My wife commented to me this morning that ‘Do – Improvise’ – the book I am currently writing – seems to be a lot easier than ‘Everything’s an Offer’ ever was. She is right.
It’s a bit like cooking. With the first book, it was as if I was trying to prepare food in a country I don’t know, with no recipe, no idea of where the shops are, what is good at this time of year or who is going to eat whatever I make. With ‘Do – Improvise’ I feel like I am at home, making something simple from fresh but familiar ingredients and some friends are coming round for dinner in about an hour.
What is interesting is that I couldn’t possibly do the second one without the first. ‘Everything’s an Offer’ taught me how to write a book. Now that I know that, I can just get on with the writing.
It reminds me of parenting. My father used to say that first children have it hardest because they have to teach their mother and father how to be parents. I don’t quite know where this goes, but it does seem to me that understanding when we are having to learn something as we do it, instead of just doing it, might help us to be a bit easier on ourselves.
