I’ve reached the end of my week as guest blogger at the Random Blog, sadly. It’s been much fun and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
For those of you who are interested in catching up with me online, try my Facebook Author Page http://tinyurl.com/y8n35ow or my website www.michaelpryor.com.au
Jack Kerouac typed On the Road on a 120-foot scroll of taped-together tracing paper.
C.S. Lewis wrote on huge sheets of paper (each Narnia book took up only thirty sheets or so).
Marcel Proust wrote in a cork-lined bedroom.
They go hand in hand, needless to say. I wanted to be a writer because I loved reading so much. I wanted to do for other people what writers were doing for me.
In a presentation to a large group of teenagers, I was once asked about the connection between reading and writing. An eager looking young girl put her hand up at the Q&A part of the session, got hold of the microphone and asked ‘Do you have to read if you want to be a writer?’
Dozens of answers flashed through my mind, but I went with the first. ‘Yes.’
Her reaction? ‘Oh, bummer,’ she said, downcast.
I like listening to and reading about other writers. I find the process of writing fascinating, and I find the multitude of different approaches quite empowering. There is no single magical formula for writing. There are a million ways to do it and to do it well.
Take the business of music while writing. I’ve asked many writers about their aural habits while writing and the responses are truly varied. Some insist on absolute silence. Some will allow birdsong and other natural noises but nothing else. Some fill the room with heavy metal mayhem until the dust shakes down from the ceiling.
Planning and writing is a vexed issue. According to many teachers of writing, manuals about writing, writing courses and writing instructors, planning is an essential part of the writing process and a plan is mandatory for anyone who wants to write a competent story. Well, it isn’t. At least, it isn’t for everybody.
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