ELVIS
07-15-2004, 10:46 PM
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040715/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_s_speech_1&printer=1)
http://www.johnkerry.com/images/thumbnails/062504_science.jpg
PHILADELPHIA - John Kerry (news - web sites) has given hundreds of speeches in his life, but none more important than the address he is busy drafting with pen to pad, on his own, and with special care.
Kerry won't reveal what he's writing in anticipation of accepting the Democratic nomination for president at the party convention in Boston, other than to say that he's trying to make sure to tell voters about the choice they face in the November election. Even its length is a secret.
But after two days of composing drafts at his home in Boston, Kerry divulged a few details about his writing process.
Kerry said he considers the speech deeply personal, so he is writing it himself and not sharing much with his advisers. He got some help from former Clinton speechwriter Josh Gottheimer. Soon, he said, he'll bring in his whole speechwriting team to work on the address, which millions of people are expected to watch during a live prime-time broadcast July 29.
"I don't feel any pressure," Kerry told reporters on a flight to Philadelphia. "I really don't. I feel completely calm and very excited about it, looking forward to a chance to share what this is about."
Kerry said he writes in long hand, then cuts and pastes pieces of the speech to reorganize his thoughts. He uses old-fashioned scissors and glue, not the computer keystrokes modern writers are accustomed to.
It's not that he's opposed to keyboards — he said he uses computers and preferred to compose letters on a typewriter when he was fighting in the Vietnam War. He said it's just that he writes more effectively on paper.
"I find that this" — he moves his fingers like he's typing on an imaginary keyboard — "somehow becomes the concentration. ... It interrupts the flow for me."
When he's satisfied, Kerry turns over his work to staffers who type it into a computer. They give him the typewritten pages and he reads them over, sleeps on it, and makes more changes. He says his writing is sloppy, "like hieroglyphics," and only a few of his aides can decipher it.
Kerry says he'll continue working on the speech during a long weekend at his family's beachfront home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.
"The sea is important to me," he said. "I get a lot out of being close to it. It's my connection. It's where I've always been. It's where I get a peace of mind and creativity."
Kerry said some of his most creative thinking on the speech came Wednesday afternoon when he cycled along Boston's Charles River.
"Some great lines came to me yesterday. I thought they were great," Kerry said. Then he added with a laugh, "We'll find out."
:elvis:
http://www.johnkerry.com/images/thumbnails/062504_science.jpg
PHILADELPHIA - John Kerry (news - web sites) has given hundreds of speeches in his life, but none more important than the address he is busy drafting with pen to pad, on his own, and with special care.
Kerry won't reveal what he's writing in anticipation of accepting the Democratic nomination for president at the party convention in Boston, other than to say that he's trying to make sure to tell voters about the choice they face in the November election. Even its length is a secret.
But after two days of composing drafts at his home in Boston, Kerry divulged a few details about his writing process.
Kerry said he considers the speech deeply personal, so he is writing it himself and not sharing much with his advisers. He got some help from former Clinton speechwriter Josh Gottheimer. Soon, he said, he'll bring in his whole speechwriting team to work on the address, which millions of people are expected to watch during a live prime-time broadcast July 29.
"I don't feel any pressure," Kerry told reporters on a flight to Philadelphia. "I really don't. I feel completely calm and very excited about it, looking forward to a chance to share what this is about."
Kerry said he writes in long hand, then cuts and pastes pieces of the speech to reorganize his thoughts. He uses old-fashioned scissors and glue, not the computer keystrokes modern writers are accustomed to.
It's not that he's opposed to keyboards — he said he uses computers and preferred to compose letters on a typewriter when he was fighting in the Vietnam War. He said it's just that he writes more effectively on paper.
"I find that this" — he moves his fingers like he's typing on an imaginary keyboard — "somehow becomes the concentration. ... It interrupts the flow for me."
When he's satisfied, Kerry turns over his work to staffers who type it into a computer. They give him the typewritten pages and he reads them over, sleeps on it, and makes more changes. He says his writing is sloppy, "like hieroglyphics," and only a few of his aides can decipher it.
Kerry says he'll continue working on the speech during a long weekend at his family's beachfront home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.
"The sea is important to me," he said. "I get a lot out of being close to it. It's my connection. It's where I've always been. It's where I get a peace of mind and creativity."
Kerry said some of his most creative thinking on the speech came Wednesday afternoon when he cycled along Boston's Charles River.
"Some great lines came to me yesterday. I thought they were great," Kerry said. Then he added with a laugh, "We'll find out."
:elvis: