I see many composers argue that one of the best ways to compose is with pencil and paper, without using an instrument.
What is the process for composing this way? Does one have to imagine a fairly solid fragment of a melody, a motif etc and write that down? Or, you just write one or two notes at a time and experiment as you go, akin to writing a body of text?
My questions are probably a bit abstract. I just find the idea of composing with no instruments, using only your imagination a great idea, but I fail miserably in it! The ideas in my head are hazy, and need insane amounts of concentration to come out. Also transferring anything to paper seems very hard, although I have trained my ears for years.