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Meredith Hilliard

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1103-H05

November 17, 2010

I was told that the body of my paper was good; it’s well-organized and has a parallel

structure. I needed to go more in depth as to what sparked my interest in the inquiry question. I

also needed a more concise conclusion. In the peer workshop, I left the readers wanting to read

more in my final paragraph. However, I don’t want to write the readers to death. I put better

descriptions in the opening paragraph, added more to my conclusion, and discussed my inquiry

topic more in the first paragraph.

Writing Styles

In Dr. Jan Rieman’s English 1103 course, the class was assigned a project called

“Writing to Explore.” This project was made up of ten responses to topics posted online. One

topic in particular caught my attention: Writers on Writing. This assignment required the

students to watch a video on YouTube of authors discussing how they write. Then the students

had to write what their own writing process is. Dr. Jan then suggested that we “respond to what

you hear these professional writers saying about their writing life” (Rieman). When writing a

response, I realized that I was completely unsatisfied with the responses given by the authors

interviewed. P.J. O’Rourke, one of the authors interviewed in the video, goes straight to writing

when he wakes up in the morning. He believes that he has “4 hours of intelligence” each day that

he cannot waste. O’Rourke cannot complete small tasks, such as dressing his children, making

them breakfast, or taking them to school, or else his “concentration is destroyed for the day.”

O’Rourke seems to have to combine careful planning and determined effort in order to
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accomplish his writing for the day. For him, writing is a task that requires his full concentration.

It runs like a job, for him. He even said that if he starts off writing well in the morning, he can

“push through for the rest of the day.” O’Rourke’s statement makes writing seem like something

difficult and unenjoyable. John McWhorter, another author interviewed in the video, has to wake

up at 9:30 every morning to begin his writing process. He makes coffee, skips breakfast, and eats

a late lunch. McWhorter’s “writing days” are either Tuesday or Wednesday. He usually has done

“a broad outline the night before” for his articles (Painter). To me, their writing processes

seemed extremely professional and uptight. I always had an image in my head that authors are

touched by divine inspiration and write a story from there. I didn’t want to believe that some of

my favorite stories I read were the product of mental struggle, lack of sleep, and failures balled

up in the trash can. However, the video on Youtube made me begin to wonder if all authors had

such strict, forced writing processes. It made me question if some of my favorite authors had to

toil and strain to produce the fantastic works I’d been reading.

Neil Gaiman is the author of Stardust, Neverwhere, and Coraline. His stories are creative,

imaginative, and adventurous. In my mind, he couldn’t possibly be one of the nine to five

authors. In his earlier writing years, Gaiman claims that he was “nocturnal.” He had a tendency

to practice writing “when everything else that could be done had been done.” Instead of writing

during the normal, awake hours of the day, Gaiman would “start around 8pm and work

industriously until around 5am” (O’Connell). His writing habits were erratic. Gaiman did not set

aside a time of the day to write; instead, he wrote when he was able to. For him, writing was

more important than sleeping. However, as he became older and published more books, writing

became a little more serious. However, with age, finding a suitable writing environment has

become easier for Gaiman. Now, he can “rent a little cabin where there’s no cell phone signal or
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internet and nothing to do except stare at a nearby lake… or write” (O’Connell). This way, he

can focus solely on writing. Small children, family issues, technology, and the business of

everyday life are no longer a hassle.

David Sedaris, another well-known author of the twenty-first century, has also written

many books, including Naked, Barrel Fever, and Me Talk Pretty One Day. Sedaris writes about

his past experiences; some stories are true, yet many are exaggerated. Sedaris’ writing process

involves constant scribbles, notes, and diary entries. In order to build his stories, Sedaris feeds

off of the actions of the people around him. He “makes notes about the people he meets,”

allowing him to create characters for his stories (Shey). Sedaris also takes notes when reading his

stories aloud, “marking where people laugh or don’t respond” (Block). This allows him to edit

his stories more to his audience’s liking. This method also helps him realize the jokes in his work

he may have thought were funny, but did not tickle the audience in the same way.

Jodi Picoult, author of House Rules and My Sister’s Keeper has a writing process similar

to the people interviewed in the video. Rather than romantically looking out of her window at the

lakeside or taking random notes of people she meets, Picoult is more disciplined in her writing

process. Picoult starts her day at “5 each morning and, after a three-mile walk with a longtime

pal, settles down in her home office to write until 3:30 p.m.” (Keller). At 3:30, her children come

home, and her roles shift from author to mother. This writing process seems like a monotonous

job. However, Picoult claims, “You don't do this to be famous or to have money. If you're going

to write, you do it for you. It's a compulsion. When I don't write, I get itchy. The stories are like

something under my skin” (Keller). Picoult’s profession may be an author, however, it is also her

passion. Writing can be a form of relief for Picoult, not just another way to pay bills.
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Before starting this paper, I had a pre-conceived notion that novelists wrote when it

struck their fancy. I didn’t think that authors had to get away to write, or have a specific writing

period during the day, or take notes on their surroundings in order to get a story. My initial

question for this paper was answered: no, not all authors have strict, forced writing processes.

Sedaris makes his writing more personal and fun by keeping a diary. Gaiman uses writing as an

escape. However, some authors do have to sit down and tell themselves to write. Gaiman does, at

times, have to get away from home and technology in order to make himself write. Picoult has to

wake up early in the morning and start her day to write before her children come home. Different

authors have different writing processes; their individual process has more to do with the

author’s personality rather than the piece he is writing. Sedaris’ curious nature encourages him to

write about the people surrounding him. He is shameless in writing a description of a person with

whom he is talking. Neil Gaiman sometimes has to hide himself away from the rest of the world

in order to write something worth mentioning. Jodi Picoult, being active and a mother, must

exercise prior to writing and work before her children come home from school. Each author has

his or her own unique method. However, the authors I’ve looked into all must work and edit and

try time and again to get a piece they actually like.

Meredith,

What a great question to ask and what great answers you found! I really like that you took this
approach and found this information on these particular contemporary author. I also like that this
inquiry question arose from a Writing to Explore example. From your self-assessment, it sounds
like you have made some helpful revisions to this paper already. Because your paper is so
interesting, I’m just left wanting more! I want to know more about how these people write and
what they do to revise and how long it takes them. If you don’t want to add more detail, then you
could still work on transition in between your paragraphs. While move from one author to the
next as you do works o.k., I’m confident that you could find a way to move your reader from one
author to the next more smoothly, perhaps making connections as you go.
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Works Cited

Block, Allison. “Sedaris Finds Seam-Splitting Humor In the Fabric of Life.” BookPage.

Bookpage.com. 2004. Web. 27 Oct. 2010

Keller, Julia. “Jodi Picoult Talks About Life, Writing.” Chicago Tribune. Chicagotribune.com 7

Mar. 2010. Web. 27 Oct. 2010.

O’Connell, John. “Neil Gaiman: How I Write.” Books and Poetry. Timeout.com 5 Oct. 2006

Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

Painter, Nell, P.J. O’Rourke, and John McWhorter. “Writers on Writing.” Book TV. 30 June

2008. Youtube.com. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.

Rieman, Jan. “Writers on Writing.” Writing to Explore. Moodle.uncc.edu. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.

Shey, Brittanie. “Houstonist Was There: David Sedaris.” Houstonist. Houstonist.com. 22 Oct.

2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.