Comments on: How They Write http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/how-they-write fiction matters Fri, 18 May 2012 13:03:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Celeste http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/how-they-write/comment-page-1#comment-3227 Celeste Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:33:10 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5631#comment-3227 Danielle, I skip the handwritten stage! But that's because I am a slow and messy writer, and it's easier to keep up with my thoughts when I type. I do make a new draft every time I change something in the story, though, so my first typed drafts are probably as rough as a handwritten one. And I do take notes in a regular old notebook--for significant details and important phrases that come to me--before sitting down to work them into a typed draft. There's a particular type I prefer (a Mead 4x6 spiral) for very practical reasons: it's small enough to fit in my purse, so I always have it with me; it's spiral, so I can fold the cover over instead of having it open; it has a stiff back cover for easier writing and a pocket to hold scraps/notes/etc.; and it's college ruled. My past 12 or so notebooks have been the same kind, and I worry about what I'll do if they stop making them. I have a hoard of about 10 right now and buy the store out whenever I see them. My favored notebook is also fairly cheap, so I don't feel the need to save it for anything good, and that takes some of the pressure off. I wonder if that's why so many other people, both in this comment thread and in the WSJ article, prefer inexpensive writing materials (index cards, blue books, cheap notepads, etc.). Danielle, I skip the handwritten stage! But that’s because I am a slow and messy writer, and it’s easier to keep up with my thoughts when I type. I do make a new draft every time I change something in the story, though, so my first typed drafts are probably as rough as a handwritten one. And I do take notes in a regular old notebook–for significant details and important phrases that come to me–before sitting down to work them into a typed draft. There’s a particular type I prefer (a Mead 4×6 spiral) for very practical reasons: it’s small enough to fit in my purse, so I always have it with me; it’s spiral, so I can fold the cover over instead of having it open; it has a stiff back cover for easier writing and a pocket to hold scraps/notes/etc.; and it’s college ruled. My past 12 or so notebooks have been the same kind, and I worry about what I’ll do if they stop making them. I have a hoard of about 10 right now and buy the store out whenever I see them.

My favored notebook is also fairly cheap, so I don’t feel the need to save it for anything good, and that takes some of the pressure off. I wonder if that’s why so many other people, both in this comment thread and in the WSJ article, prefer inexpensive writing materials (index cards, blue books, cheap notepads, etc.).

]]> By: Danielle http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/how-they-write/comment-page-1#comment-3226 Danielle Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:58:52 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5631#comment-3226 I love hearing these obsessive details; they're so private. Interesting how so many writers begin with handwritten drafts, which so many people think of as antiquated, and are clearly not. I also start handwritten, in a dedicated notebook (usually a Clairefontaine or Moleskine), gathering steam until my hand can't keep up with my brain; then it goes to the computer, though I'll return to the notebook for notes as I work through drafts. Does anyone out there actually skip the handwritten stage all together, or is this an urban legend lamented by writing professors about the "next" generation? I love hearing these obsessive details; they’re so private. Interesting how so many writers begin with handwritten drafts, which so many people think of as antiquated, and are clearly not. I also start handwritten, in a dedicated notebook (usually a Clairefontaine or Moleskine), gathering steam until my hand can’t keep up with my brain; then it goes to the computer, though I’ll return to the notebook for notes as I work through drafts. Does anyone out there actually skip the handwritten stage all together, or is this an urban legend lamented by writing professors about the “next” generation?

]]> By: Harlan Lewin http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/how-they-write/comment-page-1#comment-3217 Harlan Lewin Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:21:15 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5631#comment-3217 I often get a lot of ideas as I lay abed in the morning. I write them down on yellow 5x8" lined pads and collect them. Sometimes the ideas are general to the entire book (e.g. plot) or specific to the chapter I am working on. I either use the ideas that day or save the collection for typing on a computer and creating a notes file and hard copy. Often I will "vet" my ideas by taking long walks and I also use walks to make choices when there are forks in the plot road. During walks I may record ideas on yellow 3x5" index cards, which, folded, fit nicely and invisibly in my shirt pocket. I type and revise drafts on a computer--my handwriting is mostly illegible, even to me. I often get a lot of ideas as I lay abed in the morning. I write them down on yellow 5×8″ lined pads and collect them. Sometimes the ideas are general to the entire book (e.g. plot) or specific to the chapter I am working on. I either use the ideas that day or save the collection for typing on a computer and creating a notes file and hard copy. Often I will “vet” my ideas by taking long walks and I also use walks to make choices when there are forks in the plot road. During walks I may record ideas on yellow 3×5″ index cards, which, folded, fit nicely and invisibly in my shirt pocket. I type and revise drafts on a computer–my handwriting is mostly illegible, even to me.

]]> By: John Vanderslice http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/how-they-write/comment-page-1#comment-3216 John Vanderslice Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:57:26 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5631#comment-3216 Thanks so much for this heads up. What a fascinating subject, and I'm so glad for the validation for my dinosaur-like insistence on handwritten first drafts. (They go into the cheapest lined notebooks I can possibly scrounge up, be they from Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, Kroger, or the stacks of journals left behind in my office by students from years past. [Why waste paper?]) Many of my students look at me as if I have two heads when I tell them I write drafts in notebooks. For me I can't imagine any other way, but--as your post shows us--to each his own. Thanks so much for this heads up. What a fascinating subject, and I’m so glad for the validation for my dinosaur-like insistence on handwritten first drafts. (They go into the cheapest lined notebooks I can possibly scrounge up, be they from Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, Kroger, or the stacks of journals left behind in my office by students from years past. [Why waste paper?]) Many of my students look at me as if I have two heads when I tell them I write drafts in notebooks. For me I can’t imagine any other way, but–as your post shows us–to each his own.

]]>