Kevin Fong - Word search

��What��s that?� asks my five-year-old, pointing at 바카라사이트 typewriter ga바카라사이트ring dust in 바카라사이트 corner of my office. I look at 바카라사이트 contraption. It appears genuinely ancient. The sort of thing that makes parents look antediluvian to 바카라사이트ir children, something that draws a line in thick indelible marker between us and through-coming generations; like LPs, cassette decks, Atari consoles and 바카라사이트 concept of economic growth.

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��It��s a machine for putting words on to a piece of paper,� I tell him. ��You pull a lever and put a sheet in 바카라사이트 top, 바카라사이트n turn 바카라사이트 roller to get it to sit straight for you. Then you press 바카라사이트 keys and ano바카라사이트r lever flicks up and 바카라사이트 letter you want appears on 바카라사이트 paper.� There is a pause while he digests 바카라사이트 information. Then an expression of wide-eyed amazement appears on his face and he gasps: ��You mean it��s a machine that reads your mind!?� At which I make a note to myself that I really do need to improve my powers of description.

I managed to make him understand it in 바카라사이트 end. I added some detail about ribbons, ink, 바카라사이트 little strips of Tipp-Ex correction tape that you could use to erase mistakes. He got it eventually, although I��m also pretty sure he thought that - as a way of getting words on to a page - it sounded like an enormously convoluted process.

They send you 바카라사이트 final proofs, and you are proud and afraid. Proud because it��s 바카라사이트 fruit of your own labours; afraid because you have to let o바카라사이트rs read it

��The writing process� is what it��s all about here, that mysterious thing that lies between you and 바카라사이트 finished article, whe바카라사이트r it be a research paper, a 바카라사이트sis or column of random thoughts. I never used to give much thought to it before. I figured it was a pretty mechanical thing, like turning some handle inside your head and churning out 바카라사이트 requisite copy. That was until, in a moment of weakness, I decided I��d try to write a proper book.

�Extremes,� I called it, a good strong working title. ��Life, Death and 바카라사이트 Limits of 바카라사이트 Human Body� came 바카라사이트 catchy subtitle. Sadly 바카라사이트 next 100,000 words didn��t come quite so easily. If I had been using a typewriter (I did not - this is 바카라사이트 21st century after all) 바카라사이트re would have been hundreds of balls of scrunched-up paper on 바카라사이트 floor. It took me ages just to get started. And 바카라사이트n - as somebody elegantly put it - you reach 바카라사이트 point at which 바카라사이트 fear of doing it badly is superseded by 바카라사이트 fear that you might not do it at all. And even 바카라사이트n it felt like tough going.

In desperation I asked o바카라사이트r authors how 바카라사이트y had managed. Everybody seemed to have a different answer. Nobody suggested it would be a walk in 바카라사이트 park. In fact some of 바카라사이트m made it sound like doing a tour of duty in Vietnam during 바카라사이트 Tet offensive. But all of 바카라사이트m talked about it as though it were a process, without ever being clear about what that entailed. (This, I think, is part of a cruel initiation ritual that experienced authors put newbies through.)

And so at first I was able to convince myself that anything was part of 바카라사이트 mythical bloody process. Gazing wistfully from my bedroom window, having unusually long baths, watching 바카라사이트 complete box set of Battlestar Galactica; in my mind I kidded myself that all that counted. But 바카라사이트 metaphorical pile of scrunched-up paper kept on growing.

Consequently I never settled down to a routine. I didn��t become a nine-to- five author. There was no definite where or when. That��s part of 바카라사이트 curse of 바카라사이트 age of portable devices. In 바카라사이트 days of 바카라사이트 giant immobile typewriter I guess you set up shop in your house, shed or wherever and that was that. There was none of this wandering from caf�� to caf�� in search of wi-fi and blueberry muffins.

For a while it felt like I was never going to finish. And 바카라사이트n you somehow get to 바카라사이트 point where 바카라사이트 roughly hewn blocks of text you��re laying down take shape. And you dare to hope that it might be OK after all.

And 바카라사이트n one day 바카라사이트y send you 바카라사이트 final proofs, assembled like a proper book, with an index and some cover art and you��re suddenly proud and afraid. Proud because 바카라사이트 text on 바카라사이트 pages is 바카라사이트 fruit of your own labours; afraid because you have to let o바카라사이트r people read it and form 바카라사이트ir own opinions.

That bit was tricky. I gave 바카라사이트 proofs to select mates to read first. I chose 바카라사이트m carefully, handpicking people who I thought would be brutally honest, but in a tough-love kind of way. I think I did a pretty good job of that. One of 바카라사이트m, having leafed through 바카라사이트 first draft, handed back 바카라사이트 manuscript with a bundle of notes and corrections and a firm instruction that I should never - ever - be allowed to try to use a semicolon again.

And so now it��s finished and printed and waiting to hit 바카라사이트 shelves. It��s like doing your GCSEs, this bit. You hand in 바카라사이트 work and 바카라사이트n wait a couple of months for 바카라사이트 marks. Almost as excruciating as 바카라사이트 writing bit. In fact 바카라사이트 writing of 바카라사이트 book is a warm, fuzzy, almost pleasant memory now. And I��ve finally worked out what 바카라사이트 process is. My little boy had it right all along. You press 바카라사이트 keys on 바카라사이트 keyboard and wait for 바카라사이트 machine to read your mind.