"Weird writing habits of famous authors"

Orphia Nay · 26th December 2011, 04:19 PM

So I should switch from beer to sherry to win the Language Award?

http://flavorwire.com/193101/weird-w...famous-authors

(Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Francine Prose, John Cheever, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Wolfe, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner.)

Skeptic Ginger · 26th December 2011, 04:32 PM

Perhaps that depends on what you write.

Resume · 27th December 2011, 10:06 AM

I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . .

Hemingway said "always put in the weather" and that works to an extent; Bellow claimed that the best way to defeat an enemy is to write well and that works too, but in the end it's difficult, difficult work.

All of which is to say if your weird habit suffices, keep doing it.

Skeptic Ginger · 27th December 2011, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Resume

I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . .

Hemingway said "always put in the weather" and that works to an extent; Bellow claimed that the best way to defeat an enemy is to write well and that works too, but in the end it's difficult, difficult work.

All of which is to say if your weird habit suffices, keep doing it.

I'm enjoying the re-write I think because I'm living inside the world I'm writing about. It's not boring yet, maybe by a year from now we'll see.

hgc · 27th December 2011, 11:24 AM

Cool stuff. I think that Nabakov is the greatest writer on that illustrious list. Interesting that he wrote in index cards. Also, Tom Wolfe's 10-page-a-day quota, without regard to how little or much time it takes, is pretty cool.

NotJesus · 27th December 2011, 12:19 PM

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Beanbag · 27th December 2011, 07:34 PM

I LIVE for the rewrites. It's like carving: the general shape has become visible, started to take form. You can see the potential. It's a matter of doing the final shaping of the surface, defining the edges. And the form is so plastic, where you can alter it at will, try different textures and forms.

My screenwriting mentor (unfortunately passed) summed it up the best: great writing isn't written -- it's edited.

I've spent almost five years refining and focusing my best screenplay to date. It's ready to go out in the world. I'm both happy and sad. But it's time to move on to the next one.

I write in odd snatches, an hour grabbed during lunch break, maybe a few lines during break, odd times between projects. Then there are times a work literally claws its way out of me, DEMANDING my time above all else, and I drop everything to meet its demands. It finds outlet either on one of my laptops, on folded sheets of copy paper, or in a small spiral notebook.

The one thing that I get from comments of "successful" writers is that it's a craft. You practice and develop it over time. It's work, but glorious work.

Beanbag

LSSBB · 28th December 2011, 11:16 AM

Here is a good rundown on Joe Haldeman's habits. I like the fountain pen myself also. Haven't tried the candle light.

Science fiction writer Joe Haldeman discusses unplugging to create

Good advice though from Harlan Ellison if you don't think you have it in you to be a writer:

Quote:

If someone who writes that badly can become a writer, then even the dippiest of us can become a writer, baboons can become writers, sludge and amoeba can become writers. The trick is not in becoming a writer, it is in staying a writer. Day after week after month after year. Staying in there for the long haul.

fuelair · 28th December 2011, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Orphia Nay

So I should switch from beer to sherry to win the Language Award?

http://flavorwire.com/193101/weird-w...famous-authors

(Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Francine Prose, John Cheever, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Wolfe, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner.)

No, you should switch to (goood!!) sherry for the taste and the kick!

But, don't forget the Fernet-Branca for the upset tummy after the celebration!! Tastes odd/interesting (and mixes well with Dr. Pepper--I calls 'em as I sees 'em).

Ysidro · 29th December 2011, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by Resume

I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . .

This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer.

I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated.

Orphia Nay · 30th December 2011, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by Ysidro

This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer.

I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated.

Yep. I couldn't live without reading, but I can certainly live without writing. As my lack of Language Awards demonstrate.

gumboot · 30th December 2011, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by Ysidro

This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer.

I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated.

Many writers I've encountered describe it not as a gift, but as a disease, or a curse, and I would tend to agree. Sometimes I love writing, sometimes I hate it. But at all times I need to write.

I've come across many people in my life who mention "writing a book" as something they'd "like to do", something to tick off a list, as it is. I doubt 1 in 1,000 of them will ever start. They're not writers. Writers write. They don't talk about the book they want to write "one day"; they're already writing it, and they can't stop, even if they want to, which often they do.

I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one.

LashL · 30th December 2011, 09:06 AM

I've split the interesting discussion about Flannery O'Connor's writing to its own thread here, as it deserves its own thread.

