tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13774780.post116382603244877879..comments2024-03-27T02:00:49.152-04:00Comments on Kate's Book Blog: Samuel Delany on Doubt and the Writing ProcessKate S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16897618197257393697noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13774780.post-1163835795778437302006-11-18T02:43:00.000-05:002006-11-18T02:43:00.000-05:00He's absolutely right. This is certainly how I wri...He's absolutely right. This is certainly how I write. And I think that the fact that many (most?) writers now compose their works directly on PCs means that more and more writers work this way - it's so much easier on a PC to "try" a word, a phrase, an entire paragraph, then backspace and try something different. This iterative process has, for many writers, replaced the drafting process. Where previously, writing a novel (for all but those mystically inspired writers able to spew perfect prose directly onto the paper) was a laborious process of producing multiple manuscript versions, each one reflecting the crossings-out, corrections, additions and amendments scribbled on to the previous manuscript, now it is quite feasible, even for the average writer, to complete a "first" draft - a single Word document, or one per chapter, for example - which is also more or less the final draft (at least until the editors get their hands on it). Of course, this also implies a major loss to future literary scholars interested in understanding how a writer writes - unless he has mastered the art of versioning, there is no longer likely to be any trace of the creative effect of his doubt as it shapes his work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com