Last night, Jeff and I went to the Neal Stephenson event at Ryerson Theatre in Toronto, part of This Is Not A Reading Series, sponsored by Pages Books & Magazines, HarperCollins Canada, SPACE, and Eye Weekly. I found out about the event from an invitation on Facebook; many thanks to Sandra Kasturi for the invite.
Although I never managed to get through Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson read from the beginning of Anathem. I have to admit that the opening chapters don’t really grab me, but I have been told that once I get through the first 100 pages, it’s easier to get into the story.
After the reading, there was an interview by Mark Askwith. I’ve never seen Neal Stephenson in person, but he comes across as a fairly quiet introverted type. I was surprised to find out that Stephenson wrote the Baroque Cycle and Anathem BY HAND using a FOUNTAIN PEN before transcribing it to his computer.
His reasoning: it’s too easy to type directly into the computer, and writing text out by hand forces him to think about each sentence before committing it to paper. He also finds editing much easier on paper, using different types of pens for each editing pass — this also makes it possible for him to see the different “layers” As well as giving him the option to change his mind about passages that he had decided to delete earlier.
He said that he used blank sheets of white paper and used a thick nib for the first draft, writing quite large. For later edits, he would use a thinner nibs. some of you out there may think I’m going into way too much detail, but I’ve always been interested in writing rituals. We all tend to have them, whether we like to admit them or not.
Even though I don’t think I could ever write an entire book manuscript out by hand, Stephenson’s comments made me think hard about the writing process. Is it better to write the first draft quickly, without worrying about being perfect the first time, or would it be more productive to take more time when writing the first draft?
I suspect the answer is different for each writer.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
if i write it as quickly as possible, i don’t think about the mistakes and plot problems. that’s why i love nano-wrimo (which, btw, is how i found you).
Yikes!!! I cannot imagine writing longhand now– I would never finish! What a great thing it would be to hear him talk. I’m reading Anathem now…
I write long hand. I simply can’t write at the computer – I come up with 1001 gazillion things that I “could be doing” other than writing. So I sit across the room from the laptop and write on a clipboard. I’ve written four 350 page books (am working on a fifth) this way and several shorts.
Never could get the hang of writing with a fountain pen, though; that’s awesome.
I just finished a new draft (on the computer) of the last story I ever wrote longhand. With any luck, it will be the last one ever. My writing is terrible, and I had to write entire paragraphs from fresh because I couldn’t read what I wrote.
The weird thing is, I am also a pen collector. My favourite pen is made entirely from glass and has to be dipped in an inkwell to write with it. I can’t imagine an entire MS written with it, although I’m sure it could be done. Just not by me!
[Originally posted at Fountain Pen Network. Lev]
Thanks for this delightful link. I have read Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon several years ago with much enjoyment, though I cannot say how much understanding. As far as using a fountain pen to write with, I don’t think I could do it any other way, even with my at times illegible penmanship, even for my own rereading. As bad as my writing is, my typing is even worse. I find that my “creative juices” — non-fiction, not fiction or poetry — do not flow any other way. It seems as though I require the tactile sensation of pen in hand, ink on paper, words available to eyes in order to articulate and express my thought. Later computer entry is a necessary but unpleasant final event, though, to be quite honest, final revisions do take place then.
I rather like Stephenson’s idea of using several different size nibs — I use different colored ink — to make revisions with. This sounds like a latter-day version of a palimsest.
I wrote my first novel, Seven Swords, for Nanowrimo last year using a fountain pen and a modified large Moleskine notebook.
I find a few advantages: 1. I really think about each sentence. 2. It forces a full rewrite. 3. It gets me closer to the story since there’s nothing else in front of me and the words besides pen and paper. 4. It feels more substantial when you have a 270 page handwritten book in your hands. 5. You can do it anywhere without power. 6. It gives you the feeling of doing something historical.
Overall, I love it and now I’m not sure I can ever go back to typing out a story again. It just doesn’t feel right.
Many of the gel pens out there have the silky-smooth feel of a fountain pen, but are much easier to use. You don’t want to think too much about the tools while you’re using them, and I find a fountain pen (if it’s not the “right” one) is a frustrating distraction.
The Seattle Rock ‘n roll museum has a science fiction exhibit in the basement where you can see a great many iconic s.f. related artifacts. Captain Kirk’s command chair from the enterprise is there as well as Spock’s smock.
I was most impressed by the large stack of white un-lined paper covered with cursive handwriting in black ink. The sign in front of the stack said it was Neil Stephenson’s final handwritten draft of Cryptonomicon. It was a BIG stack.
Before I could afford a laptop, there were my legal pads and some lovely fountain pens. I do love the tactility, and when I used cartridges I would not stop until the pen was dry.
But while writing was a joy, typing it all in was not.