[split] Did the VM go straight from cerebellum to vellum?

[oshfdk]

It would be insane to write anything on vellum straight from one's head.   It would be like writing a document today with the keyboard connected directly to the laser printer.

Vellum was expensive and difficult to erase from.  Moreover that task required an experienced hand capable of writing tiny letters neatly; something that not everyone would have. 

Do you have any source for this? You make it sound impossible ("would be insane"), but the arguments you provide point to "not usual" at best. If the only considerations were the cost of materials and skill required, then I know a lot of modern creators that would start directly with expensive materials without making a full prototype first, because they know their trade and what they want to do, and creating a full prototype with cheap materials would be a total waste of their time, which to them is more valuable than some "$5 of vellum". They would only bother with sketching and testing when trying to learn a new technique or preparing for some complicated project.

The analogy with the laser printer looks like a faulty one. Writing on a computer and then printing on the printer would not take more time and effort than directly sending from the keyboard to the printer. No time or effort is lost by adding the computer. Writing the whole manuscript first on paper doubles the time and effort, and the cost of materials increases too: while cheaper than vellum, the paper and the ink weren't free either.