[lbo-talk] John Waters writing routine

[Dennis Claxton]

Apropos our ipad/kindle etc. conversation:

http://blog.theparisreview.org/2010/08/09/john-waters/

[...]

My other ritual is that I write in longhand. On 
this one kind of legal pad called AMPAD Evidence. 
I like BIC pens, the clear black ones. And I have 
to use an exact kind of scotch tape when I cut 
things up­Scotch Magic Finish Tape. And I have to use the same style scissors.

So you use the scissors and the tape to take what 
you’ve written in longhand and rearrange it?

Yes. When I’m re-writing rather than copy the 
whole thing over and over, I’ll cut out three 
sentences and put ’em in. It’s a word processor, 
old fashioned, by hand. Then, when I get it back 
from my assistant typed, I cut it up again. Then 
there’s less and less writing the closer and 
closer it is until we start copyediting and proofreading and all that.

One thing I liked about the book was that it’s 
structured and well written, and yet it feels 
like we’re just having a chat with you as we read.

Well that’s good­I hope it’s like that, but it’s 
the exact opposite; I mean, that thing has been rewritten a million times.

[...]