Neil Gaiman started writing his novels longhand in the '90s.
He told BuzzFeed: "I started with Stardust: It was (in my head) being written in the 1920s, so I bought a fountain pen and a big notebook and wrote it by hand to find out how writing by hand changed my head."
Stardust
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
"And it did, it really did. I was sparser, I would think my way through a sentence further, I would write less, in a good way. And when I typed it up, it became a very real second draft – things would vanish or change. I discovered that I enjoyed messing about with fountain pens, I even liked the scritchy noise the pen nib made on the paper.
"So I kept doing it. Sandman: Dream Hunters and American Gods and Anansi Boys and The Graveyard Book were all written by hand. The last two-thirds of Coraline was also written by hand."
All the notebooks are in his house in the woods of Wisconsin. They're in tubs in the attic, on a shelf in the study. I found them when I was writing The Art of Neil Gaiman.
Here's what a handwritten novel by Neil Gaiman looks like.
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
American Gods
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Coraline
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties", a short story
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
"Other People", a short story
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
"Orphee", a poem
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
"Snow Glass Apples", a short story
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
Hayley Campbell / BuzzFeed
LINK: 16 Police Mugshots Of Forgotten Murderers, Gamblers, And Drunks Found On eBay
The Art of Neil Gaiman is out now in paperback from HarperCollins.
HarperCollins / BuzzFeed
Posts
This Is What A Handwritten Novel By Neil Gaiman Looks Like