This reminds me of early versions of Microsoft Word.
Edit: And more generally, DOS, FAT and CHKDSK.
You never knew, when there was a power interruption -- or when the system just crashed for whatever mysterious reason -- just how bad it would be. NTFS was such an improvement.
My wife is a user of Illustrator and Photoshop. A high cadence routine of SaveAs and Command-S on a regular basis has saved her from having to re-do hours of work so, so many times in 2019 alone.
In university, we did programming exams on machines with no hard disks, which booted from DOS floppy disks.
The teacher recommended at the beginning of the exam to save often, especially before running our programs, because if they got stuck, we would have to reboot, losing everything.
Of course, there was still a guy that typed for a whole hour without saving. Upon running his program, it obviously crashed and he lost all his work.
I got the habit of saving constantly pressing ctrl-s ever since. I do it even in apps that don't save anything, getting annoying sounds from my computer.
And then you work on an interface like Confluence's page editor where for no good reason, Ctrl+S is mapped to exiting the edior. It saves your edits in the background while you type, so you don't lose anything. But you get interrupted in a big way. Changing that would be trivial, but Atlassian deprioritized it to the bottom of the stack.
Last week my colleague and I were sharing screens while he was writing a document. 10 minutes in and some good wording put into the document I asked him: "Are you saving this?". He answered, "yes, I do Ctrl+S while typing, I mean, between words". And I couldn't even notice it. That's level 5 in the craze scale.
Yup. A few years ago I tried to reduce my dependence on the computer by writing more things down by hand, only to discover my left hand had developed a nervous tic that resulted in me attempting to hit command-S on the paper.
Better than CTRL-C though. We used to have an Microfocus COBOL app (in the twin-floppy days) that would happily let you spend the entire day entering data, then fail to trap an accidental CTRl-C (it's close to "S", obvs). The developers had never allowed for that. Soul destroying..
Using kdenlive for video editing on Linux has served has a good reminder many times to save often.
Cloud and mobile apps are often very good at taking this task away from a user, but it's worth remembering to take responsibility for saving/backing up files that have value.
Some online editors are still struggling with that. Lost a whole day of work just because I had an IP change and Thrive Architect for Wordpress did not save my edits.
Now I am really surprised. I knew that Xenix was a Unix that belonged to Microsoft, but I didn't know Word worked on a Unix. And I didn't know that Xenix was bought by SCO later. Looked up wikipedia on Xenix [0], and there are a lot of interesting facts in there, that for me put some aspects of the PC and Unix history in new lights. For example:
"Microsoft hopes that XENIX will become the preferred choice for software production and exchange", the company stated in 1981.[8] Microsoft referred to its own MS-DOS as its "single-user, single-tasking operating system",[31] and advised customers that wanted multiuser or multitasking support to buy XENIX.[31][32] It planned to over time improve MS-DOS so it would be almost indistinguishable from single-user XENIX, or XEDOS, which would also run on the 68000, Z8000, and LSI-11; they would be upwardly compatible with XENIX, which BYTE in 1983 described as "the multi-user MS-DOS of the future".[33][34] Microsoft's Chris Larson described MS-DOS 2.0's XENIX compatibility as "the second most important feature".[35] His company advertised DOS and XENIX together, listing the shared features of its "single-user OS" and "the multi-user, multi-tasking, UNIX-derived operating system", and promising easy porting between them.
AT&T started selling System V,[37] however, after the breakup of the Bell System. Microsoft, believing that it could not compete with UNIX's developer, decided to abandon XENIX. The decision was not immediately transparent, which led to the term vaporware.[38] It agreed with IBM to develop OS/2,[4] and the XENIX team (together with the best MS-DOS developers)[citation needed] was assigned to that project. In 1987, Microsoft transferred ownership of XENIX to SCO in an agreement that left Microsoft owning slightly less than 20% of SCO (this amount prevented both companies from having to disclose the exact amount in the event of a SCO IPO). When Microsoft eventually lost interest[clarification needed] in OS/2 as well, the company based its further high-end strategy on Windows NT."
