I had a moment yesterday, when I started to question what I was doing. It was very specific, concerning a project that I have been working on since late last year, when I decided to try my hand at writing fiction.
The end result is now within sight. I am writing the final chapter and conclusion.
So, the end is within reach.
However, yesterday I was on Twitter X, and noticed in my timeline there was a tweet asking about books written from a first-person perspective. The question was, what did people prefer, first or third person? Many replied, saying that they did not like first-person books at all. It seems to be like marmite, you either like it or you don't.
I had not given it much thought, but I was writing this book in first-person. I did so for the following reasons.
It has been a while since I posted, but I do have an excuse. Well, two excuses, actually. First, I have a book to write. Well, I'm trying to write. For now, the book is my priority, and it takes up a lot of time, as any aspiring author will know.
Next, I was in the process of writing a second book when I realised that these true stories might be more effective as articles. After reaching twenty-six thousand words, I have decided to set it aside.
Which led me to the website for writers and readers, Medium.
What is Medium?
I went to their website to find their definition of what they offer.
Medium is a home for human stories and ideas. Here, anyone can share insightful perspectives, useful knowledge, and life wisdom with the world—without building a mailing list or a following first. The internet is noisy and chaotic. Medium is quiet yet full of insight. It’s simple, beautiful, collaborative, and helps you find the right audience for whatever you have to say.
I decided that the best place to go to find out more was YouTube. I mean, you can usually find someone on YouTube who has made a video about their experience. I was right, but some videos looked like clickbait. They offered a magic formula. Just do what they do, and you can do the same.
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 some of 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, and Wild has a very good one that achieves its objective, which is to get you to read on. 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, 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!
43 years ago today, the band Teardrop Explodes released their debut album Kilimanjaro. An unofficial Twitter fan account describes their music as bubblegum trance music, psychedelic soul music. Not sure what it is, but it is very pop and melodic, very 1980s post punk, new wave. It was music that I had long forgotten about until I listened again today.
Music is subjective, so just to say that having rediscovered this today, it is like finding something new. I will be reacquainting myself with their back catalogue of music for a few days now. It seems to have stood the test of time.
As they say. Until you realise, it's just a story.
A few days after I found my “new” walking boots, I was looking through my book collection for something to read. I say collection, it's not that large, perhaps two to three hundred books. It is mainly the ones that have survived various culls over the years. Books that I have read, or unlikely to read, I often give to charity shops.
Books can take up a lot of space. When I was a young boy, I lived near a couple of neighbours who had large book collections, all in book cases that covered the walls of a room in their house. Between them, 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 tended to be housed in different places, some stored away, hidden away. Occasionally I would remember to go and look at them and pick one to read.
This time I settled for one that had been sitting in a pile of books for some time. It was in used condition and I had probably picked it up at a charity shop or car boot sale. It was something that I had looked at many times and put down, never quite being in the mood to read. It was a book by Cheryl Strayed called Wild. Part memoir and part travel adventure, it tells of her journey to walk the Pacific Coast Trail. I thought to myself, it's about time I read this, or at least a few chapters to see if it is worth reading. I can usually tell after two or three chapters if a book has got me interested, and I really want to read more.
About a month ago, I was out walking when the thought came to me that I really needed a new pair of walking boots. The walking boots that I was wearing, more of a walking shoe really, had seen better days. The sole was beginning to show wear and tear, clearly damaged from years of pounding the pavements and walking country paths. I had put in the mileage on my footwear, and it was time for a new pair.
I knew that a new pair of walking boots would not be cheap. A good quality pair with a decent hard wearing sole is always likely to cost a little more. The ones with softer tread on the sole never last me that long. They may look good, but they don't last. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, but I do like to get a bargain. That is not so easy in these Cost of Living crisis times. Mind you I've always lived a fairly frugal life and when it comes to footwear I've usually managed to find a bargain, either from a charity shop or a car boot sale (flea market in the USA). I couldn't rely on that happening this time, but I wondered if my current walking boots would hold out until a bargain came along.
The need for a new pair of boots was on my mind.
And then something strange happened. Really strange.
The first thing to say about this book is that you do not need to like fishing or be interested in the sport of fishing to read it. As you would expect from the title it is about fishing, but it is actually more about the two men doing the fishing, the British comedians and comedy actors, Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse. It is as much about them as it is fishing. They share something in common in that they both faced a serious heart health issue. Whitehouse had three stents put in, while Mortimer had a triple bypass. The book, and the BBC TV show that has now been running for five series, is about their friendship and Life, both before and after having been close to death.
They are both in their sixties now, an age I know something about. They are perhaps aware that they may be on, as the saying goes, borrowed time, and so they are making the most of it. Fishing has become a big part of that for them, and I suppose they are fortunate in that they have been able to make the TV series as a job of work. In five series, they have travelled around the UK and occasionally overseas to fish and ponder life.
Both still have a child like approach to life, especially Mortimer. Working in comedy has probably given them the chance to never grow up or be overtaken by the seriousness of life. Whitehouse is very serious about fishing and its history, and this comes out in the book. While it is an easy read, it does go through the history, traditions and technical side of fishing. Those chapters are written by Whitehouse, who has been a lifelong fisherman. His knowledge comes to the fore, while Mortimer is like the apprentice, taking it all in.
Except that Mortimer doesn't always take in what he is being told. You can see this quite often in the TV series as Whitehouse shows frustration with his apprentice. “Don't wind” as in winding the caught fish in, can frequently be heard from Whitehouse. There is an art and technique to landing a fish, and overuse of winding the rod to pull the fish in is not part of it. Mortimer is always caught winding, his innocent reply is always “I'm not winding” with a cheeky grin on his face. The fish regularly escapes as Whitehouse holds back his disappointment. I'm tempted to say anger, but they remain mates. Bob is like a child at heart.
So, if it's your thing read the book, but if you don't, you can watch some episodes of the TV series as they are on YouTube. If you like TV with scenery, a nice view, travel to different places, it's wonderful, calming, and funny. Funny as in silly. As Mortimer asks, what's the tomato in your life? I suppose we all have a tomato in our life, or perhaps we are still looking for it.
I came across an article in The Guardianonline that posed the question, “why are biographies so popular?” I could ask, are they?
I like to read biographies. Actually, I prefer the “auto” biography or memoir. I do read biographies, but I am more inclined to go for the account actually written by the individual telling their own story.
I feel that sometimes biography is used as a catch-all word that includes autobiography, biography, and memoir. I quite like the Wikipedia definition of memoir.
