Last time, the 50th episode, so a party to celebrate. At least, one was deserved. So now it is after the party. Annie Pirrie, an excellent researcher who did a great deal of contract research, wrote the reports and articles out of each project. However, afterwards, she thought ‘but what about this, or that?’ Annie said that she often wrote her most interesting, quirky and original articles after the main project. That’s an interesting idea. ‘After’ is a good time to think, to recover, to re-calibrate, to re-fuel, to rest. If you are bereaved, many people say you should not make big decisions. Perhaps the same goes for writing. When you finish a big project, perhaps a book or a thesis, you should perhaps not go straight onto the next project. Instead, you should think, contemplate, perhaps do a small quirky bit of writing. Or perhaps reading – reading books you might otherwise not read, reading novels, biographies, histories, or other materials. When Julian has researched solitude, he has asked when the best times are for solitude, and many people – children and adults – said, ‘after’, the day after Christmas, the day after a celebration, the hours after a sporting event. Solitude is often experienced ‘after’, and solitude is a good place to think original thoughts about writing. Go on: enjoy the afters.
","author_name":"Julian Stern"}