02 April 2011

My first essay in years

I've been writing my first essay for my degree this afternoon, and realising I've become a bit rusty at writing.  Also it has seemed easier to work out my thoughts on paper at times.  I guess this demonstrates my Gen X mixture of digital vs analogue thinking. The new laptop is a breeze to work on and still very pretty.  It is very strange writing an essay without a cigarette in my hand, though.  When I think that all of my creative and academic writing, since 1987, was done with a cigarette in one hand, it is with an odd, calm, unobstructed but strangely empty clarity that I attempt to think creatively sans addiction.  Four months is not very long in the face of a 24 year relationship with the evil weed, and it is probably a good thing to do the degree now and really practise this writing without anything to mentally lean on.  I have eaten a lot of biscuits today, but I find this is becoming less as time goes on.  As I become immersed in the task at hand, I do notice less and less that I am doing it without smoking, and that can only be a good thing.  And now to return to the essay and see if it still sounds as erudite as it did when I stood up for a stretch half an hour ago...

2 comments:

  1. Yay :)
    Stephen Fry actually wrote about the same thing in his latest book - how hard he found it to sit down and write without smoking. He's produced amazing things since :) Good luck with the rest of the essay!
    nyss

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for this, nyss - I'll consider myself in inspiring company!

    ReplyDelete