I have stenoed chapter 39. It’s one of my worst; I think I chose a duff memory trigger. I will be re-writing chapter 39 with a different memory trigger that I can write more about. I had decided to write about the handmade knife I chose and was given for my 40th birthday (I “bought” it for a few pence though as tradition has it you should never gift someone a knife), made at a forge in Peckham, about two miles from where I lived at the time. It, unlike my chapter, is a thing of great beauty, craftsmanship and brilliance. I feel bad that it has some discolouration, despite my looking after it and washing it as soon as I’ve finished using it.
I might write chapter 40 next and think more about chapter 39. It would not feel right finishing the 40 chapters, thus the celebratory end of the first draft, with chapter 39 being so short, lacking direction and not saying anything of remote interest.