1. pensmightierthanthesword

    pensmightierthanthesword Member

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    I Have an Old Manual Typewriter that I'd Like to Use and I Also WriteTraditional Handwritten Letters

    Discussion in 'Writing Software and Hardware' started by pensmightierthanthesword, Feb 7, 2017.

    I have an old manual typewriter that needs to be fixed. I have the ink for it and everything. I use my computer and I also practice longhand to help me in my writing, but there is something soothing about hearing the sound of a typewriter, and anything that can keep me from getting distracted by my computer or my phone is excellent. I want to try another way of writing is all and I've used an electronic typewriter when I was a kid. It felt organic and precise. I remember this writing method my teachers taught me of writing out my work longhand first, doing a second, third, and fourth longhand draft, and typing the final draft on the computer. I was thinking of using the typewriter the same way I use longhand to thoroughly get out my ideas. I can process my ideas better when I write longhand first. I would do a first draft of the book or chapter in longhand, the second maybe on the typewriter, and the third, fourth, and so on until I get to the final draft of my story which would be on the computer. It has to be these days. I'm not opposed to computers. I think they are a valuable tool.

    It sounds silly and unnecessarily tedious but I've taken up traditional letter writing and find that there is something about sitting down, staring at a piece of paper and not a glowing monitor, and writing down my thoughts that gives my writing a discipline to it. I do the first draft of my letters in pencil, correct it with red pen, and then write the final draft neatly and precisely in blue pen. I do this because I was told unless you are writing a business letter a personal friendly letter should be handwritten to show the sender that you care about them. And if you are wondering, yes, I have gotten a reply back from a friend. I don't even care if someone doesn't write me back. Maybe my friend's at home sulking and my letter arrives and brightens up their day is a fun and rewarding thing to think about. Letter writing and longhand writing are also cathartic. It's more tedious to handwrite a final draft and if I mess up I don't use whiteout, I just re-transcribe my writing from the current page I'm on.

    It does sound completely silly that I do this and I've been teased about it before. Social media, the Internet, my phone, and computers distract me easily. It's good to separate myself from those mediums sometimes (I usually have my computer on to play music is all and my phone in the other room) and just write away. It's like how I read a particular author liked writing his novels in the bathtub, who knows why? It's an absurdity, of course, but whatever gets the words flowing onto paper (electronic or otherwise) is all that matters I guess.
     
  2. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    My handwriting is similar to that of a doctor...

    ...suffering from a degenerative nerve disease...

    ...intoxicated...

    ...on a roller coaster...

    ...during a typhoon...

    ...being attacked by his seatmate.
     
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  3. Amory

    Amory New Member

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    Cursive writing exercises different areas of brain to typing. Like you I enjoy sending handwritten letters.
    I also journal preferring the permanence of pen on bound paper. A computer file would be too tempting to revise.

    Writing at the highest possible speed not pausing to gather thoughts and without any concerns for spelling, punctuation or grammar is a great way to work through an issue I have found. Can be rather surprising where the words lead. For this it has to be disposable paper.
     
  4. TheRealStegblob

    TheRealStegblob Kill All Mages Contributor

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    I make quill pens out of feathers as a hobby (I used to sell them online but then I moved away from my source of feathers and have been too lazy to, you know, just order feathers online to make more). I really like writing with an old fashioned quill and usually write letters with one. Too bad my hand writing is ass.
     
  5. raine_d

    raine_d Active Member

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    Hey, they now sell computer keyboards that sound like old manual ones - and yes, I am tempted sometimes, but the people around me would NOT love me, But it shows there are things about the old ones people miss (not the actual keys for me - my first job involved very large, thick-paper legal documents on one of those HUGE manual typewriters, an antique then let alone now, and banging the keys could leave you with sore fingers some days...)

    My handwriting has been likened to a drunken spider dipped in ink and set to weave across the paper, but at least I'm not like a coworker who sometimes can't work out, when challenged what something HE has written says:bigfrown:

    I do scribble in the notebook I carry around in most days... there's something satisfying about pen and paper.
     
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