I just finished reading a profile of Elmore Leonard in the July/August 2009 issue of AARP Magazine. It's a great article about this prolific writer.
One of the things that fascincates me is that Elmore doesn't use a laptop or desktop computer to compose his prose. He uses a ballpoint and a yellow legal pad. He said he can’t imagine typing words on a screen. When he finally has a handwritten page the way he likes it, us then puts it on an IBM Wheelwriter 1000.
Elmore is known for giving writers the advice, "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."
My favorite lines in the artile was at the end: “After 58 years you’d think writing would get easier. It doesn’t. If you’re lucky, you become hard to please. That’s all right, it’s still a pleasure.”
-- George Sheldon, www.georgesheldon.com
2 comments:
I wrote my first book with pen and paper while my youngest child was napping. When it was done, I finally typed it into the computer. If only that process had me as successful at Mr. Leonard.
I love the feel of a pen moving against paper. I used to like to compose first drafts that way, then edit as I keyed it in. If I could write as fast as I type, I'd still do it. But never a typewriter, they're too irritating. Elmore's pubs may allow him to get away with hit, but I doubt anyone else!
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