So is there a constituency for manual typewriters in the inherently scary-sounding year of 2020? As it turns out, yes. And it's not hard to see why. These old beaters look and sound great if they're taken care of. There's obviously a lot of history behind them, your favorite author having used one if it's not Thomas Wolfe, who wrote his novels in longhand while leaning on a fridge. And as an internet meme (irony? what irony?) points out, they don't annoy you every 15 seconds with popups.
I have enough Luddite in me to long for good ol' tap-driven writing. My reality principle is sufficiently developed to know that it's not going to work for me. The thing about the writing world is that a lot of markets disappear overnight when you're just learning about them. And the thing about the writing world right now is that most of them accept electronic submissions exclusively. There are buyers out there where I can't even find out what state they're in. Besides panic, obviously. But even though typewriters represent an impossible dream, I'm heartened that someone is still out there dreaming it.
I have enough Luddite in me to long for good ol' tap-driven writing. My reality principle is sufficiently developed to know that it's not going to work for me. The thing about the writing world is that a lot of markets disappear overnight when you're just learning about them. And the thing about the writing world right now is that most of them accept electronic submissions exclusively. There are buyers out there where I can't even find out what state they're in. Besides panic, obviously. But even though typewriters represent an impossible dream, I'm heartened that someone is still out there dreaming it.
2 comments:
I never actually learned to type but like many others I found my way around a keyboard well enough to fool a couple of employers - besides, I composed excellent letters. Still, the interesting thing about typewriters as you mentioned is that they can serve to focus the creative mind far better than computers. But as you also noted it's next to impossible to find a publisher to accept a printed manuscript for review - you'd pretty much have to be Thos. Wolfe.. or Mark Twain et al. It's humbling to recall the great works of literature written with quill pens by candlelight.
That Remington went into manufacturing typewriters after the Civil War was an interesting bit of trivia - certainly more components than ploughshares to keep the tool and die makers interested in their work.
On a different note I wanted to tell you about a One Man Band who lives in our neighbourhood - his name is Dave Harris and he plays down at the harbour during the tourist season and on a bench outside our grocery store the rest of the year (at least often enough when it's not raining). He's been doing so since 1977. I don't know why it took me so long to look for a video of him playing as finally I did today. This is from a few years ago but he still looks the same - a bit more gray but stiil as cheerful and so much fun to listen to. When we saw him yesterday afternoon after not having him around since early March I can't tell you how happy it made me.
Here's Dave :)
Touch-typing is a tricky skill, which is another thing to consider. I'm certainly not immune from typos myself. But yeah, if you can manage your time well enough so that you can get away with going over the manuscript and actually looking at the keys when you type, then you can make it work. And if, like you, the typist has a talent for correspondence, so much the better.
It gives you an idea of how traumatic the Civil War was that arms makers were ready to do something else and try to make money on it. They seem to have created some good-looking machines as well.
There are a few videos of Dave Harris up on YouTube. I liked this one a lot. A sunny day down by the water may be the ideal time and place to listen to a troubadour like this. And it looks like quite a few people were engaged and enjoying him too.
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