LARGE FLAKES of snow drift down mid-morning but the snow shower doesn’t
last long. It settles for a while on the ice on the pond and in patches on
the dark soil of the vegetable beds.Change of Focus |
Richard Bell's Wild West Yorkshire nature diary, Thursday, 3rd January, 2008 |
LARGE FLAKES of snow drift down mid-morning but the snow shower doesn’t
last long. It settles for a while on the ice on the pond and in patches on
the dark soil of the vegetable beds.
Today I’m reaping the benefits of all my work creating a clear, calm space in my studio; I’m writing an article for an American publication and it’s delightful not to have distractions and unfinished business lying around on every available surface.
As
we each have an individual voice, you’d think that being given free
rein would always be the best way to write but I’ve enjoyed the constraints,
such as they are, of this commission. It’s a countryside subject so,
you know me, I could have written an entire book on it, but having some guidance
about my target
audience
and
an example of the sort of writing they've come to expect has helped focus my
usual
ramblings.
If I was talking to you now about any countryside subject it wouldn’t be long before I started grumbling about something awful that has happened on my local patch and my guilt and frustration on not being able to do more to protect these treasured places would soon bubble to the surface but the commission was for a lively, interesting, positive kind of article and I’ve enjoyed putting on that kind of persona for a change.
I
should do it more often!