Posted By:LashL

Piscivore · 30th December 2011, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by LashL

I've split the interesting discussion about Flannery O'Connor's writing to its own thread here, as it deserves its own thread.

Posted By:LashL

Thanks.

JWideman · 30th December 2011, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

Many writers I've encountered describe it not as a gift, but as a disease, or a curse, and I would tend to agree. Sometimes I love writing, sometimes I hate it. But at all times I need to write.

I've come across many people in my life who mention "writing a book" as something they'd "like to do", something to tick off a list, as it is. I doubt 1 in 1,000 of them will ever start. They're not writers. Writers write. They don't talk about the book they want to write "one day"; they're already writing it, and they can't stop, even if they want to, which often they do.

I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one.

It is indeed a disease, and the symptoms resemble mental illness. I have learned to work on dialogue only while in total seclusion, for example.
As for people that talk about writing, but don't actually write... I have an old friend who told me he wrote a book and just needs to finish it. It turns out, he's never actually started it. What he has is an "idea", and it sounds almost exactly like a movie he saw as a kid.
There's people like that all over NYC and Hollywood. They want to have written without actually writing.
Then there are the people that DO write, but never try to publish. They supposedly have stacks of manuscripts that have never been seen by anyone. "I only write for myself" they say.
Real writers are either published or collect rejection slips until they are.

Resume · 30th December 2011, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by gumboot

I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one.

In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc.

It was pretty good junk too.

gumboot · 31st December 2011, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by Resume

In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc.

It was pretty good junk too.

That sucks.

I've not calculated a total world count for all of my work in a while (and a lot of it's not really measurable in that way) but last time I counted it was up around 3 million words and I would estimate it's probably close to 5 million now.

I currently have 1,666 files totally 1.56GB.

Orphia Nay · 1st January 2012, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

That sucks.

I've not calculated a total world count for all of my work in a while (and a lot of it's not really measurable in that way) but last time I counted it was up around 3 million words and I would estimate it's probably close to 5 million now.

I currently have 1,666 files totally 1.56GB.

Any books on the horizon? I would definitely buy one.

Beanbag · 1st January 2012, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Resume

In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc.

It was pretty good junk too.

Blank DVD's run about $0.23 each. Once a month, I rip my Screenplays and Novels folders off to one and put in my fire safe.

You can call that my "weird" habit as an author. Might not have the latest revision available, but I can usually reconstruct what happened in the last thirty days or so reasonably well.

Beanbag

Resume · 1st January 2012, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by Beanbag

Blank DVD's run about $0.23 each. Once a month, I rip my Screenplays and Novels folders off to one and put in my fire safe.

You can call that my "weird" habit as an author. Might not have the latest revision available, but I can usually reconstruct what happened in the last thirty days or so reasonably well.

Beanbag

My wife asked "You gonna back up you files now bright boy?"

26th December 2011, 04:19 PM	#1
Orphia Nay Penguilicious Spodmaster. Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ponylandistan Presidential Palace (above the Spods' stables). Posts: 28,381	"Weird writing habits of famous authors" So I should switch from beer to sherry to win the Language Award? http://flavorwire.com/193101/weird-w...famous-authors (Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Francine Prose, John Cheever, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Wolfe, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner.)
	__________________ Are you an ex-Truther? Please share your story. ~ The Australasian Skeptics Forum.

26th December 2011, 04:32 PM	#2
Skeptic Ginger formerly skeptigirl Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Shifting through paradigms Posts: 40,592	Perhaps that depends on what you write.
	__________________ (*Tired of continuing to hear the "Democrat Party" repeatedly I've decided to adopt the name, ~~Pubbie Party, Repubs~~ "Republics" and Republic Party in response.)

27th December 2011, 10:06 AM	#3
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029	I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . . Hemingway said "always put in the weather" and that works to an extent; Bellow claimed that the best way to defeat an enemy is to write well and that works too, but in the end it's difficult, difficult work. All of which is to say if your weird habit suffices, keep doing it.
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029	Last edited by Resume; 27th December 2011 at 10:12 AM. Reason: re-write

27th December 2011, 10:34 AM	#4
Skeptic Ginger formerly skeptigirl Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Shifting through paradigms Posts: 40,592	Originally Posted by Resume I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . . Hemingway said "always put in the weather" and that works to an extent; Bellow claimed that the best way to defeat an enemy is to write well and that works too, but in the end it's difficult, difficult work. All of which is to say if your weird habit suffices, keep doing it. I'm enjoying the re-write I think because I'm living inside the world I'm writing about. It's not boring yet, maybe by a year from now we'll see.
	__________________ (*Tired of continuing to hear the "Democrat Party" repeatedly I've decided to adopt the name, ~~Pubbie Party, Repubs~~ "Republics" and Republic Party in response.)

