4️⃣ TREE 704: No prog rock

This week I’m sharing five rules that govern how I make a TREE post.

1. Say one thing

2. Tell the truth

3. No Syrup

4. No prog rock

I drew this on my phone in May 2017 then posted it on Instagram with the caption ‘Note to self’. I had no idea what it meant, but it stuck with me.

Three years later I started TREE and realised that what I’m trying to give you is the written equivalent of a pop song: a good groove and a hook that sticks with you longer than the time it takes to read.

I will not give you the literary version of a 10-minute solo played on a 37 string guitar with an ancient Antarctic tuning known only to emperor penguins and three pale men from Canada. I will not affix ostentatious decorations to my words (unless it’s necessary like in this sentence). I will stick with the one thing I’m trying to tell you. I will not write about the angle of the sun shining through my office window or the colour of my tea, the texture of my stationery or the click of my keyboard. You will not know about my heart sinking at the sight of the blank page or floating when I smell the glorious fragrance of a freshly opened laptop. I will not spend my words relaying the tangential 1986 incident involving the blacksmith and the loon. I will not tell you about the lark ascending or the pigeon descending or the chicken moving sideways or any of the other stuff of life that surrounds me UNLESS THAT IS THE ONE THING I AM WRITING ABOUT.

I want to take up two minutes of your day with some words that have a good rhythm and an idea that will play in your mind for a few hours and maybe tweak your thinking a little. That’s it.

Pop songs.

A good groove and a hook that sticks with you:

Grow slowly
Jeff

P.S. You know how Dickens is famous for his rich descriptions? His rich descriptions are why the only Dickens I’ve managed to read is the first 50 pages of Great Expectations. If you also don’t get excited about rich descriptions, there’s a decent chance you’ll enjoy my book.