John Updike on the benefit of writing fiction by hand

    John Updike believes that writing fiction with a word processor suppresses the imagination; writing in longhand sets it free:

I’ve tried not to confuse my life with any other duties but writing. I work in my own house on the second floor in a set of small maid’s rooms, from 8:30 or 9:00 to 12:00 every day, and try to return in the afternoon. I use a word processor for essays and letters, but write all my novels in longhand. Writing by hand makes you more apt to hear the inner voice. The silence of writing by hand makes it easier to let your imagination pick up. You can hear your characters talk better. (Quoted from The American Scholar, Spring, 1998. p. 14.)

    For a brief biography of John Updike, click here.