Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Eric Rickstad's prescription: Grab pencil & paper & GO!

HALLIE EPHRON: Today I'm happy to welcome Eric Rickstad to Jungle Red. He writes gripping literary thrillers, the kind that hook you on page one and don't let up until they gobsmack you with an ending you should have seen coming. Along the way, his prose dazzles.

His debut novel, a New York Times Notable Book, REAP, came out to critical acclaim in 2010; his fourth book, THE NAMES OF DEAD GIRLS, is just out. 

Eric sets his books in his home state of Vermont, this new one on a remote college campus. You can feel the poetry in his writing in this one-sentence introduction to Detective Frank Rath's niece, now his adopted daughter (her parents were killed):
Rachel Rath's flesh knew before her mind did that she was being watched.
I won't spoil what happens, but let's just say it's a page turner. Reading Eric's books is more like inhaling than reading... and I asked him what writing them is like for him.

ERIC RICKSTAD:  I write my novel’s first drafts in notebooks, with #2 pencils. I like the physicality, the feel and sound as graphite scratches paper. I like to cross out a paragraph with a dark, violent X, to circle a passage and draw arrows up to show where the passage really belongs, then draw more arrows. I like to doodle and to scribble notes, important notes like: This sucks, get a job. I like to write anywhere I want when I want, on a stream bank or on my porch steps, or perhaps your porch steps.

What I love about writing with a pencil is that the writing comes so much easier, in a surge I cannot replicate when click-clacking keys. The physical act of writing sparks a white-hot livewire from my mind to pencil to page.

There was a period when I “transitioned” to writing first drafts on my laptop. It was wasted time, I reasoned, to write a novel in a notebook only to then have to type into a Word doc what looked like a 100,000-word drug prescription.

During this period, the words still came. Yet, I found myself “stuck” far more often, staring at the blinking cursor, and, while stuck, I became tempted to “check” email, social media, and “breaking news.” When I succumbed to this temptation, it proved a shameful waste of time. We all do it, but I loathed it.

So, I made a pact: when I got  stuck staring at a cursor, I’d shut down the laptop, grab my pencil, pocketknife, and notebook, and venture to a comfy chair or under a tree. 
And. Voila. No longer stuck. Often on a day when I got no writing done in the first few hours on my laptop, I ended up writing 20 notebook pages in an hour. Not all of it was good, but all of it was useful. Every word we write is useful.

Long ago, I reverted back to writing first drafts longhand. I have boxes and boxes of notebooks of my novels. Even when working on a tenth draft in Word, I’ll go to the notebook to work out a plot point or to resurrect a dead passage by writing it anew on a real page with a real pencil.

I still get stuck writing this way. I still have atrocious days of dreck; yet, instead of staring at that blinking cursor, I get to see how fine a point I can whittle on my pencil tip. I get to study the wood shavings, which are far more fascinating than a cursor. Even when no words come, I’ve not wasted time, my mind, my subconscious, remains fully engaged as I tap my pencil on the page. And, much as one tries, one can’t surf the Internet on a notebook page. Not yet.

So, if you find your writing is stuck or uninspired, for any reason at all, change it up, unplug, go to a location that does inspire, get outside, grab a pencil and a notebook and see what comes when it is once again truly just you and the page. 

HALLIE: Great advice! What I want to know from Eric is: Pencil shavings? Don't you have a pencil sharpener (my electric pencil sharpener is my favorite time waster)? And how much of what you write longhand actually ends up going in the book?

And for the rest of us, does the writing implement make a big difference? Pencil? Sharpie? Fountain pen? Or keyboard?? What's your weapon of choice?

61 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the new book, Eric . . . I’m looking forward to reading it.

    A pencil is definitely my weapon of choice. I’ve never given much thought to why that’s my preference; I guess I just like the feel of a pencil in my hand . . . .

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    1. thanks very much. It's nice to know there are others out there scratching away as well. I never gave much thought to it either, until I found myself stuck using a laptop. I do love the feel of the pencil and the sound of it too. Give me a pen though, and I'm a mess, literally. Ink all over, can't read my writing, and there's none of that good sound and feel.

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  2. I use a great pen and a notebook when I need to brainstorm a plot point, and I sit in a different chair, too. The ink has to flow nicely and I have to start on a blank page. I agree, the words flow in a different way than they do on screen. But I am so used to typing that I wouldn't even attempt to write a whole book on paper. Congratulations on the new book, Eric!

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    1. Yes, if I use a pen, it has to be just the right pen, hard to fine, otherwise I'm a mess. Looks like I've been waiting house dark blue all day by the time I'm done. So, I try to stay away! ha. thanks!

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  3. Eric, congrats on the new book!

    I pretty much just use the computer when I do any kind of writing, whether for reviews or simply just to send a message to someone.

    My mother was a technophobe so she never used the computer. So her letters to friends were these hand-written epic length missives that I used to wonder how the recipients had time to read them.

    As for having a favorite writing implement, I don't really have one. When I have to write things out for whatever reason, I just use a pen that is handy, especially if they are those pens that places of business give away for free.

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    1. thank you very much. It's funny, I use a laptop for writing of anything except my fiction. Maybe because I need more immersion in the fiction. I never write longhand for an essay or Q &A, or any other writing, including here right now. Ha. It'd be hard to write longhand and then scan and save to an image and attach that image of my pencil/paper scratch here.... I do like to write letters to friends. It's still nice to get a "real" mail in the mail box, I find. and I miss the art of postcards, the first 140 character (or close to it) medium!

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    2. Eric,

      You aren't alone in your love of longhand writing. Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has a memoir coming out in October called "What Does This Button Do?" and he wrote it longhand in about 7 notebooks.

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  4. I hate writing even a grocery list in pencil--so hat's off to you Eric!

    Now tell us more about the book please:)

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    1. Thanks. The book (THE NAMES OF DEAD GIRLS) is a dark, atmospheric, chilling psychological thriller set in the northernmost reaches of Vermont, along the Canada border. I like to keep people awake late at night, and I like page turners that make readers mull things over in their heads a bit, too. Play with themes of moral vs. legal, and the like. What if a law prevented someone in acting in a way that was morally correct to protect someone else, or to see justice served? What if following the law felt like it was impeding on acting morally? I like that dark foggy gray area. It can be very suspenseful.

      The novel starts with college student Rachel Rath feeling as though she is being watched, and sure the man watching her is the man who killed her mother and father years ago, when she was a baby: Ned Preacher, a serial rapist and murderer who's gamed the system, to get early parole. Now, he’s free, and he's calling her adoptive father (and her mother's brother), Frank Rath, threatening cruelties toward Rachel, of the flesh and of the mind.

      When other girls are found brutally murdered, and the investigation leads Rath and others across the remote wilderness of Vermont and into both the seedy and luxurious realms of Montreal, the book blurs the lines of good and evil as Rath’s desperate need to protect Rachel, and his hunger for justice, distorts his obligation to the law.

      It is the follow up to THE SILENT GIRLS, starting where that one ended, though it reads perfectly as a stand alone too. That was a fun challenge, to give just enough background info for readers coming to it fresh so they can be on board (and terrified!) straight away, but not too much so that readers of THE SILENT GIRLS sensed redundancy.

      So far, readers seem to really love it. I guess there are a lot of people who like to be as scared as I do. Ha

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  5. Wow! Even in Eric's description of writing techniques, he's poetic. I used to hand write, but my penmanship is so horrible, I couldn't make sense when I transcribed. I carry a small tablet everywhere I go for note taking, but it's frustrating to make out my notes. I admit I drift when the cursor blinks, but...it's the laptop or iPad for me. Add this author to my list. Winter's coming.

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    1. ha. thanks, and i wrote that on a laptop, too. My handwriting is pretty atrocious, and I find I have to slow way down at times, make conscious effort to write in a way that's legible so I can transcribe it. Otherwise, I am doomed.

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  6. This is fascinating… I love pencils so much, I can't begin to tell you. I have two boxes of black wing number twos, and I love them. And they all have to be perfectly sharpened when I begin. Which is really fun.
    However… Writing my book in pencil? Not a chance. Basically because I would not be able to read it -- after years of taking notes as fast as I can, my handwriting is so terrible.
    But I still take notes in pencil, and when I have a good idea I write it down in pencil… Doing that on a computer or phone does not work for me at all. Somehow writing it out, the words I choose are different than when I type them.
    I'm thinking about this now… I do write my books on a computer, but when I have to work something out, I do it in a notebook with a pencil.
    And I have your new book, Eric! But before I could start it, my husband said… Wow that looks great. And he is reading it now. So I am next!
    So you have no problem reading your own handwriting? And it's interesting… You save all your notebooks? Welcome to Jungle Red!

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    1. Yes, notes especially feel weird using my iPhone or something to speak into or type in NOTES app. Clunky. I do have problems reading my handwriting! It's terrible. I have to be careful and slow down and be deliberate at times, otherwise it's Sanskrit later, which I don't read! I'll have passages that do take a while to transcribe. I find another perk though is that by the time I've transcribed, I've actually edited form notebook page to Word, so when it is finally in Word, the "1st" draft is really a second draft.

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    2. Oh, and I use most often Black Warrior #2 or straight up Ticonderoga #2

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    3. and yes, sharp sharp sharp. Sharpening them is the most productive, guiltless, waste of time ever.

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    4. I will check those out! And yes, sometimes I have to re-write a word so I'll be sure to translate it. And WHY is it always the most important word?

