November 27th, 2009 / 2:49 pm
Snippets
Snippets
Blake Butler—
Cool piece on writing processes of a range of writers, including Kazuo Ishiguro, Michael Ondaatje, Richard Powers, Margaret Atwood, at Wall Street Journal [via Rozalia Jovanovic]
Most days, Nicholson Baker rises at 4 a.m. to write at his home in South Berwick, Maine. Leaving the lights off, he sets his laptop screen to black and the text to gray, so that the darkness is uninterrupted. After a couple of hours of writing in what he calls a dreamlike state, he goes back to bed, then rises at 8:30 to edit his work.
The only way to leave the darkness uninterrupted is not to write, hence the neuroticism.
The only way to leave the darkness uninterrupted is not to write, hence the neuroticism.
This reminds me of those revealing Paris Review interviews that told us that Hemingway wrote standing up in his cluttered study, and that Capote wrote out his first drafts long hand, lounged back on his bed, smoking and sipping sherry. I love hearing about writing processes. It seems like everyone’s is different. Everyone has their own way. I remember hearing that David Foster Wallace would put his TV out in his backyard when he wanted to achieve some serious writing hours, and that he wrote out the first draft of Infinite Jest in long hand, using special ballpoint pens that he called “orgasmic”, and then once he was finished, typed it all out with one finger–admitting he was terrible typist, “although, one fast finger”–into his computer.
And I think it’s interesting when authors won’t reveal how they write. Saul Bellow wouldn’t, conjuring up Jewish folklore on how one shouldn’t reveal their secrets or something; and in that Wall Street article, Richard Ford completely blew it off. And maybe it’s good for them, to keep their craft a secret. Maybe it makes them seem like they’re making magic behind some secret closed door, behind a garden. But I’m always a little disappointed when authors won’t reveal their processes, because I always find the results charming no matter what, showing the author as a human being, trying to grapple with this strange and wonderful art called writing, whether they write in the solitary, acoustical comfort of a bathroom, or in the darkness of pre-dawn.
I’ve written naked before; that was weird.
This reminds me of those revealing Paris Review interviews that told us that Hemingway wrote standing up in his cluttered study, and that Capote wrote out his first drafts long hand, lounged back on his bed, smoking and sipping sherry. I love hearing about writing processes. It seems like everyone’s is different. Everyone has their own way. I remember hearing that David Foster Wallace would put his TV out in his backyard when he wanted to achieve some serious writing hours, and that he wrote out the first draft of Infinite Jest in long hand, using special ballpoint pens that he called “orgasmic”, and then once he was finished, typed it all out with one finger–admitting he was terrible typist, “although, one fast finger”–into his computer.
And I think it’s interesting when authors won’t reveal how they write. Saul Bellow wouldn’t, conjuring up Jewish folklore on how one shouldn’t reveal their secrets or something; and in that Wall Street article, Richard Ford completely blew it off. And maybe it’s good for them, to keep their craft a secret. Maybe it makes them seem like they’re making magic behind some secret closed door, behind a garden. But I’m always a little disappointed when authors won’t reveal their processes, because I always find the results charming no matter what, showing the author as a human being, trying to grapple with this strange and wonderful art called writing, whether they write in the solitary, acoustical comfort of a bathroom, or in the darkness of pre-dawn.
I’ve written naked before; that was weird.
Nicholson Baker’s technique is incredible. That just blows my mind. love it
Nicholson Baker’s technique is incredible. That just blows my mind. love it