Mountain to climb inspired by one of the tweets I had read by Joe Simpson. It was about the ten rules of writing. I was both mystified and intrigued by what he had said. Now I have read all of Joe Simpson’s Mountain books starting with Touching the Void. The descriptions of the weather and digging his ice axe into the blue ice clinging to the mountains. My imagination let me be by his side as he described in detail, what was happening around him. In terms of writing, he said things like using short sentences. I get that, but he also used words which I don’t have a chance of spelling! The other day I was recommending a steak house to friends. Now they like the most expensive steak found on the menu, I can pronounce it, but spell it no chance! Apparently, spelt, Chateaubriand.
Preparation
As I am a dyslexic who thinks in pictures, getting grammar and spelling correct is a real struggle. But I love the idea of describing something and letting a picture build in your head. An example of this would be watching a fire. Describes the black and grey embers on the scorched ground while flames in colours red, orange, and yellow dance mischievously around the wood. The feeling of warmth while toasting the marshmallow for a tasty snack. So, yet another struggle I had with Joe’s advice on Twitter. How do you apply these rules when you don’t remember them? Also, my proofreading skills are nil!
New Beginnings
My mother tried to instil skills into my brain, proofreading, spelling and grammar. Today I still struggle and can still produce work with no punctuation. Where do you put the full stop, comma, and apostrophe? So, now using speech-to-text, dictation software such as Dragon to aid my writing quest. I got my loving partner to proofread my work, he suggested running it through Hemmingway editor. I attempted this, and it returns as an enjoyable read! The next mission is tweaking everything. I know I can get my message across, but it is a mountain to climb as a dyslexic in a non-dyslexic world. Maybe I should include bullet points, but where do aid these? Thank goodness for spell check. It can be a lifesaver if I have not confused it and it and decides to give up. As a dyslexic should I dare to write? I even hope I can publish a book one day. Then again one day I look at Joe Simpson’s advice on how to draft a book. Still, mystified and intrigued and hope to get it right.