…at the computer. Actually, I’ve never been much to write at the keyboard (even though I’m an excellent typist). Anything thoughtful always meant pen to paper. I don’t mind. I prefer the slow way of writing.
But it’s a style that doesn’t make for very good blogging…that tat tat tat of fingers against keys that signals the processor to emit pixels forming one shape or another on the monitor while concurrently encoding data strings for manipulation by scripts on a server. Where’s my spontaneity?
When I’m at the PC I rather be working than blogging. There’s something about freelance work that keeps you more focused than a salaried position. Besides, my best thoughts about Buenos Aires come while I’m out in the city. For those moments, which seemed to have been rare lately, I carry a small notebook and pen for scribbling thoughts, fragments that later form posts on this blog about Buenos Aires.
…more posts to follow…I’m not stopping yet…
…for now, a photo for you…from the mercado in San Telmo…
August 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I agree with you. I feel the slow and deep way to write down my feelings and descriptions of Buenos Aires and Argentina with a pen and a notebook are the best way for me to begin a text that will become a post.
I really like your blog and your way of writing.
Scuse me, I don’t often write in English.
Flavia
August 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hi Flavia,
Thanks for your comment. It’s nice to hear that I’m not the only one who still writes with pen and paper.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 am
Count me in. All my books were written with pen on paper. In the early days (my first novel was published in 1981), I would type (with a manual typewriter) the handwritten mss to have a submission copy. More recently (since the late 80s) I have used a computer word processor for the task of producing a printed copy for editors from the original handwritten version.
Lately, I have started a literary webblog (at the insistence of my editor and agent, who said it “might be fun and will help sell books), and write the posts directly from the computer keyboard. It surprises me how different the two forms of writing turn out to be, between pen on paper or fingers on keys.
I write nearly exclusively in cafes — there is a long post on my new webblog about writing in cafes — which lends itself to pen on paper more than sitting there with a laptop on the table. I note this because at the end of this year my wife and I are moving to Buenos Aires, where I will start the process of finding the cafe where I can work. I believe we will have a flat in Palermo, so any suggestions will be considered.
By the way, I have been reading your blog for quite a while.