As I vaguely recall, it typically went like this. You're editing some document. Something bad happens, and the system goes down. You reboot, and get the CHKDSK prompt. If you cancel out, sometimes your document is corrupted. If you run CHKDSK, sometimes your document is entirely gone. Unless you've been saving a revision history.
This is me writing a comment for this app using hardcore mode which right now I realise is having the text co clompletely blurred and it is quite hard indeed I can barely come back a word if I write a type. Although it doesnt seem to be based onmy typing speed so I guess if you are good at typing it's not as bad as if you are bad at it. Well I don't what to say more than that the interface is nice and it seem to be quite performant, I wonder what sort of tehcnology they were using to do it? Just pure JS maybe, I mean it is not that complicated but the concept is interested. I What else should I say, I wish there was a little typewriter sound but then maybe it wouldn't be nice, or actually maybe it ithere but I just cannot see it because I don't have my headfphones on me. And by see it I mean har it because of course you do not see sounds except if you are like super high. This is probably how people like Nietwszhe write and what the fuck how hard is that name to write without feedback.
ok lets do ths. I have no idea what is happening or how long i can go without typing before all that i ahve typed before will be lost: I feel like im making way more mistakes than i usually do, which is weird because I usually dont have to look at what Im typing as much either. I dont know. I have basically nothing left to say. And i am scarted to lose this challenge. It seems only one minute is over so far. So we have some ways to go. Quite a while actually. Closing in on half, but not really if i look at it properly. This bprogress bar at the top is really stressing me out. I feel llike Keanu Reeves in Speed. Or Sandra Bullock. Or ... What this guys name again. The one from dumb and dumber... ah commonm you know this! Dennis Hopper is the bad guy. Ah... I cant believe I'm blanking on the name. He was in Newsroom, which was not quite as good as it was supposed to be. Actually quite a lot less -... goood? I guess. Well, anywaya. Araron Sorkin is kind of hit or miss if you think about it. For example Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was ver y entertaining but the "high-stakes" scenarios they went for near the end of the season just didn't really work for a TV show setting. But overall I enjoyed it quite a lot I guess. Almost done!
Wow I’m typing on my phone and I can’t see anything. I suppose if I don’t keep typing this will be all read I mean deleted. Oh well. Such is life. It reminds me of free writing. It is a form of free writing that is enforced I guess that’s useful. For things like writers block and what not.
But what am I to say? Nice product? I guess it’s a cool proof of concept. But I don’t see myself using it. It is more like a neat little toy, almost like performance art.
It is a new form of medium, where the rules are enforced onyoi. I suppose there are other such forms of modes. Does this bring with it anything u inquest and of lasting value? Or is it mostly single player entertainment?
I wonder if something similar can be done for multiplayer chat. Text that mimics actual social interaction in a new way is interesting. Such as IRC and twitter. Maybe even communicating with gifs.
Only time will tell what will last. Normal text yes, movies sure.
I find myself speeding up more for the 3’ deadline
This is probably the most dangerous writing application ever, removing your progress if no input is received within (probably) 10 seconds out of minutes-long session (by default 5 minutes, minimum of 3 minutes I think) and your progress is gone. Thankfully you can delete words and that does count as a progress, so you can technically possible to add and remove a word back and force to keep your precious writing ever. Of course it only means that you keep progressing, not producing a quality writing. In the hard core mode this is amplified by having your all progress being blurred out and you can only concentrate on the last word or two, meaning that you are just writing as your mind guidesf.... I accidentally removed the last word and can't remember what it was, see? This is pretty hardcore indeed. But I'm nearing the completion and I guess this is done.
Hardcore mode blurs every thing you type, so you have no idea if you are writing correctly. All you have to go by is your judgement and the belief that you do not misspell your words. And even if you did, you are willing to edit it all out later.