27th December 2011, 11:24 AM	#5
hgc Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 13,018	Cool stuff. I think that Nabakov is the greatest writer on that illustrious list. Interesting that he wrote in index cards. Also, Tom Wolfe's 10-page-a-day quota, without regard to how little or much time it takes, is pretty cool.
	__________________ Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse assail him and wail him with monster truck force. - Cake, The Distance Was there a second singer on the grassy Knowles? - Stephen Colbert

27th December 2011, 07:34 PM	#7
Beanbag Master Poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Dallas/Fort Worth Posts: 2,709	I *LIVE* for the rewrites. It's like carving: the general shape has become visible, started to take form. You can see the potential. It's a matter of doing the final shaping of the surface, defining the edges. And the form is so plastic, where you can alter it at will, try different textures and forms. My screenwriting mentor (unfortunately passed) summed it up the best: great writing isn't written -- it's edited. I've spent almost five years refining and focusing my best screenplay to date. It's ready to go out in the world. I'm both happy and sad. But it's time to move on to the next one. I write in odd snatches, an hour grabbed during lunch break, maybe a few lines during break, odd times between projects. Then there are times a work literally claws its way out of me, DEMANDING my time above all else, and I drop everything to meet its demands. It finds outlet either on one of my laptops, on folded sheets of copy paper, or in a small spiral notebook. The one thing that I get from comments of "successful" writers is that it's a craft. You practice and develop it over time. It's work, but glorious work. Beanbag
	__________________ Nothing divides an indivisible nation quite as well as religion. Know god, no peace. No god, know peace. If Jesus is the answer, it must be a real dumb question.

28th December 2011, 11:16 AM	#8
LSSBB Devilish Dictionarian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: An elusive house at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery Posts: 4,496	Here is a good rundown on Joe Haldeman's habits. I like the fountain pen myself also. Haven't tried the candle light. Science fiction writer Joe Haldeman discusses unplugging to create Good advice though from Harlan Ellison if you don't think you have it in you to be a writer: Quote: If someone who writes that badly can become a writer, then even the dippiest of us can become a writer, baboons can become writers, sludge and amoeba can become writers. The trick is not in becoming a writer, it is in staying a writer. Day after week after month after year. Staying in there for the long haul.
	__________________ "Things that never happened before happen all the time." (Scott Sagan, 1993) "Put down the Wite-Out and step away from the dictionary." (000063, 2012) "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." (John Kenneth Galbraith, 1971)

28th December 2011, 07:31 PM	#9
fuelair Cythraul Enfys Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 28,957	Originally Posted by Orphia Nay So I should switch from beer to sherry to win the Language Award? http://flavorwire.com/193101/weird-w...famous-authors (Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Francine Prose, John Cheever, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Wolfe, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner.) No, you should switch to (goood!!) sherry for the taste and the kick! But, don't forget the Fernet-Branca for the upset tummy after the celebration!! Tastes odd/interesting (and mixes well with Dr. Pepper--I calls 'em as I sees 'em).
fuelair Cythraul Enfys Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 28,957	__________________ There is no problem so great that it cannot be fixed by small explosives carefully placed. Wash this space! We fight for the Lady Babylon!!!

29th December 2011, 05:46 PM	#10
Ysidro I'm watching you Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,334	Originally Posted by Resume I don't know about anybody else but for me writing, really writing, is an excruciating chore. Sure, the first draft might pour out like water from a pump but it's the re-write that burns: what to leave out, what to put back in . . . This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer. I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated.
Ysidro I'm watching you Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,334	__________________ This is a sig file. Does anyone even read this stuff?

30th December 2011, 12:36 AM	#11
Orphia Nay Penguilicious Spodmaster. Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ponylandistan Presidential Palace (above the Spods' stables). Posts: 28,381	Originally Posted by Ysidro This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer. I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated. Yep. I couldn't live without reading, but I can certainly live without writing. As my lack of Language Awards demonstrate.
	__________________ Are you an ex-Truther? Please share your story. ~ The Australasian Skeptics Forum.

