tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504553034105507540.post2657940982901637327..comments2023-11-02T01:29:26.816-07:00Comments on McDonnell Writing: Writing The Old-Fashioned WayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08236529774839136879noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504553034105507540.post-48121902597240848422009-09-24T04:43:13.076-07:002009-09-24T04:43:13.076-07:00I have been writing for more than sixty years, and...I have been writing for more than sixty years, and what I put on paper was never able to keep up with my thinking until I learned word processing. Writing for me has always meant spending as little time as possible putting thoughts down on paper and as much time as necessary reworking them so that they actually say what I mean. When I used only pen and paper, my drafts may have looked like the product of a totally disorganized mind but the published product was always readable and logical. How John O'Hara and William Gibson write in their head might not necessarily work for anybody else. My wife keeps reminding me that I have no visual imagination. I have to see concrete things before I can work with them. And that is as true of words as it is of the living room furniture.stfriscohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03464562992513386933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504553034105507540.post-52836284891312947512009-09-22T18:38:21.910-07:002009-09-22T18:38:21.910-07:00You're right, Sharon. In college I wrote my pa...You're right, Sharon. In college I wrote my papers on yellow legal pads, with a pencil, then I typed them on a typewriter. It was a different way to compose, but I don't think I could go back to it!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236529774839136879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504553034105507540.post-36767529899218986022009-09-20T07:50:22.191-07:002009-09-20T07:50:22.191-07:00John,
This very morning I noticed my thoughts spin...John,<br />This very morning I noticed my thoughts spinning wildly, tending to circles. I would have grabbed my journal, but I didn't bring it along to visit my Mother-in-Law. This helped me realize the value I have come to find in writing with pencil on paper for anchoring thoughts, making them tangible, visible, and "real." <br /><br />I like this technique for anchoring and sorting, but I won't be giving up my keyboard anytime soon! We live in an amazing time where we can have the blessing of choosing the old way at times, and blazing ahead when we prefer.Sharon Lippincotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16269757107845288737noreply@blogger.com