I do now.
Always too preoccupied with trying to be perfect? The fear of failure paralyses you? Sound familiar?
I was there with writing. I thought you could only write meaningful words sitting in a fancy chair, in front of an organised desk—and if you wanted to stretch—listening to a slow, work-easy playlist. What the fuck. How could you possibly write serious stuff waiting in line at the post office? Or on a crowded train, standing up, waiting for a seat.
No, it’s not right. That sentence, or linking paragraph, can come to you at any time. I can’t call myself a writer—but if I did—a writer’s mind is always on. Fiction or non, you’re mapping out the next bit, or the next thing. If you don’t get those words down, what happens? They leave, they fuck off, never to be found again. Apple didn’t necessarily design their phones for this purpose, but writing on the run is as easy as playing Wordle.
Some validation.
George Saunders says, “Anywhere and everywhere.” Garden sheds, aeroplanes, even while you’re at work doing your day job.
Tina Brown—former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, now writer, podcaster, and Substack diarist at Fresh Hell—talks of “mobile and flight writing.” She emphasises: “A writer needs innate awareness, sharp observation, and a distinct worldview rather than just technical structure.”
Is it I like, or I’m fond of? Either way, bravo, Tina Brown. I’m smitten.
The conditions will never be perfect. Just do it anyway.
Nick
