I’m finally getting down to the serious business of writing up my solo trip. I’m taking a bit of a different tack this year. Instead of writing the whole trip as I recall it, I’m trying to make it more of a story. I still want to include as much of the journey as possible, but I want to make sure that the emotional journey is as clear as the physical one.
This year’s solo had quite a few aspects that differentiated it from previous years. It was the first time I was hiking on trails I’d never walked before. I had never before hiked so many miles per day before. And I’d never had to deal with the challenge of meeting up with my husband for a resupply and then leaving him again the next day.
Prior years, I’d write the trip in a single document. This year I’m creating a document for each day and letting my husband read them as I finish. I think this method will help me keep moving, by allowing me to show my progress as I go.
I’m also adding captions to pictures as I think of them, which I hope will help once I get to the adding pictures stage. That won’t happen until all the words are written. I look through the day’s photos as I write, but I don’t insert them into the document. The story of the trip needs to stand on its own first.
The plan is to make some good progress over this Thanksgiving break on the write up so that by the time the Christmas break rolls around I’m, at the very least, working on inserting pictures and formatting the book. I’ll do my best to get it finished before the new year, but I won’t panic if that doesn’t end up happening.
I’ll just keep working until I’m finished and write the best book that I can.