After years of false starts and failures, I recently finished the first draft of my novel. When I said I wrote it, I meant handwrote it, longhand, using inexpensive fountain pens and lined journals.
I know what you’re thinking. Who in the 21st century deliberately chooses pen and paper to write fiction over a word processor? Here’s a partial list: Joe Hill, J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Danielle Steel, Peter Straub. After having done it myself, I know a bit about why a writer would choose this old-school method.
Turn off, tune in.
Constant computer distractions are not conducive to creative writing. I don’t have to wait for my pen to boot up. I can write in any coffee shop, airport, plane, bus terminal, bus,…