I can see the appeal of doing this for people who worry too much about what they are writing and constantly go back to edit their words and spellings. However, this is a stupid idea because going back to make minor edits allows the brain to formulate the next thought and frame it into better sentences.
By vomiting everything in one flow, you are simply increasing the amount of work required in terms of editing and re-writing the incorrect parts. Not to mention the large amount of proof-reading work that will inevitably follow all your work.
Does hardcore mode allow pauses? Let's see. Five potatoes to figure it out... Yes it does. Same five-potato time-limit.
Ah, too many potatoes.
-------
I was sweating buckets the whole time. I hate the idea of my writing vanishing, so the pressure was quite high to keep typing...
How dangerous is this app? I mean how much time does it give me? Is the danger that my document will be lost, or that in attempting not to let that happen I will write too much. I will write the wrong thing. I will go down paths which are meant not to be followed, ordinarily edited out of existence. This is the danger, I suspect. But the other is also. It is a double danger. This double danger models a double danger in other areas. It is perhaps a fundamental mode of danger. Dangerness. The fear of a thing which both prevents or enables, complementarily. How does that work? What are examples? Can we name a time the fear has positively (we posit) prevented manifestation? Certainly. In general, it is socially unacceptable to analyze or look too deeply past the constructs which supposedly shield prying eyes from the conclusions which would be evident if the components were scrutinized. China Miéville explores this exquisitely in The City and The City. There citizens of two nearly colocated cities 'unsee' the other by law. Likewise, we ordinarily must unsee what is meant to be unseen. The danger then is that our unseeing be threatened by the possiblity that we lose sight altogether. Backed into a corner and forced to confront complete unsight, we restrain the restrainer. We disassemble the governor so we do not accidentally edit ourselves out of existence. Through abolition of constraint we cross over into conceptual indecency.
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And I also notice there are a bunch of plug ins for writers out there (organizational, word count, outline your .md document and so forth).
I don't think I can spearhead the effort. My impression is an experienced Atom developer could knock it out in 12 hours (2 to build and debug it, 2 hours to fix complaints, and 8 hours to make it right after a few weeks). <- this guess is based on absolutely nothing other than a wild guess.
I got to 5 minutes. I have a kid so this was easy :D
Once upon a time there was a banana. That banana was called bob. Bob the banana used to have fights with other fruit. His arch nemesis was Oscar the orange. Oscar was a very orange orange. He was so orange that everyone else was jealous. Bob the banana wasn't very yellow. He was kind of yellow with dark splotches on. That is why Bob used to fight the other fruit. He was jealous of Oscar's orangey orangeness. He was also jealous of Adam Apple's shiny red skin. Finally, he was jealous of the grape gangs lovely green skin.
One day Bob was busy fighting Oscar, Adam and the Grape Gang. All at once. That's right. He was a very good fighter as he practiced a lot by fighting the other fruit.
Percy pineapple saw the fight and came up to Bob and intervened. He said, 'Oi. Bob. What you doing?'
'I'm fighting!'
'Why?'
'I don't know.'
Bob was sad. Bob shrugged. He didn't know why he was fighting.
'You never fight me' said Percy pineapple.
'You're right, I don't.'
'You only ever fight the fruit with lovely skin. Did you notice that?'
'Oh. You're right. I do'
'Do you think maybe you wish you had perfect skin like them?'
'You're right. I wish I did have lovely perfect skin without any blemishes. Instead, I have this grotty yellow skin with dark patches all over it.'
'That's ok. I have spiky skin. Nobody can even touch me and I never get any cuddles.'
'Oh.'
'Mmmhmmm'
Bob felt bad.
'Maybe I could try and hug you'.
'I wouldn't advise it, I'm very spikey. I've got used to just having high fives and fist bumps instead'
'Oh. That sounds like a good idea'.
