How Did Enid Blyton Write Her Books?
Enid Blyton typed out her stories while sitting in her study or in the garden, her typewriter perched on her knees. She did not learn to touch-type but used her two forefingers, still managing to type with speed and accuracy. Enid explains in The Story of My Life that she did not plan a work of fiction before starting to write it. Often, she had no clear idea where the plot was heading. Instead, she simply allowed the story to unfold in her mind as she typed, relying on her fertile imagination rather than on conscious invention. She compared the process to viewing “a private cinema screen inside my head… and what I see, I write down.” In a letter to Peter McKellar on 26th February 1953 she added: “But it’s a 3-dimensional screen, complete with sound, smell and tasteand feeling!” When Enid Blyton was beginning a new book, the characters would appear in her head first: “They stand there in my mind’s eye and I can see them as clearly as I see you when I look at you. I can see if they ar
