The manuscripts of Modern Painters I give us clues to Ruskin 's rather hectic writing habits and intentions at this early stage in his career that resulted not only in the wonderful oxygenated prose of some of the passages in which he glories in nature or Turner, the drafts of which are now lost, but also in rather ponderous arguments and transitions in the first half of the book (see missing manuscripts of Modern Painters I). At this early stage in his career, he had not developed the habit of always drafting his material in chapters. Instead the drafting process often seems to be continuous and fast, with the construction of chapters following this first stage of composition. On fol. 14r in the Allen manuscript, for example, there is no indication where Part I, Section I, Chapter II ends and the subsequent chapter begins. Ruskin 'wrote long' and at speed, correcting as he went along but often not returning to the text later, as we can see from obvious but uncorrected errors (see Ruskin's revisions at the drafting stage of Modern Painters I). He preferred to write up fresh drafts, which are now lost (see pagination of the Allen manuscript.) His priority is to get his ideas down on paper, with a view to later revision. Thus when he drafts the passages in which he invites the reader to participate in visual experiments (e.g. Brantwood 62r, 68r, Allen 6r), he guesses at quantities and measurements, altering them by the time the work is printed, presumably having checked the experiments himself.