I was a young boy, a neighbour of mine had a large book collection, all in book cases that covered the walls of their house. They could have opened a bookshop. I wondered if I would ever have the same — not a bookshop, but a house with a room or a study with lots of books.

The answer has turned out to be no. The books I have are housed in different places, some on show, some stored away. Truth is, they are often neglected, but just occasionally, I would remember to pick one to read.

This time I settled for one that had been sitting in a pile of books, hidden away for so long they were gathering dust. It was in used condition, probably picked up at a charity shop or a car boot sale. It was a book that I had looked at many times and put down, never quite being in the mood to read it.

It was a book by the author Cheryl Strayed called Wild.

Part memoir and part travel adventure, it tells of her journey to walk the Pacific Coast Trail. I thought, It’s about time I read this, or at least a few chapters, to see if it is worth reading. I enjoy reading books by people who have faced a major challenge in life and done something different. The risk of adventure, taking a chance, the not knowing of what will happen next, and the trust that you have to believe that everything will turn out alright.

I settled down to read the book.

It begins with a prologue, something that you don’t see that often in books these days. A few pages long, but it stood out straight away. A prologue is written with the intention of telling part of the story that pulls the reader in.

A cliffhanger, so to speak.

Wild recalls a story of how she loses one of her walking boots over a cliff edge. In frustration, she then throws the other one away. The Pacific Coast walk is a long one, and with both boots gone, you are drawn into the story to see how she coped walking barefoot, or did she? I would have to read on to find out.

A cliffhanger in more ways than one.

But as I read the prologue, I also realised that of all the books I could have selected to read, I had picked one that, in the first pages, writes of a lost pair of boots.

Having just found a pair of walking boots that looked like they had been thrown away, I couldn’t help but think how strange life can be.

 

 

Edited and updated, June 2026.