While it is not the straight forward read I was hoping for, The Autobiography of Mark Twain is inspiring.

One instant take away is that over his life he was continually writing what he referred to as “scraps.”

Little memories, thoughts and less formal essays about anything that was on his mind. They remind me a lot of what I’ve always called “rambles” on my blog.

While a deep thought might be overly thought and planned out and be viewed more as a “post” or “article” there are plenty of times when I sit down and start typing because I need to get the “brain slurpees” out of my head and on to the page. It is how I have approached blogging since I began way back in 2002.

I’m no Mark Twain, but knowing that he approached writing that way was a solid reminder that every writer approaches their craft differently.

There are stacks of notebooks full of scraps. This site has hundreds of them.

Not everything has to be the greatest novel in the world or going to win an award.

There is a benefit for getting the thoughts out and onto the page. I’ve been writing in my paper journal every couple of days. Do I worry what future generations of my family will think when they read them? Of course, I do, but like Twain, I’ve embraced the fact that those scraps won’t be read until I’m dead and gone and at that point, it won’t matter because I’ll have nothing to worry about.

Scraps…the little pieces on the side of the plate or that fall to the floor. It doesn’t make them bad, just makes them a bit more interesting sometimes.