Facts of Fiction
“How Do You Write?” (Listen for Yourself!)
Written by: James W. Huston Published: August 30, 2010
By far the most common question I get from people who are interested in my writing is: “How do you do it?” Mechanically, how do you get the words onto a page that ultimately form a book?
I think they like to hear quirky stories about the writing process, like what George Will told me about how he writes his op/eds—longhand with a fountain pen. Or like the novelist who writes an entire book longhand on yellow pads, gives them to a typist, and never looks at the book again (thankfully I forget which author it is who does that). Or the author who uses a MANUAL typewriter, because he always has.
Frankly I don’t understand why anyone would use a manual typewriter for anything except a museum exhibit. You occasionally hear that he started writing that way and that’s just how he does it. I guess that makes some kind of sense, but I started writing with crayons. I don’t think I’m stuck with them forever “because that’s how I started.” My father, who has been writing books for sixty years, certainly started with a manual typewriter. I watched him write many books on a manual typewriter. But I also know that he just bought a new computer last week for his book writing.
