A bit of process.
Last month's column, somewhat to my surprise, almost
wrote itself in one sitting. The first version was completed so far ahead of schedule
that I was able to put it aside and attend to other tasks. And then, when I returned
to it for editing I found myself asking myself questions like "did I really
write that?", or blurting out to myself "but that's not necessarily
the case".
I found myself chasing a thread that seemed, more and more, to be only tangentially
related to the core of what I wanted to write. And while tangents in the Boidem
are not only permissible, but even desirable, this time the connection was simply
too weak. If, when I'd started writing the column I thought I had a clear idea
of what I wanted to claim, as I continued to write it become more and more apparent
(to myself at least) that the associations that sprang to mind from the central
metaphor of personalization just weren't as related to that metaphor as I originally
thought. Perhaps things started on a branch of the trunk, but at some stage I
had to admit that the branch and the trunk were on different trees.
I reminded myself that there was no law against barking up the wrong tree, but
if it was truly clear to me that this actually was the wrong tree, then the branches
and the leaves that were sprouting were either growing as an unsuccessful, and
uninvited transplant, or weren't able to find the correct nourishment that they
might get from the correct roots and trunk. It was clear to me that I was going
to have to rework things, and the solution that presented itself was something
along the lines of alternative universes - two columns that would start from the
same place, but would branch off in separate directions, make conflicting claims.
In this way I wouldn't have to take sides, I would take both sides.
Go to: Back and forth, or
Go to: It's nothing personal.