For Blogging Insights this week Dr Tanya brings us a quote from Isaac Asimov. Asimov was one of David’s favourite authors. I think some of our earliest conversations when we first met (when we were not talking about trains) were about books and the ones we liked. He loaned me his favourite Asimov books, “The End of Eternity”, “The Foundation Trilogy”, “I Robot” and others. I still have many of them although packed away at present.

One of the things I enjoyed about Isaac Asimov was the way he would often write an introduction to a short story. They were always very entertaining. I learned that he was an extremely prolific writer and it was obviously easy for him to run with an idea once he started typing. However, he had good editors and I think he usually took their advice.

As a blogger I’m by no means prolific but my way of writing is usually to get down my thoughts and feelings first. Sometimes the words flow easily, sometimes they don’t. After I’ve done that, or sometimes during the writing process if I write myself into a corner, I go back read what I’ve written and edit. I might have written too much and lost my point in the process. I have to check that my facts are correct. I might have said something too unkind or too personal that I don’t really want to share with the world. You have to edit. Even Isaac Asimov could not sell a book that was in its first draft with no changes or corrections at all.

So yes, I think with my fingers but then I engage my brain to proofread and edit.