James Stevenson on writing about his early experiences at the New Yorker Magazine [excerpted from The New Yorker Confidential New York Times January 4, 2011]:
I was assigned assorted chores, including sharpening pencils. I took special care with pencils for E.B. White’s office. When, after a few weeks, his pencils never got duller, I made inquiries, and discovered that he lived in Maine.
As for me, I like writing with pencils. I do my best writing with a sharp pencil. And a good eraser close by.
I write just about everything I write with pencils--except for when I mark my students' papers with my blue fountain pen [stars and underlines] to make note of their excellent words and ideas. These marks need permanency. But, when I mark my suggestion on their papers, I write with a pencil: slow down, I write. Or please check the order of ideas or Now expand on all of these!
I keep my pencils in nearly every room in my house. Here are some of the places I keep my pencils and their uses:
By the phone in my kitchen. In a ceramic cup [with lots of tiny black dots on it]. Right next to a spiral notebook on which I write lots of lists: of people who have called, people I need to call, things I need to do or want to remember or have just remembered and don’t want to forget again.
On the coffee table in my living room in a ceramic dish [with tiny navy blue dots]. These pencils are for my Salon students and me. Sometimes my students take my pencils home with them by mistake. I hope they use my pencils for their writing for our class.
On my desk/table in my study upstairs in a grey-blue polka-dotted ceramic pitcher [a perfect gift from my dear friend Joan]. I use these pencils to write lists and sentences and letters and doodles and paragraphs and calculations and plans for writing and notes to myself for my teaching. And dissertations and narratives and articles.
On my desk in my bedroom in a small ceramic creamer [with lots of tiny black dots on it]. These pencils are for my early morning writing--my early morning writing of carefully lettered and composed lists and schedules and plans and maps. And notes in my worn black leather pocket size datebook. And notes on post-its to place where needed.
In the drawer of my nightstand. This lone pencil needs to be ready for immediate use so I can record ideas that come to me while I read before I go to sleep.
And just so you know, I like to keep my pencils sharpened.
About every other week or so, I conduct my pencil sharpening regimen: I gather all of my pencils and take them upstairs for sharpening [at my desk] with my metal/artist pencil sharpener [that I bought at the Tail of the Yak about ten years ago]. I place a piece of paper on my desk to catch the shavings and I sharpen and sharpen. Some pencils do well and others will not sharpen properly and those must go. When I am finished, I very slowly and carefully fold up the paper with the shavings inside. [In half and in half and in half until there is no chance for spillage]. These encased remnants will be recycled. Then I walk around my house and distribute my pencils.
Here they are waiting for me.