30th December 2011, 01:23 AM	#12
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 23,126	Originally Posted by Ysidro This is why after years of trying to be a writer, hanging out with writers, reading about writing, and some actual writing, I stopped wanting to be a writer. I ran into one of those writers I knew once and she asked me what I was writing. "Nothing anymore," I said. She was horrified. I was elated. Many writers I've encountered describe it not as a gift, but as a disease, or a curse, and I would tend to agree. Sometimes I love writing, sometimes I hate it. But at all times I need to write. I've come across many people in my life who mention "writing a book" as something they'd "like to do", something to tick off a list, as it is. I doubt 1 in 1,000 of them will ever start. They're not writers. Writers write. They don't talk about the book they want to write "one day"; they're already writing it, and they can't stop, even if they want to, which often they do. I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one.
	__________________ O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge.

30th December 2011, 11:28 AM	#15
JWideman Graduate Poster Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,241	Originally Posted by gumboot Many writers I've encountered describe it not as a gift, but as a disease, or a curse, and I would tend to agree. Sometimes I love writing, sometimes I hate it. But at all times I need to write. I've come across many people in my life who mention "writing a book" as something they'd "like to do", something to tick off a list, as it is. I doubt 1 in 1,000 of them will ever start. They're not writers. Writers write. They don't talk about the book they want to write "one day"; they're already writing it, and they can't stop, even if they want to, which often they do. I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one. It is indeed a disease, and the symptoms resemble mental illness. I have learned to work on dialogue only while in total seclusion, for example. As for people that talk about writing, but don't actually write... I have an old friend who told me he wrote a book and just needs to finish it. It turns out, he's never actually started it. What he has is an "idea", and it sounds almost exactly like a movie he saw as a kid. There's people like that all over NYC and Hollywood. They want to have written without actually writing. Then there are the people that DO write, but never try to publish. They supposedly have stacks of manuscripts that have never been seen by anyone. "I only write for myself" they say. Real writers are either published or collect rejection slips until they are.

30th December 2011, 05:01 PM	#16
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029	Originally Posted by gumboot I've often contemplated what would happen if I lost all my writing work I've done (creation of a fantasy world, etc). I think I would honestly lose the will to live. It's such a fundamental part of who I am, it would be worse - far worse - than losing a limb, or a sense. It would honestly be worse than losing a loved one. In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc. It was pretty good junk too.
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029

31st December 2011, 08:04 PM	#17
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 23,126	Originally Posted by Resume In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc. It was pretty good junk too. That sucks. I've not calculated a total world count for all of my work in a while (and a lot of it's not really measurable in that way) but last time I counted it was up around 3 million words and I would estimate it's probably close to 5 million now. I currently have 1,666 files totally 1.56GB.
	__________________ O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge.

1st January 2012, 01:17 AM	#18
Orphia Nay Penguilicious Spodmaster. Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ponylandistan Presidential Palace (above the Spods' stables). Posts: 28,381	Originally Posted by gumboot That sucks. I've not calculated a total world count for all of my work in a while (and a lot of it's not really measurable in that way) but last time I counted it was up around 3 million words and I would estimate it's probably close to 5 million now. I currently have 1,666 files totally 1.56GB. Any books on the horizon? I would definitely buy one.
	__________________ Are you an ex-Truther? Please share your story. ~ The Australasian Skeptics Forum.

1st January 2012, 10:08 AM	#19
Beanbag Master Poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Dallas/Fort Worth Posts: 2,709	Originally Posted by Resume In a word processor accident, I lost, completely lost, a 50,000 word detective novella. I decided to abandon literary aspirations (some would claim I never had any) to try to write some junk and didn't feel the need to back it up on disc. It was pretty good junk too. Blank DVD's run about $0.23 each. Once a month, I rip my Screenplays and Novels folders off to one and put in my fire safe. You can call that my "weird" habit as an author. Might not have the latest revision available, but I can usually reconstruct what happened in the last thirty days or so reasonably well. Beanbag
	__________________ Nothing divides an indivisible nation quite as well as religion. Know god, no peace. No god, know peace. If Jesus is the answer, it must be a real dumb question.

1st January 2012, 10:28 AM	#20
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029	Originally Posted by Beanbag Blank DVD's run about $0.23 each. Once a month, I rip my Screenplays and Novels folders off to one and put in my fire safe. You can call that my "weird" habit as an author. Might not have the latest revision available, but I can usually reconstruct what happened in the last thirty days or so reasonably well. Beanbag My wife asked "You gonna back up you files now bright boy?"
Resume Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 8,029