A while back I wrote an article about collecting typewriters. I only briefly discussed the joys of actually writing on one, and why it works for me.
In my last article I discussed the joys of listening to vinyl records. I made the case that the medium is making a comeback. A commenter rightly pointed out that these claims are dubious at best. I would like to re-state my position and say that vinyl isn't necessarily making a comeback, but instead is kept alive by a loyal bunch of followers who continue to love the format.
The same thing is true about typewriters. Though they are far from making a comeback, there is still a loyal smattering of followers who enjoy the format, either because of Hemmingway-inspired romantic ideals of writing or because of the freedom from distractions. From the Kansas City Star:
The technology may be antiquated, but the typewriter is enjoying a renaissance among young people like Bouchard. Some are turning to the machine to avoid the time-wasting temptations of the Internet. Others, mainly older enthusiasts, are drawn by a sense of nostalgia. Whatever the reason, the continuing popularity of the technology has created a cottage industry for repair shops and has spawned dozens of typewriter Web sites and clubs.Some find the tactile element of using a solid old machine therapeutic. “I love the sound, the mistakes that you make from using a typewriter, the time it takes to write,” said Nick Findlay, 23, of Sydney, Australia. Findlay uses his portable, shoe-box sized Olivetti Lettera 32 model, which he purchased in the last year, for all sorts of literary tasks, from typing up the shopping list to typing a love letter.
Despite the clunky limitations of the medium — keys get stuck and you can’t rewrite without starting over — many users insist they get more done on a typewriter than on a PC.
I, too, find myself relying on the typewriter for more writing, depending on the finished format. For instance, when writing a weblog entry, I usually write the first draft in a word processing program such as MS Word. I then edit and post into the weblog interface. Since the format is made to be read digitally, it makes sense to write it entirely in that format.
For more creative writing, though, I prefer to write first drafts on a manual typewriter. It slows me down and makes me think more of what I am going to say. I then edit and retype the manuscript into the computer.
Article comments
1 - Dr Dreadful
Before the days of PCs, I had an Olympus self-correcting electronic typewriter. At that time I was still a firm believer in writing everything out in longhand first, scribbling it out, correcting it, scribbling that out, adding little notes and inserts in the margins, and so on.
My reasoning was that if I struck something out, at least it would still be there if I later changed my mind and decided that what I'd written in the first place was better after all.
Only when I was absolutely certain that I'd got down what I wanted to say would I turn to the typewriter. I found typing a hugely frustrating business because my Olympus, which was supposed to be able to remember the last half-page of what it had typed so that it could go back and erase it if necessary, had a hard time remembering even the last letter. Many a tree suffered a futile death because of my literary screw-ups.
I was very glad when affordable word processing came along. So was my brother, who worked shifts and threatened to put my Olympus to a use for which it had not been designed if I didn't stop bashing away at it till all hours of the day and night.
When I first got a computer, I'd still write everything out on paper for a while, reasoning that on the PC, once something was deleted it was gone for good. Then I came to the conclusion that, really, if I was honest with myself, if I'd gone to the trouble of deleting something, it probably wasn't worth keeping anyway.
I haven't written creatively with a pen in many years, to the point where my handwriting, never beautiful, now looks like the St Valentine's Day Massacre for spiders.
2 - Bennett
"looks like the St Valentine's Day Massacre for spiders"
Not to mention the hand cramps!
3 - Tom
Thanks for reading the article!!
4 - Dr Dreadful
You're welcome, Tom. Always love to read writing about writing!
5 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Tom, DD,
One of the most difficult times in my life was when an Adler Electric typewriter that we had was stolen from our apartment. That Adler had gotten me through all the courses I took at Baruch College to get my B.A., it had gotten me into grad school, and had gotten me into law school in Minnesota (a fact I only discovered the same day as the break-in).
But truth be told, the ideal medium for me would be not a typewriter, but a word processor - I make too many mistakes typing, and need to move too much around on the page when composing. The word processor would get rid of all the distractions of the internet (like Blogcritics) and keep my weak typing under control.....
Nevertheless, this was a great article. Perhaps, one day, when I'm rich and famous, I'd like to get a typewriter that types in Hebrew.
6 - Mark Saleski
great article tom. i went through an "i'm going to be a writer" phase way back when i was in 7th/8th grade. i had an old round-keyed underwood. it was really a blast to write on.
strangely, the period between that phase and when i started again was over 25 years. when i restarted, it was with a pencil, which i still use quite often.
recently, there have been some articles about software environments for writers. they try to keep distractions to a minimum. don't know if this is a good tradeoff or not.
7 - Tom Bux
Probably even over typewriters a word processor would be ideal. My main thing against writing on a computers is the distractions! E-mail, web, etc.
8 - Mark Saleski
oh, that's absolutely the problem.
ever seen these neo writing computers?
an interesting alternative, though i'd still prefer a pad and pencil.