Jungle Rope Bridges (They ain’t pretty but they get the job done)

A jungle rope bridge is a crude structure of ropes and wooden boards that allows someone to get from A to B. It’s the sort of thing you see Indiana Jones cross in films.

They are simple structures, quick to assemble and in most cases will get you where you need to go.

It is also a metaphor that I like to describe a quick planning document. All it is, is a bunch of bullet point notes that you can use to construct an article (or anything else).

Here’s the one I did for this article.

This is a great way of getting your ideas out in a short concise way. If you are nervous about a difficult writing task it is reassuring to have something to look at when you get panicked or stuck. It is also great when you are low energy but want to do something useful. I have started making these sorts of lists when I am with my kids. In this situation it’s not practical to open my laptop and get working but it is easy to jot down a few notes.

Another thing I like about it is how hassle-free it is to edit. If I see a section that isn’t working I can just abandon it easily. Compare this to if you had spent a good deal of time on a section. You would be loathed to get rid of it since it’s the product of so much time and effort. “Killing your darlings” isn’t nearly as painful if you haven’t had that much time to get attached to them in the first place.

It also allows you to include a cool image at the beginning. The one up top comes from the movie Sorcerer, a lesser known but nevertheless great film by William Friedkin. It depicts the most iconic moment in the thriller where the characters have to drive two trucks over a Jungle Rope bridge. It is extremely tense – the ropes fray, boards crack and it takes ages for them to cross – but they do. A great moment and a ringing endorsement of a method that ain’t pretty but gets the job done.