De Scriptorum

Damien Mulley has written an engaging piece on the theme of
"How Do You Write". He explains his methodology clearly and
it would be a good guide for anybody thinking of taking to this trade.

My answer to the question is simple...

I write

with difficulty.

Things picked up considerably once I stopped writing professionally.
Try describing a house without getting sued and you know what writing
truly is. Threats of writs used fall into the office like the hail that
is now falling from our leaden skies.

"What do you mean, the street where this house stands is noisy? You're sued!!!"


Thanks to a cheeful disposition I found it very funny indeed,
but took it seriously enough at the time to carry colour charts and measuring
tapes. I even used 'phone builder's providers to discuss what unrecognised materials in ceilings might possibly be. Nobody wants to end up out of pocket
just because they can't tell the difference between eau de nil and olive green.

I now write purely and simply for my own pleasure.
In that I am a fellow spirit with Freya Stark.
She could, thanks to a large inheritance, have sat tatting on a chaise longue
and gossipped about the neighbours to her heart's content.
Instead she gallopped round the Middle East at a time when ladies were not often seen there and certainly not gallopping.

She lived to be over one hundred, which I put down to the excellent effect
of being able to express herself freely and without restraint in writing.

She is a model to all of us.