Bob and Percy have a nice high five session. Bob isn't very good at high fives so it took a lot of practice. After about four thousand attempts they get it right and do one of the awesome high fives from top gun. That's right, a top gun high and low high five. They both feel really cool.
Bob isn't feeling sad any more.
Bob then looks around and notices the other fruit that he was decking. The fruit is looking a bit bashed up. He apologises for what he has done and then asks 'Can anyone do anything to help me?'
Yes! It was easy to get to 5 minutes because I have 3 kids. Here's my five minute story:
---
Once there was a boy.
A very young boy.
He never really had a family.
Or even a hope.
Once he met a rabbit in the woods. But this wasn't just any rabbit. This rabbit had a hope. He had a family. He had the things the boy lacked.
This struck the boy as strange.
Why should this rabbit have the things that he so longed for?
Why should there be boys in the world like himself that lacked family? Lacked hope?
The rabbit found the boy strange as well. He decided, without any particular thought, to bring the boy home to his warren.
The day was cool. It was fall and the leaves had just begun to depart their branches. The boy strolled idly behind the rabbit, not quite wanting to follow, not quite wanting to lose the rabbit in the ins and outs of bush and trunk.
They arrived presently at the base of a very large tree. The boy stopped, several feet shy of the tangle of roots. The rabbit looked up at him and gave him a slight nod, as if sensing the tension in the boy's shoulders, his reticence, his disbelief.
The rabbit gestured to the roots. Through the tangle, the boy detected a slit of light emerging and caught the whiff of something nice. Was that tea?
I guess I just have to keep typing?
What would be the point?
How long do I have before the screen goes fuzzy?
Blank?
I lose everything entirely?
Seems like the best strategy would be just to type really slowly.
Then, your thoughts would always have more room for more words, while you would never fall into the fuzzy screen.
But I don't think that's really the point.
What is the point?
Is the problem that we don't get all of over stream of consciousness out onto the page, constantly? That we never miss a word or a thought? Is everything worthy of being memorialized in solid memory?
Or perhaps the idea is just to get a rough draft down. Let it see where it goes, and then go back and edit.
Some people do have a problem getting started, and "staying" started. I don't know if I do. Seems I can ramble on and ramble along.
What would Hemmingway say?
Is this really the way to do this?
How do "real" writers actually write? Probably not with their words going fuzzy constantly. Probably not under the gun.
Sounds like a concept for a screenplay from a nightmare of a screenwriter.
"I was having the worst dream..."
Had to keep writing or I would lose everything. It was completely amazing, and I couldn't save. No CTRL+S. No CMD+S. No cloud save or autosave. Just have to keep typing.
"It's like the world's most boring remake of Speed. If you ever stop typing, your screenplay blows up."
Who the hell would want to watch that? Or read it?
But I was stuck in that nightmare, having to write it. Constantly. Couldn't stop to think, have a drink, or even go to the bathroom.
Readit News
Edit: And more generally, DOS, FAT and CHKDSK.
You never knew, when there was a power interruption -- or when the system just crashed for whatever mysterious reason -- just how bad it would be. NTFS was such an improvement.
I even have a script to delete all HTML in my Download folder.
Also the habit of saving multiple copies, as a revision history. Because Word occasionally wrote garbage to files, while crashing.
The teacher recommended at the beginning of the exam to save often, especially before running our programs, because if they got stuck, we would have to reboot, losing everything.
Of course, there was still a guy that typed for a whole hour without saving. Upon running his program, it obviously crashed and he lost all his work.
I got the habit of saving constantly pressing ctrl-s ever since. I do it even in apps that don't save anything, getting annoying sounds from my computer.
I still do it reflexively after every significant change.
Cloud and mobile apps are often very good at taking this task away from a user, but it's worth remembering to take responsibility for saving/backing up files that have value.
Even clouds can get blown away some times.
3 hours later...
Now, I save whenever I am happy with a single edit.
