Gaiman's writing technique. When he sits down to write he simply gives himself two options: he can sit there and write or he can sit there and do nothing. But he can’t do anything else. It’s that permission to not write that is freeing, and eventually, after staring around for a bit, the act of writing becomes a whole lot more interesting and appealing than the act of doing nothing.

Gaiman's writing technique. When he sits down to write he simply gives himself two options: he can sit there and write or he can sit there and do nothing. But he can’t do anything else. It’s that permission to not write that is freeing, and eventually, after staring around for a bit, the act of writing becomes a whole lot more interesting and appealing than the act of doing nothing.

In the case of tools, Gaiman prefers writing first drafts with a fountain pen in a physical notebook both because he likes how that process feels and because he can see the progress on the page in a more direct and tactile way compared to looking at a screen. Gaiman also shared how when writing by hand you spend just a bit more time thinking before you commit words to the page, and that clearer thinking leads to more precise writing compared to the process on a computer in which you’re able to get sentences down quicker but then are tempted to spend (and, arguably, waste) time fiddling with them.

In the case of tools, Gaiman prefers writing first drafts with a fountain pen in a physical notebook both because he likes how that process feels and because he can see the progress on the page in a more direct and tactile way compared to looking at a screen. Gaiman also shared how when writing by hand you spend just a bit more time thinking before you commit words to the page, and that clearer thinking leads to more precise writing compared to the process on a computer in which you’re able to get sentences down quicker but then are tempted to spend (and, arguably, waste) time fiddling with them.

<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/b0a39524-4c4d-44d1-b65d-4cd91dcd71eb/NotionLogo_Square_Small.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/b0a39524-4c4d-44d1-b65d-4cd91dcd71eb/NotionLogo_Square_Small.jpg" width="40px" /> More sketchnotes here: Notion for Sketchnoters.

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