ABSTRACT
Now that our classical writer is equipped with his tools and seated in his chair or reclining on his couch, he can begin composing his work.1 This chapter focusses on the process of creation rather than on the types or genres of writing, with one exception. In order to understand how the classical writer composed, it is necessary to use particular examples as illustrations. I have drawn on the historians and compilers of information like Pliny the Elder and Aulus Gellius, for they often speak directly to the reader about what they are doing and why. ‘Literary’ works like the Aeneid generally do not contain descriptions of the problems the author faced when writing.