But then again I don't think it was more than a month ago that some coworker lost work because Photo Shop crashed and they hadn't saved in a while.
I also have the habit of pressing it more than one time, every time I press it.
I'm not even be sure that save will really save.
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2008/02/19/why-are-the-micros...
"Microsoft hopes that XENIX will become the preferred choice for software production and exchange", the company stated in 1981.[8] Microsoft referred to its own MS-DOS as its "single-user, single-tasking operating system",[31] and advised customers that wanted multiuser or multitasking support to buy XENIX.[31][32] It planned to over time improve MS-DOS so it would be almost indistinguishable from single-user XENIX, or XEDOS, which would also run on the 68000, Z8000, and LSI-11; they would be upwardly compatible with XENIX, which BYTE in 1983 described as "the multi-user MS-DOS of the future".[33][34] Microsoft's Chris Larson described MS-DOS 2.0's XENIX compatibility as "the second most important feature".[35] His company advertised DOS and XENIX together, listing the shared features of its "single-user OS" and "the multi-user, multi-tasking, UNIX-derived operating system", and promising easy porting between them.
AT&T started selling System V,[37] however, after the breakup of the Bell System. Microsoft, believing that it could not compete with UNIX's developer, decided to abandon XENIX. The decision was not immediately transparent, which led to the term vaporware.[38] It agreed with IBM to develop OS/2,[4] and the XENIX team (together with the best MS-DOS developers)[citation needed] was assigned to that project. In 1987, Microsoft transferred ownership of XENIX to SCO in an agreement that left Microsoft owning slightly less than 20% of SCO (this amount prevented both companies from having to disclose the exact amount in the event of a SCO IPO). When Microsoft eventually lost interest[clarification needed] in OS/2 as well, the company based its further high-end strategy on Windows NT."
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix
As I vaguely recall, it typically went like this. You're editing some document. Something bad happens, and the system goes down. You reboot, and get the CHKDSK prompt. If you cancel out, sometimes your document is corrupted. If you run CHKDSK, sometimes your document is entirely gone. Unless you've been saving a revision history.
This is me writing a comment for this app using hardcore mode which right now I realise is having the text co clompletely blurred and it is quite hard indeed I can barely come back a word if I write a type. Although it doesnt seem to be based onmy typing speed so I guess if you are good at typing it's not as bad as if you are bad at it. Well I don't what to say more than that the interface is nice and it seem to be quite performant, I wonder what sort of tehcnology they were using to do it? Just pure JS maybe, I mean it is not that complicated but the concept is interested. I What else should I say, I wish there was a little typewriter sound but then maybe it wouldn't be nice, or actually maybe it ithere but I just cannot see it because I don't have my headfphones on me. And by see it I mean har it because of course you do not see sounds except if you are like super high. This is probably how people like Nietwszhe write and what the fuck how hard is that name to write without feedback.
Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanderss. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flfanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw
ok lets do ths. I have no idea what is happening or how long i can go without typing before all that i ahve typed before will be lost: I feel like im making way more mistakes than i usually do, which is weird because I usually dont have to look at what Im typing as much either. I dont know. I have basically nothing left to say. And i am scarted to lose this challenge. It seems only one minute is over so far. So we have some ways to go. Quite a while actually. Closing in on half, but not really if i look at it properly. This bprogress bar at the top is really stressing me out. I feel llike Keanu Reeves in Speed. Or Sandra Bullock. Or ... What this guys name again. The one from dumb and dumber... ah commonm you know this! Dennis Hopper is the bad guy. Ah... I cant believe I'm blanking on the name. He was in Newsroom, which was not quite as good as it was supposed to be. Actually quite a lot less -... goood? I guess. Well, anywaya. Araron Sorkin is kind of hit or miss if you think about it. For example Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was ver y entertaining but the "high-stakes" scenarios they went for near the end of the season just didn't really work for a TV show setting. But overall I enjoyed it quite a lot I guess. Almost done!
But what am I to say? Nice product? I guess it’s a cool proof of concept. But I don’t see myself using it. It is more like a neat little toy, almost like performance art.
It is a new form of medium, where the rules are enforced onyoi. I suppose there are other such forms of modes. Does this bring with it anything u inquest and of lasting value? Or is it mostly single player entertainment?
I wonder if something similar can be done for multiplayer chat. Text that mimics actual social interaction in a new way is interesting. Such as IRC and twitter. Maybe even communicating with gifs.
Only time will tell what will last. Normal text yes, movies sure.
I find myself speeding up more for the 3’ deadline
It seems all apostrophes in your message are replaced by ’ (a with hat, euro symbol, TM symbol).
So, yeah, I think I like it.
---
Hardcore mode blurs every thing you type, so you have no idea if you are writing correctly. All you have to go by is your judgement and the belief that you do not misspell your words. And even if you did, you are willing to edit it all out later.
I can see the appeal of doing this for people who worry too much about what they are writing and constantly go back to edit their words and spellings. However, this is a stupid idea because going back to make minor edits allows the brain to formulate the next thought and frame it into better sentences.
By vomiting everything in one flow, you are simply increasing the amount of work required in terms of editing and re-writing the incorrect parts. Not to mention the large amount of proof-reading work that will inevitably follow all your work.
Does hardcore mode allow pauses? Let's see. Five potatoes to figure it out... Yes it does. Same five-potato time-limit.
Ah, too many potatoes.
-------
I was sweating buckets the whole time. I hate the idea of my writing vanishing, so the pressure was quite high to keep typing...
===
Soon, I will master this.
Soon, I will be able to just let my ideas flow.
Soon there will be no need for huge edits while typing.
Soon there will be shape in the words as they come out.
Maybe I should just delete the words myself and start over.
Or may I should just let the words be even if I don't like them.
Soon, I will master this.
Soon, I will be able to not stop.
Soon, I will be able to say what's really on my mind.
I wonder why there is friction between the words.
I wonder why the ideas in my head does not get reflected into words as I see them inside me.
Is it really true that I have ideas in me, or is it just an illusion?
Why are so many of the things I think I'm thinking about don't really just come out once I start trying to record them?
Do my ideas really exist? Or am I just imagining having them?
Do ideas matter if they are not told? Even to oneself?
Soon, I will get the answer to these questions.
Soon, I will master this.
Soon, I will survive the grueling task of coming up with ideas.
I am a writer.
I am a writer because I write.
I could write without having to think first.
My ideas will just come right out of me into words.
My ideas are real.
Soon, I will master the art of coming up with ideas.
===
I think it came out kind of alright.
https://v2.writeordie.com
https://writingstreak.io
http://writtenkitten.co
And, yes, the most dangerous writing app.
The idea is that it is easier to edit once done, so it is important to get everything out quickly and then go back and edit.
Edit: Someone should come up with an Atom plugin that does the same.
Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead
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It doesn't delete your text, it just blurs it as you're writing. So like you said, you can get everything out on the page without self-editing.
I use it to write all of my blog posts and then export them to markdown when I'm finished and ready to publish on my static site.
How to get started making an Atom plugin? Would love to collaborate w/you or others
I think this is a great resource:
https://github.blog/2016-08-19-building-your-first-atom-plug...
And I also notice there are a bunch of plug ins for writers out there (organizational, word count, outline your .md document and so forth).
I don't think I can spearhead the effort. My impression is an experienced Atom developer could knock it out in 12 hours (2 to build and debug it, 2 hours to fix complaints, and 8 hours to make it right after a few weeks). <- this guess is based on absolutely nothing other than a wild guess.
