Recently I have been reading Pat Conroy’s new book, My Reading Life, which is an autobiographical tale of how reading shaped his life. While the book digs into the books that meant something to Conroy as he developed as a person and as a writer, the more interesting parts (my opinion) are watching how Conroy developed as a writer and storyteller.

Another aspect of Conroy’s story that I found intriguing is that he admits his deficit as a terrible typist and writes his novels longhand on yellow legal pads with fountain pens and then has a professional typist prepare the manuscripts. While this does not seem an efficient way to write prose, I have found that the act of typing brings forth a different type of writing than when a writer goes immediately to the keyboard.

Often, when I have been stuck while writing I have turned away from my laptop and picked up a notebook to draft a scene or to play with different story ideas. Changing how you are writing can alter your perception of the story and can help you move forward. I have not attempted to write an entire novel longhand, but that is something that I would like to try one day. It works for Pat Conroy, why not for me?