How to write a TROG

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You may have heard people yarning on about Trogs, you may have been nagged to write one and might not even know what a TROG is!

Trog stands for Trip Log, a story about your tramping club trip adventure! We collect these up over the year and put them into a book which is printed and given out at the end of the year. They are a great way to look back at some of the adventures you got up to while in the club and a great source of club history!

Here are some handy tips on how to write one:

  • Write it on Sunday evening or Monday! If you leave it any longer you often forget the details and often it never gets done because life gets in the way
  • The best Trogs are a little bit original, quirky, something everyone can relate to e.g. here’s a snippet from one in 2015: “Enda found a manky fork on the track near the hut. Zach didn’t bring cutlery for his dinner so resorted to using said manky fork. Although Zach did clean the manky fork with a wet wipe, this was after Enda cleaned the candle wax out of a candle holder with it”
  • Can you write with a theme or a different perspective? e.g. write a story from the perspective of your ice axe, tramping boots, or hat. Make Snowcraft into “Fearsome Warrior Ice Axe Training School?”
  • The route and time you spent walking to the hut or up a hill aren’t always that interesting. What is interesting is: what you were thinking about while trying to climb the hill, how many people you can fit into a three-man tent, how many times you wake up during a snowstorm, something silly someone brought on a trip, things that went wrong and how many beers you drank at the pub on the way home.
  • Tell the story of the tramp itself, not the details of your trip.
  • Trogs don’t have to be long or even in the order that it happened on the trip. Other formats/ styles could be poems, diary entries, haikus, limericks, be creative!
  • Include the names of people who went on the trip at the top as well as the date and trip location
  • Also, include at least one photo if you can

Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good TROG

– Someone wise

Then once you have one written, send it to trog@cutc.org.nz and wait to see it published at the end of the year! In the meantime, you can see past Trogs at the University library or read some here.