> They internalised the qualities of their models’ prose as much as possible, and also kept a sort of verbal rainy-day fund in something called a commonplace book, which is to say that, as they read, they transcribed a stockpile of salient words, metaphors, turns of phrase and clichés – usually organised thematically – that they would then draw upon while writing.<p>I'm reminded of an excellent passage from "Lives of the Great Pianists" by former New York Times music critic Harold Schonberg when speaking on the strength of Beethoven's musical extemporization:<p><i>"How much Beethoven prepared his improvisations we do not know. Most pianists did prepare, knowing full well that sooner or later they would be called upon to supply an improvisation on 'Batti, batti' or a similar well-known tune. And all pianists had at their command a thorough supply of passagework by the yard, which they could snip off and use for any possible contingency. But when Beethoven improvised, prepared passagework or no, it was evident to his hearers that after a while he was on his own, idea pouring after idea. Then he would get carried away, pound the piano, and the strings of the delicate Viennese instruments would pop, or hammers would break."</i><p>Speaking on a purely personal level, I am mostly unconcerned with the amount of purple prose a writer chooses to embellish their work with - because I'm always internally stripping away the literary wrapping paper to get at the heart of the idea itself.