Truman Capote

INTERVIEWER
What are some of your writing habits? Do you use a desk? Do you write on a machine?

CAPOTE
I am a completely horizontal author. I can't think unless I'm lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy. I've got to be puffing and sipping. As the afternoon wears on, I shift from coffee to mint tea to sherry to martinis. No, I don't use a typewriter. Not in the beginning. I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand. Essentially I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessed with the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon. Obsessions of this sort, and the time I take over them, irritate me beyond endurance.

The Paris Review, Issue 16, 1957

Comments

[Carole]

Well, to think I have something in common with a great writer. That's me - sipping coffee and smoking. Don't tell my healthy lifestyle followers though. I make up for it with healthy eating and excerise.

[Basil McCormick]

A great writer and commentator. In Cold Blood was very tragic & sad, i.e., the Clutter Family!

[Jojo]

Wow, i do actually have something in common with the writer. When i actually write, i usually lay back on the bed and think because its so comfortable. My bed is like a thinking spot for me to think and write. On the other hand, while I am thinking of something to write about,I would actually go through the whole writing process like following the steps of invent, compose and revise.But sometimes, the idea just pops out from no where no matter where i am. Overall, i write best when i am lying down on my bed.

[Raphael]

Well, I prefer to write in a quiet place with classic music and start to get memorized about the past. And find some thing useful for my writing. I write my first version by using the memory I have in my daily life. So, memory is very important for my writing.

[Jialu Zhong]

I need a completely quiet environment when I start thinking and writing. I would not like to be disturbed during my writing process and sometimes may be annoyed if someone knocks in. Actually, I like to invent something new to my composition but I do not like to revise again and again though I know it is an important procedure of my writing process. It seems that laziness for not doing that is a bad excuse. In fact, I just enjoy my first sense of writing. But I think I need to learn to revise since there is something such as grammar and structure which I need to think twice!

[Sinsiea]

I always get my idea when I lay on the bed. But I perfer not to drink coffee and alcohol. And I like to write something down after mid-night. Unless I have to finish a paper with limited time, I would compose all my work in this way.

[Keri]

When writing a short composition just for myself, I prefer sitting on my little chair and turn off the big lamp in my bedroom, then writing under the dim light. I think the darkness could make me calm down and make things well. After settling down, I'd like to sip a little bit wine or something and write down the mood I have of the day. I love the sound of the pencil going through the paper.

[Annie]

It's great to know that I'm not the only one spending too much time on proofreading. I often spend a lot of time on checking my grammars (which is by the way a very bad habit that I would like to change) instead of spending more time in reviewing the content of my paper. Despite this habit, I don't think I share any other commons with Truman. I like Truman's ways of relaxing while thinking. However, I'm a more of sitting-in-front-of-a-desk person. Truman's way is cool though~