On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 18:11:08 +0000, J C <greyw01f at hotmail.com> wrote: > > Did skilled writing always come natural to you? Or did you have to work at > it? I've been wondering the same thing. Are there interviews out there where this question has already been addressed? As an ermerging writer myself, I'm very interested in the nuts and bolts of the process if that's been addressed already somewhere. I'm not a big Stephen King fan but I do recognize that the man can write. I went through his book "On Writing" and was entrigued by the nuts and bolts of his work pattern. I was interested to see, for example, that when he's writing a first draft, he'll work every day until it's done and then give that project six weeks rest so that when he approaches it again for the first major edit, it will be through reasonably fresh eyes. Stuff like that really adds to my understanding of the craft. I'm also interested in the tools of the trade. For myself, I've used Texturizer (essentially a notepad-like text app on steroids), Word, the Open Office variant, and FrameMaker (as I use Frame at work and Frame excels at long, text-based documentation). I'm familiar with the Windows OS but am intrigued with the thought of Linux or even OS X for writing platforms (the latter especially in light of yesterdays post at /. about an app called SubEthaEdit). Finally, I'm interested in things as basic as QWERTY vs Dvorak. I seem to remember that Piers Anthony was a Dvorak adherent back in the day and anything that can minimize wear and tear on my hands is something work checking into, IMO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . johne cook wisconsin, usa johne.cook at gmail.com http://www.phywriter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .