[HPforGrownups] First draft to second draft

[Peg Kerr]

No: HPFGUIDX 5759

smitster wrote:

> > I sent an e-mail to Bloomsbury today about the wand order change.
> They'll
> > probably ignore it, but it's worth a try...
> >
> > Neil
> >
>
> I don't expect you'll get an answer.  I visited another bookstore
> tonight and found a 16th printing of HP4.  Amazingly enough, this
> edition has reverted to the pre-9th printing version.  So, as far as
> the 16th printing goes, Harry's dad beats Harry's mom out of the wand
> leaving us thoroughly and utterly confused Harry Potter fans.
>
> I was talking with a co-worker about this today.  We decided that
> many of these things (errors and such) not only would be prevented
> with a larger proofing team (mentioned her many times before), but
> also if JKR would do her first-draft writing on a word processor.
> Does anyone know if she enters her handwritten notes into a computer
> or does someone else do that for her?
>
> Perhaps Peg could comment on this.  I'm not a writer.  But perhaps
> going longhand lets the ideas flow better since you're free from
> computer crashes, battery drains, sunny rooms, and other such
> irritations.

I write on the computer because I type faster and more comfortably than I
hand write (I make my living in the Muggle world as a professional typist).
I can easily compose on the keyboard, but many people can't.  Also, as I
understand it from reading interviews, Jo very much appreciates leaving her
home base (coffee shops, etc.,) when doing her first draft.  You have to
remember that she didn't have the money to work on a computer when she was
doing the first book at least.  When you develop a writing method on one
technology that works well for you, it can be an awful wrench to try to
change.

I suspect Jo handwrites because she feels that is the best method for her to
get her ideas onto the page.

I have never read whether she transcribes her first draft herself to
manuscript, or even whether she prefers a typewriter or uses a computer for
her second draft.  I would be very very surprised, however, if she does
allow someone else to transcribe that first draft to second draft.
Transcribing drafts from one medium (handwritten) to another (typewritten)
can be a very important part of the creative process for writers; it's an
opportunity to take a fresh look at the material, and so many authors who
transfer from handwritten draft to typewritten second draft use that
opportunity to make changes as they transcribe.

Peg