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?
