This morning’s post reminded me of John Steinbeck’s JOURNAL OF A NOVEL, The East of Eden Letters (Penguin, 1969). Here’s an explanation of the book excerpted from the Publisher’s Note:
“John Steinbeck, in writing East of Eden, unblocked himself for the daily stint ahead by writing a “letter” to his close friend and editor, Pascal Covici. It was written on the blue-ruled pages of a large notebook, size 103/4” x 14”, which Covici had supplied. After the two opening letters, which filled the first few pages continuously, the letters appeared only on the left-hand pages; on the right, when Steinbeck felt ready, he proceeded to the text of the novel. He usually filled two pages of the text a day with a total of about fifteen hundred words. Both the letter and the text were written in black pencil in Steinbeck’s minute but clear longhand. The writing covered the period from January 29 through November 1, 1951. There was a letter for every working day until the first draft of the novel was finished.”
The letters were published as JOURNAL OF A NOVEL the year after Steinbeck’s death. They make for fascinating reading. I can’t help but wonder what Steinbeck would think of them having been published. Do you suppose he would have published them himself on his blog, if there had been such a forum back then? Or would he, too, have been shy of sharing the warty bits of his writing process?