Before electric typewriters, let alone Amstrads and Sinclair Spectrums, came into our lives, many authors wrote the first, second or even third drafts of their novels in longhand.
They typed whatever they wanted to submit to literary agents or publishers on clacking manual typewriters. They sent off the top copies, keeping their original, handwritten drafts and carbons in cupboards, filing cabinets or boxes under their beds, where rejected or unfinished work also came to rest.
These days, most of us are more likely to keep our work in digital files. Almost everything we write is submitted by email.
