Sunday 14 October 2012

The Novelist at Work - Rebecca West

This short description by Rebecca West outlining the unique method she used in order to write her novels was first published in a 1924 issue of John O'London's Weekly.

"I do not know how I write my books, except that I write them on six writing-pads at once. I write the rough draft of a page on the first page of a pad; then on the second I write the rough draft of a paragraph; then on the third I write the rough draft of a sentence; on the fourth and fifth I write the sentence more and more desperately; on the sixth I write the fair copy. People who do not otherwise admire my work tell me that this performance, particularly when carried on at a high speed, reminds them of Cinquevalli.
After I have worked out a very elaborate plot, I usually find at the end of the story that not one atom of that plot has survived."

Rebecca West

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