Required Reading: A Quote
Why I harp about writing notes longhand
From the interview by Judd Apatow with Mel Brooks in this week’s The Atlantic…
Apatow: I remember I once saw you talking about how you don’t like to type. That had a big influence on me. I tried to write longhand, but I didn’t like that. So I started doing dictation. I don’t even like the idea of typing, because it slows down my mind that I’m doing this mechanical thing.
Brooks: It seemed to me that anytime it was typed, it was finished.
Apatow: No matter how bad it was.
Brooks: Because I couldn’t type, and I would write in longhand. And then some secretary would type, and I’d say, “Whoa, looks good.” The look of it was good. That’s why typed is dangerous.
Christ, this is such a good interview. I’ll be citing bits of it forever.
But not so much that I’ll be violating the Fair Use Statute of federal copyright law.
This observation -- specifically keyboarding it -- reminds me of the scut work of transcribing taped interviews. The task was slow, but it forced me to study how different people spoke. Each person's "burnt tongue." Having to type the exact, incorrect-but-intentional words of a person gave me a better ear for how speech varies. Such is a key to narrative voice.
I try to keep something with me at all times to write when the mood strikes. I type 100 words a minute by touch and can carry on a whole conversation while I do. My husband thinks this is creepy. I often listen to music and sing while I’m writing my books and no one understands how this works including me. I guess it’s my way of turning off my conscious mind to focus.