Once upon a time there was a banana. That banana was called bob. Bob the banana used to have fights with other fruit. His arch nemesis was Oscar the orange. Oscar was a very orange orange. He was so orange that everyone else was jealous. Bob the banana wasn't very yellow. He was kind of yellow with dark splotches on. That is why Bob used to fight the other fruit. He was jealous of Oscar's orangey orangeness. He was also jealous of Adam Apple's shiny red skin. Finally, he was jealous of the grape gangs lovely green skin.
One day Bob was busy fighting Oscar, Adam and the Grape Gang. All at once. That's right. He was a very good fighter as he practiced a lot by fighting the other fruit.
Percy pineapple saw the fight and came up to Bob and intervened. He said, 'Oi. Bob. What you doing?'
'I'm fighting!'
'Why?'
'I don't know.'
Bob was sad. Bob shrugged. He didn't know why he was fighting.
'You never fight me' said Percy pineapple.
'You're right, I don't.'
'You only ever fight the fruit with lovely skin. Did you notice that?'
'Oh. You're right. I do'
'Do you think maybe you wish you had perfect skin like them?'
'You're right. I wish I did have lovely perfect skin without any blemishes. Instead, I have this grotty yellow skin with dark patches all over it.'
'That's ok. I have spiky skin. Nobody can even touch me and I never get any cuddles.'
'Oh.'
'Mmmhmmm'
Bob felt bad.
'Maybe I could try and hug you'.
'I wouldn't advise it, I'm very spikey. I've got used to just having high fives and fist bumps instead'
'Oh. That sounds like a good idea'.
Bob and Percy have a nice high five session. Bob isn't very good at high fives so it took a lot of practice. After about four thousand attempts they get it right and do one of the awesome high fives from top gun. That's right, a top gun high and low high five. They both feel really cool.
Bob isn't feeling sad any more.
Bob then looks around and notices the other fruit that he was decking. The fruit is looking a bit bashed up. He apologises for what he has done and then asks 'Can anyone do anything to help me?'
---
Once there was a boy.
A very young boy.
He never really had a family.
Or even a hope.
Once he met a rabbit in the woods. But this wasn't just any rabbit. This rabbit had a hope. He had a family. He had the things the boy lacked.
This struck the boy as strange.
Why should this rabbit have the things that he so longed for?
Why should there be boys in the world like himself that lacked family? Lacked hope?
The rabbit found the boy strange as well. He decided, without any particular thought, to bring the boy home to his warren.
The day was cool. It was fall and the leaves had just begun to depart their branches. The boy strolled idly behind the rabbit, not quite wanting to follow, not quite wanting to lose the rabbit in the ins and outs of bush and trunk.
They arrived presently at the base of a very large tree. The boy stopped, several feet shy of the tangle of roots. The rabbit looked up at him and gave him a slight nod, as if sensing the tension in the boy's shoulders, his reticence, his disbelief.
The rabbit gestured to the roots. Through the tangle, the boy detected a slit of light emerging and caught the whiff of something nice. Was that tea?
But I don't think that's really the point.
What is the point?
Is the problem that we don't get all of over stream of consciousness out onto the page, constantly? That we never miss a word or a thought? Is everything worthy of being memorialized in solid memory?
Or perhaps the idea is just to get a rough draft down. Let it see where it goes, and then go back and edit.
Some people do have a problem getting started, and "staying" started. I don't know if I do. Seems I can ramble on and ramble along.
What would Hemmingway say?
Is this really the way to do this?
How do "real" writers actually write? Probably not with their words going fuzzy constantly. Probably not under the gun.
Sounds like a concept for a screenplay from a nightmare of a screenwriter.
"I was having the worst dream..."
Had to keep writing or I would lose everything. It was completely amazing, and I couldn't save. No CTRL+S. No CMD+S. No cloud save or autosave. Just have to keep typing.
"It's like the world's most boring remake of Speed. If you ever stop typing, your screenplay blows up."
Who the hell would want to watch that? Or read it?
But I was stuck in that nightmare, having to write it. Constantly. Couldn't stop to think, have a drink, or even go to the bathroom.