Does anyone here still use the typewriter? I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I have one I recently bought. It’s an orange portable and I couldn’t resist it. Needs a new ribbon.
I don’t think I’d actually write stories on it, though. I have come to depend on cut and paste too much, also wordcount!
I do not, but I’ve actually been using a word processor since…hm. The late '80s, at the very least. So I was a pretty early adopter of computers. (There are things I still miss about the word processor I used in the late '90s, actually, but that’s a different thread.)
It’s interesting that you do, though – I’m presuming it’s by choice since you appear to have a computer. 
What do you like about using the typewriter?
For me, a typewriter would get too much in the way for how i work… essentially just too much bulk. However, what i /do/ do is use a computer which, while it is connected to the internet, really has very little software on it, and perhaps most importantly no instant messengers and other chat type things. I guess what that means is, that it is similarly non-distracting in nature to how people might see a typewriter.
I used to write everything once on typewriter and then on PC. I still have my mom’s old typewriter and several ribbons sitting around, but haven’t used it in years. Longhand replaced typewriting.
!
That sounds like my absolute worst nightmare.
Interesting that it works for people, and makes me wonder what the mechanism is.
When I get in a groove I can sit down and write many thousands of words over the course of a night, most of which stand the next day. If I had to write longhand, I doubt I’d be able to nearly match that… the writing part would gate the idea, and the groove would be lost. And in the morning, even assuming I could read what I wrote the night before (there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be able to), I’m certain the constraint would destroy my voice—I’ve noticed that when I’ve tried hand-writing stuff in the past, it’s lowered the fluidity, coherency and flow dramatically.
~Fox
For me, longhand helps me get the cadences of the words right. I also react differently to words on paper than words on screen; for me, it’s more…intimate.
If that’s the word I want…
I used to work on vellum, but the sand I used to blot ink would get everywhere. So I switched to stone tablets. Chisels are fun to work wi–
No, but seriously, if there was something more efficient than a word processor I’d be using that. Bring on the direct brain to computer interfaces immediately, so I can just type with my mind. Waiting on my hands is ridiculous.
The only use I ever had for a typewriter, especially the scary loud electric ball-type ones, was for scaring cats. That’s pretty entertaining.
I’m not convinced a direct brain to computer interface would be a good thing for writing. In theory, if dictation software could be 100% accurate it would be more efficient, but I am quite sure that dictating would actually change my writing style. (I’ve tried it.) You process words in a different way when you’re thinking silently, thinking aloud, and writing.
A relatively famous computer scientist, Leslie Lamport, made the assertion in a lecture I saw that “if you’re not writing, you’re not thinking.” While I wouldn’t go that far, in my experience the only way to work out story problems is either grab a pen and paper or open a blank document in an editor of choice.
And, I can certainly imagine that writing with a typewriter is something akin to writing with pen and paper: faster, assuming you’re a faster typist, but requiring you to approach the words in a somewhat more considered way simply because editing on the fly is no longer zero cost. It’s the difference between digital photography and shooting with film, or even shooting with medium or large format film – when each photograph you take has a much higher cost in terms of material and time, you’re probably going to take a lot more time to get each photograph right.
I have an absolute love and fascination for typewriters, but I don’t even own one. Too often I rely on cut/paste, or my mind will move faster than my fingers- I use the Backspace more often than I care to admit. I’ve also been typing on a computer since I was around ten years old, back when Word Perfect was THE processor to use, so for two thirds of my life. It would be weird to try to change all that. I have a very high respect for writers who are able to use typewriters though. The way their minds must work to make an entire manuscript without all these conveniant editing options is amazing.
I still enjoy longhand when it’s not for an actual story, but jotting down story ideas, character ideas, or just small notes that I think might be useful later. There’s something fun in having the physical scratch of pencil on paper that simply can’t be replaced.
I’m a laptop sort of guy.
During one of our writing meets at the local coffee shop in a book store, a friend brought her typewriter to the meet.
That garnered a fair number of evil eyes from those around us as she clacked away on it. (non-electric typewriter) Now that is not to say that I don’t like typewriters, cause I do. However, there is a place/time for them if you are going to use one of those loud beasts.
That doesn’t seem like a wise thing to do, no. I like mechanical keyboards for my computers, but I’d be pretty unlikely to bring one with me to the coffee shop. (Especially if the coffee shop was in a book store!)