Mittwoch, 7. November 2012

Pen & Paper (Or: How I Write)

I write things twice. That's twice as much work, for sure. But I seem to tick this way.

I'm not sure if you could call me a traditionalist because of my need to write it all down by hand first, using a real (fountain) pen, but that's the way I write. I never realized it, though, until last week, when starting my NaNoWriMo-novel.

I outlined the whole story in longhand and than started writing the first draft on my computer. It came out all wrong and I deleted all of it. 

Then I discovered the urge to write it all down by hand - and I do so now (I'm using a 160-sheet-notebook and I write really small, in case you were wondering). The words won't come if I stare at the screen. Computers kill my writing, it seems.

Whenever I've write something in my notebook, I sit down in front of the computer a little later and put it all down again. Sure, I do some minor changes and corrections the second time.

So, while my official WriMo word count is only 3,000 words, I have actually written more than twice that much (I'm a chapter ahead). Do I think I'm wasting precious time? No, not a bit. I'm very much enjoying myself. Also, it makes me feel proud that I can write a whole story by hand in the age of technology.

When I wrote my first book in 1996, I did it the same way. I wrote it down using an expensive fountain pen and later typed it into my word-processing program (Word, of course).

What happened to the manuscript? I sent it to a publisher and got a contract. 

How do you write your first draft? 

8 Kommentare:

  1. I love, love the feeling of pen on paper. When writing fiction, I always write out at least my outlines and quite often I write out the beginnings of stories. There is something magical about sitting with a pad and pen, cup of tea, and someone furry to rub the ears of when searching for the perfect....something. When writing a blog post I tend to shoot straight from the hip, no delete, from my brain to your eyeballs. I am stylistically different as well. I blog how I speak, to have a conversation with me in person sounds the same as my blog entries. My fiction is much more structured and "correct".

    All that said, YAY SAL! Nano is such a big undertaking, I applaud you for riding with it. Keep going!

    ~Morgaine~

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    1. Yeah, "magical" is the right word. So is "special".

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  2. What I also love: attempting to figure out what some of this says via inference. Morgaine Fey, learning languages one foreign friend's blog at a time. :-p

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  3. If you're writing the way you love to, that's what counts! I always type mine, because I write quite slowly by hand and my ideas can't keep up!

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    1. My typing is faster, too, but my Muse doesn't seem to like typing very much. :(

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  4. Wow! You really are devoted. It's been a long, long time since I have written a book with a pen and paper. I converted to the computer keyboard and never looked back. Though when I first begin to write a book I usually storyboard it on the huge white board in my office. It becomes a map as I work on my book.
    Good to meet you. Happy NaNoWriMo!

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    1. Thank you, Kathi.

      I like the white board-idea. I'm using a magnetic board.

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