What I've Learned

Since my Nabokov column a couple of weeks ago, several people have asked me about my writing method in general and about my Alphasmart Neo in particular.

My writing method can be summed up in one sentence. I write every day, creating a series of drafts, the first of which is terrible.

I don't wait for inspiration, but dutifully apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and write, inspired or not.

If you saw one of my first drafts – you won't – you'd be amazed that anyone pays me for my work. I'm not a good writer, but I'm a pretty good rewriter, so by the second draft, things are much improved.

I don't keep separate drafts, but rewrite the first draft on the computer, turning it into the second, and so on. After the final draft – usually the third or sometimes the fourth – I polish by checking spelling and punctuation and by making minor changes in word choice and usage.

At this point, I listen to the writing by having my computer read it to me aloud. This allows me to catch things that spell check misses, like having typed "them" for "the" or "goat" for "got." After having been listened to and final corrections made, the piece is sent to my editor, who is good at catching any remaining mistakes, large or small.

In the Nabokov column, I called my Alphasmart Neo the love of my writing life.

The Neo is a small, battery-powered word processor designed for school children, but beloved by adults. It consists of a keyboard and a small, non-backlit screen.

It is instant on and instant off. When you turn it on, within two seconds you are where you left off, ready to continue. The keyboard is extremely comfortable and can be typed on for long stretches without fatigue.

There are many things you cannot do with a Neo. You can't email with it. You can't log into social media. You can't surf the Internet. You can't look at funny pictures of cats. You can't check the weather. All you can do with it is write.

It gets 700 hours of use from three AA batteries. Try that with any laptop on the planet. I've read about writers who change their Neo's batteries every November, if it needs it or not.

A new Neo costs around $170. You can get them used on EBay for under a hundred.

The Neo is great for first drafts, but not that good for editing – small screen and no mouse – so I transfer writing from the Neo to my computer for second drafts and beyond. (Editing on the Neo, however, is not impossible, and a piece can be finished and printed from the device without a computer at all.)

Transferring text is an interesting process. The Neo is connected via a USB cable to the computer – either Mac or PC. In the computer, you open your word processing program of choice – I use a small program called Focus Writer, though you could open MS Word or any such program – then the send key on the Neo is pressed. The Neo squirts your document one letter at a time into the program, the words appearing on the computer screen as if typed by a ghost.

The Neo acts like an external keyboard for the computer and sends the text you previously typed as if you were typing it live. This takes a minute or so and is a good opportunity for you to read your piece as it appears on the screen like an old-time ticker tape.

The Neo, built for school children, is rugged and can be thrown in a back pack or brief case with little concern for its safety. Nabokov, I think, would have loved it, for he preferred writing tools that were portable and instantly accessible.