Does DJ Taylor work using a computer or with a pen?
He has a simple method of working. He works each paragraph over in his head before he commits it to paper. After a single draft has been written in longhand, he then revises it as he types it up into a final draft on the computer. This is a direct result of his training writing book reviews over 20 years ago. Computers were barely around them and hard to use so everything had to be written on a typewriter. Every mistake had to be corrected using correction fluid, so it was a time-consuming process to write using the typewriter. He learned to write 400 word reviews in longhand and then typing them up without mistake often at very short notice. It is a discipline he is glad to have learned. He is not keen on the idea of writing multiple drafts, although he admits it is a system that works for many people, but he fears he would lose his spontaneity and focus. For him deadlines and schedules concentrate his mind and writing quickly means that his work has to be as good as it can be, now. H
