December 7, 2025
Research Notes I Refuse to Waste
I have notebooks from decades of reading, travel, and observation.
Most never appear directly on the page. That is not failure; it is compost.
A detail cut from one chapter may become the emotional hinge of another book years later. Research works best for me when it is patient rather than extractive.
I keep these notes because they remind me writing is not production-line work.
It is a long conversation with memory, place, and language.
Clive