John Baker’s Blog

The summer is not an easy blogging period for me. I usually find myself physically isolated from modern technology and with little inclination to get closer to it until I return home to my own desk.

Last year I asked several bloggers a series of five questions and published their answers on this blog during the period I wasn’t here to make my own contributions. As I read through their replies a new question began to form for me, but this time the question was singular and would be addressed, not to bloggers, but to those involved in the craft of writing.

The question was this: What phases are involved in the creation of a text?

Over the past weeks I have been asking this question of a cross-section of writers. Some famous names. Others little-known. And still others, unknown outside of quite specialist circles.

The response to the question has been mixed. Most writers did respond in some way or other, though there were a few who didn’t bother to reply, usually, I suspect because they didn’t have the time, or because they were frightened of the question or regarded it as an imposition. These were a tiny minority.

Others responded immediately, seeming to drop whatever it was they were doing and going over to their computers to begin tapping out an answer. In the same vein, still others begged time to think or consider the question and the kind of answer they would like to formulate.

The answers, as might have been expected, are as varied as the individuals who have produced them. Some totally engaged, others distant, even wary, though all with their own special interest.

I’m going away now, for a little over a month, and the answers to the question will be posted here during that period. I’m sure you’ll find them as fascinating as I do.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my RSS feed