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  7. laptop. I have a notebook for random ideas, and large sketchpad one of the kids left behind I use for plot-storming. There's something about a nice big page and a sharpie for inspiration.

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  8. I'm with Pam -- can't read my own writing. And if I had a favorite pen I'd probably lose it. As a thank you gift from a conference I was given a lovely silver Tiffany pen, engraved with my initials... I'm afraid to use (aka LOSE) it so it sits in its box displayed on a bookshelf. But I'm going to try using it and see if it makes the words flow.

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    1. there's that too! If I used nice pens, I'd lose them. I have a couple pens friends gave me years ago, shelved for same reason. But a nice smooth pen on paper that doesn't leak etc. is very nice too.

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    2. Yes, I love nice pens. I use them at my desk, then put them back in the little case. When you find a non-globby pen, its so nice.

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  9. I'm looking forward to reading your books!
    My favorite way to write is with a pencil (nicely sharpened) on a yellow legal pad. But I think I like your idea of notebooks even better! That way you have it all!

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    1. thanks, I hope you enjoy them! I have used pads, but gravitated toward notebooks as they seem to hold up better when boxed etc, and the pages stay put.

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    2. Tell me, do you write on the back of each page? Notebooks would fill up faster if you didn't of course, but I'm thinking it would be best not to. I use to use marble notebooks for trip journals and I did write on the back of the page. I'm wishing now I hadn't.

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  10. I have some notebooks in which I've written, appropriately, lots of notes. I have to have a big, fat pen--the skinny ones aren't kind to my arthritic fingers. My wife and I have done a lot of car travel in recent years, and I've recorded some very good ideas while she drives. The notebooks are a collection of marble ones (I like the wide lines) and spirals that we bought for our kids' use in school. Occasionally they would actually use them, but there were many that were almost virginal. The biggest problem with this approach is that my penmanship, once lovely, has deteriorated over the years, especially when I write fast, which I do when I get an idea. Ah well, first-world problems.

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    1. those marble notebooks are good ones. My wife has bought me Moleskine notebooks the past several years for birthdays and whatnot, and I like them a lot too. Their size.

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  11. Eric, I'm with you! For work, because of the need for speed, I learned to write at my computer--from my handwritten notes, results of analyses, etc. And so it seemed wasteful to do everything else I wrote out longhand and then type in--BUT! There is just something so satisfying to get away from the computer screen. To be holding a sharp pencil--as long as it's a number 2 with a sharp tip I'm not too fussed (and boy, my dad would be right there with you with the penknife!). Then typing it up--seeing it on the screen--that's the time to do some more editing--catch a word overly used--etc. And helpful when I do get stuck--I feel I'm being productive.

    Putting your latest on my stack now--so many new authors--and so much reading pleasure!

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    1. thanks so much. Yes, there is that sense that once it is transcribed, we've edited from notebook to Word doc as we've transcribed. So many good books to read!

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  12. I'm beginning to think maybe it's not entirely the fault of penmanship being so messy as it is my eyesight is going! Ha. I'd rather blame it all on my handwriting though, and not that I am suffering from "short-arm" disease as my friend calls it. A condition wherein my arms are suddenly too short to hold a book far enough from my face for my eyes to focus.

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  13. Another plus is that, unless, (God forbid) there is a major fire that burns up all my notebooks, I will forever have permanent version of that first draft, that messy, crazy, awful, adrenaline-fueled draft where glimpses of the finish draft live. And I don't have to worry about THE CLOUD losing my draft, or having ten backup systems. The draft is right there, in those notebooks.

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  14. Years ago I learned to compose on the typewriter because, back before the internet, my beloved and I used to write each other pages and pages of love letters every day. (He lived in Texas and I lived in Missouri.) My handwriting can best be described as "creative," and one day he wrote to me, "Could you please type these letters? Because I want to read every word, but I can't read your handwriting."

    Now I do most of my writing on the computer, but I will take pen and journal in hand to explore new ideas, write sketches and character studies, and that kind of stuff. I like ink that flows--haven't used a ballpoint in years. At work I use Pilot V-ball pens with liquid ink, but at home I have fountain pens, and a small collection of very nice mechanical pencils for the daily crossword and sudoku. You Reds may have heard Deb wax rhapsodic about her fountain pens and Iona journals; I'm going to raise my hand and admit my guilt. I introduced her to the journals, and re-introduced her to the joys of the fountain pen. And then, when I fell away from the faith, she got me back into it and now . . . yeah. Everybody needs friends like that.

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    1. the faith! that is it. Mechanical pencils can be really nice too! Pens are either too nice and I will lose them, or they leak all over me and I am even more messy. Plus I do love the physical feel and sound of graphite on paper

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    2. Mechanical pencils! Love. DO you know the yellow plastic kind?

