The L.C. Smith on which Dickey wrote DeliverancePhotographs (c) Christopher Dickey
A James Dickey quote many a writer will relate to, picked up by Scott Myers on his blog "Go Into The Story":
On writing
"Any time I get a little money that I can spend on myself,I buy another typewriter and put it in another room and
start another project. It could be a novel, it could be
a poem I'm working on, it could be a translation,
it could be an essay, a literary criticism, it could be
a children's book, it could be a film script and it could be
whatever it is I'm interested in doing at the time.
And in a strange way the different projects kind of
cross-pollinate one another. It's very odd. Almost a
mystical process. You see something in one typewriter
that would be better off in another typewriter."
– James Dickey
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That Smith typewriter is in beautiful condition. My work is so futuristic (laser holography) that typing on, and working on typewriters, is like taking a vacation to another place and time.
ReplyDeleteNow that's one of the very best things about James Dickey, his recognition of the writing process as a mystical process. I've gotten so much strength from his observations and writings through the years. The typewriter story is a classic.
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