How I Write

Writers have all manner of ways to turn out words.  Many, in the current era, employ the keyboards on their laptops or desktop computers.  A few dictate directly in Dragon Naturally Speaking and then edit their dictation.  Probably even fewer--like historian David McCulloch--resort to the time-honored practice of  banging the keys of a standard typewriter.  I myself used an upright Royal, as well as an Underwood, for years, churning out hundreds of pages of text that became articles, monographs, books and a Ph.D. dissertation.

But I do none of that now.  I am, I must confess, a lover of fountain pens.  There is something about the intimate relationship of ink, paper and thought that seems only achievable when hand writing with a good pen.  And so, when I write anything of substance--and this includes my novels--my invariable practice is to first set down my words in curive script.  Lengthy documents--again, my novels are a case in point--I then dictate into Dragon Naturally Speaking, which converts them into computer-editable text.  Dragon has gotten to the point where it is proably 99 percent accurate, so this is a quick and easy way to make the ink to digital conversion.  From there, I print out the text and begin the process of seemingly endless edits until it is polished to my satisfaction.

Why do I write this way?  Writing by hand introduces white space into my thoughts and allows them to develop and mellow while they are in process.  Often, I will find my characters and plot evolving from one sentence to the next, something that might less readily occur if I were typing at rapid speed (which I am well capable of doing).  Frankly, I relish the time to allow my thoughts to ripen, something that the more relaxed pace of hand writing permits, even encourages.  And, I enjoy the tactile sensation of the ink flowing from the pen's nib onto quality paper.  It is one of life's genuine pleasures; why should I deny it to myself?

What works best for you may be different.  There is, in the end, no right or wrong way to write, just a variety of ways that work for each writer.  After all, it's the quality of the writing--the strength, clarity and sensitivity of expression--that really matter.  How you get there doesn't.