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  15. Hallie, to answer your question at the end of the blog: Yes, I do have a real sharpener I can use. My young daughter's sharpener works just fine, in a pinch. Yet, there is something I like about the angles made from a whittling the tip instead of that perfectly symmetrical, honed point. Maybe it is reverse OCD. Maybe I just like a mess! ha. If you've seen my truck, there may be more evidence of that pattern. And, I'd say a vast majority of what is in the notebook ends up in the Word doc. I do edit as I transcribe, and cut out or rewrite passages. But, on the whole, much of what is in the notebook ends up in Word doc, in one fashion or another, and then I really get after it and try to cut/edit, say, 120k words down to 90k or so.

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  16. I like your exploration of gray areas, the spots between legal and moral. Can't wait to read about The Girls. As a child I liked my #2 pencils. It's funny that #2 was specified on our school supplies list. I was visiting my grandparents once, in west Texas. I asked for a pencil sharpener and Grandma pulled a penknife out of a drawer and sharpened my pencil. I was only 6 or so and was appalled my grandma didn't have a mechanical pencil sharpener. When I was gainfully employed I used mechanical pencils with fine points. I use ball point pens with fine points. We're so fine! Nowadays my handwriting is crap, as anyone who has ever gotten a note from me will attest to. For some reason words flow better on the computer than they do with pen and paper in hand. BUT I jot down notes and lists and reminders on paper, not my iPhone, so perhaps that redeems me.

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    1. We each gotta do what works best for ourselves, that's key. I do need a harder #2 pencil though. Soft graphite just does not feel right, to me.

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  17. Eric - your new book sounds wonderfully terrifying. I'm looking forward to reading it - I love a good thriller when the days grow shorter. I am married to my laptop for my first drafts but I have tons of legal pads where I write my outlines in pencil - lots of big X's and side notes! I can't outline any other way and I require a solid map before I venture into the wilderness of the word. Thanks for visiting today.

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    1. thanks! glad to be here! yes, lots of Xs and side notes, and, for me, scribbles and doodles and whatnot. It is a wilderness, for certain. Thanks

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  18. Interesting discussion for sure.

    I know -- just KNOW -- that if ever I found the perfect writing implement to change my life for the better, six months later it would be discontinued forever.

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  19. Congrats on the book, Eric! I'm in awe of your longhand, pencil-written first drafts! All of my drafts are done on the computer, although I do most of my brainstorming and outlining by hand. I've also found that at a certain point, I need to print out the draft and edit it by hand, rather than on my computer. There is something very satisfying about marking big X's and arrows.

    My favorite pen at the moment is Pilot Frixon erasable clicker. The ink is smooth, it's erasable and comes in lots of colors. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good pen, and it's inexpensive, so no fretting if you lose it!

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation! And yes, print it out and mark it up. So satisfying. thanks

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    2. Making a note of that with a random Bic pen.

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  20. Am I the only lefty out there that finds it hard to write in a notebook? The side of my hand rests on the middle of the notebook, uncomfortable even if there's no spiral. Only solution: use the notebook backwards.

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    2. I'm a lefty! I just turn the notebook. I tried to use the notebook backwards, which I thought would make sense, but it blew up my brain.

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    3. Ha! You do pretty well with that blown up brain!

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  21. I'm a righty, but that's a clever work around!

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  22. I don't know that I've heard of an author who still writes with pencil and paper, but it obviously works well for you. That's all that is important. And you have an excellent point that you can't let e-mail and the internet distract you from writing if they aren't anywhere near you.

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  23. and I get to write outside, too! thanks

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  24. Diana Wynne Jones used to write her first drafts on a yellow legal pad.
    She had wonderful stories about bits of what she was writing/creating happening just as she wrote it! Like the roof in the office collapsing. Had she been using her computer then, rather than the pad of paper in the living room, the roof would have fallen on her
    Libby Dodd

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    1. And there you have it. And John Grisham writes on a legal pad, I just heard him say at an event.

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    2. Wow, now that's a reason to use a pencil !

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  25. I may be incorrect, but I believe Joyce Carol Oates writes with a pencil and a notebook, and someone at her publisher transcribes. So, quite the spectrum of abilities there!!!

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  26. I think John Updike wrote in longhand. Don't know if it was pen or pencil!

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  27. Tess Gerritsen writes her first drafts longhand.

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  28. Am I the only one who's noticed the sad decline in the quality of pencil erasers? Nine times out of ten they're hard and don't actual erase anything.

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  29. You're not alone! Horrendous! Luckily I like to scratch and cross out and X

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  30. Congratulations on the new release!

    I'm with you -- I fill at minimum two paper notebooks before moving to the computer, and even once I'm typing, I still keep a paper notebook with me to wrestle with plot problems. My brain doesn't work the same way on the computer.

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    1. Yes, very similar process. Thanks! Will have to check out your series of books!

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