Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
While I don't remember the first story I actually wrote, I remember like it was yesterday the first book of mine that was ever published. It was a children's picture book entitled, The Biggest Pizza, and was based on a trip to my local supermarket where they were trying to make the biggest pizza ever. As I was teaching Geography at the time, I had great fun using an iron and steel works as my setting for the baking of that pizza. It was a hilarious story that I really enjoyed writing.
What is your writing process?
I always write by hand first before I type out my material. I find that a pen in my hand pressing down on the paper helps my ideas to flow - sometimes fast and furiously, almost as if I am indulging myself in 'free writing'. At other times, my ideas come more slowly; I look at the view (my favourite place to generate ideas and to write is on my sunny, sheltered balcony overlooking the Fish Hoek hills), think about what I want to say, indulge myself in 'writer's thoughts.' Once I have finished a section, I type it up, editing as I do so. Obviously at the end of that whole process, especially if it's a long manuscript, I print the whole thing out, make changes, re-draft until I am 'reasonably' satisfied. Is a writer ever completely satisfied with what he/she has written? I'd be curious to know, because I certainly think in my own writing there's always room for improvement.
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