Productive Weekend

I had a productive weekend. Began "Act II" of "Water Tribute" which involves one of the biggest changes I'm making between this draft and the prior version. Even though large portions are already written, it takes time to locate the sections I want to copy and paste from the previous draft, insert them in the current draft, and edit them per the changes I have in mind.

Also had an idea for my most recent off-on-a-tangent story, working title "Plain Susan." So I rewrote the opening. This project is in a 3-ring binder and I'm hand writing it.

"How do you write your novels?" is always a favorite question at the writers conference. As if lined legal pads and number two pencils are the answer to creating a blockbuster novel. Some folks compose with pen and paper, others on the computer, and still others dictate. Then there's J.K. Rowling and her ideas scribbled on a napkin. Of course, once you make the big time you can afford to hire a secretary to transcribe your dictation or handwritten scenes. The rest of us do it all ourselves.

Personally, I always preferred to hand write my first drafts on 3-ring binder paper (narrow ruled if available, college ruled otherwise) with a fine point ballpoint pen. Then I would edit and type up the second draft. Once computers arrived on the work scene, I grew accustomed to composing directly on the computer. I now do that on my iMac, and hand write edits and new scenes that are inserted among the printed pages. All organized in a binder.

But there's something I love about inspiration originating in the mind and flowing down the arm and onto paper via a ballpoint pen.