Words

There are always words going round in my head; some people think in pictures, some in ideas. I think entirely in words. By the time I come to stick my pen in my ink pot these words have reached a stage of order which is fairly presentable. ~ Evelyn Waugh

 

Waugh may have been exaggerating just a tad, but I very much understand this. I primarily think in words myself. I have never visualized a scene and then written it down. And I most definitely do not write the oft-advocated ‘sloppy’ first draft. I need the proper words to build the proper picture.

 

If there is a picture at all. I do not see a movie in my head, as some readers and authors claim. At most, maybe a few still shots, and those more akin to illustrations than photographs. I do hear what is being said. I may walk about, talking dialog out to myself before ever setting it down. That may be one reason I do not like any music in the background when I write. It interferes with my internal soundtrack.