Aaron hit on the key point. Authors should use what their personal preference dictates, but be aware that the number of markets that will take typed, physical copies is shrinking.
In my mind, your work doesn't exist unless it exists on paper. You can use MS Office, e-mail it and get it published on Kindle if you want, but unless it ends up in print form, I don't think you really have it, I think it's existance is attributed to a bunch of codes and circuitry and junk.
On ink and paper, its existence is attributed to a bunch of atoms, molecules, and junk. Typed word, ink, or computer pixels are merely a representation of words, which in turn are merely a representation of thoughts and ideas that can only be imperfectly communicated from the creator to others. The idea that you don't 'have' something, or that it lacks existence by drawing the line at one set of physical characteristics as opposed to another is arbitrary. Further, the document on paper and the document on a computer screen can at least be identical to one another, so they are more closely related in terms of existence and in terms of 'having' things than the author's mental impression is to either of them.
^Well I hope your MS document looks good on someones shelf some day.... somehow. Maybe it will even be a collectors item, that Kindle file. With a beautiful binding.... er, I mean icon.
You don't appear to grasp how this works. Producing a manuscript in MSWord, as opposed to a typewriter, has no bearing on whether it can be ultimately published as a physical book. In fact, I suspect the vast majority of books you see on the shelf in the bookstore were written on computers, not typewriters, and your typewritten manuscript, if ever accepted by a publisher, is likely to be converted to digital format before publication. So this argument you are making makes no sense whatsoever with respect to creation of the manuscript itself.
True. I'm just saying there is that tiny sliver of technology seperating you from the page. That's all.
I can agree with on thing about a typewriter, it's the feeling it gives you. It makes you feel like an ancient old school Bilbo Baggins when you're writing.
That's true. There are times when I have to hand write the story to get it flowing. For whatever reason, typing on the screen just isn't working. Doesn't happen all the time, but I find that when things are feeling forced, or I'm just sitting there staring at a blank document, getting out the pen and the paper can help things move better. Something about the action of moving the pen across the paper makes my brain work a little differently.
Around the time I was doing my Master's thesis I had a golfball typewriter that was very quiet, and I wrote my one and only published novel on it, but I switched to a PC as soon as I could afford one. I only wish I'd had a laptop when I was a student in the late 70s, early 80s. Writing by hand is waaay overrated, IMO. I used to be much slower and get terrible writer's cramp, but on a computer I get totally lost in the writing. I even take notes on my laptop and not on paper now. I have no nostalgia for the old days at all.
I wouldn't say writing using a computer is unfaithful since that's what the majority uses nowadays. Times change an' all that. But I would love a typewriter. I think they're cool and it'd be awesome to have one. Although, I imagine it's harder work typing on it rather than on a PC/laptop.
My grandparents have a typewriter, and I do love typing on it, but I honestly don't get much work done. It's mostly just for the fun. My grandpa loves it though, but he can't actually turn on a computer...
I love typewriters, I used to have one, but the last time I saw it was during a house fire at the middle of the night. Now I mostly write in journals as I use an alphabet I made up and include illustrations. If I like a story enough I'll translate it and type it up on the computer, but I'd still like to get a new typewriter.
I learned to type on a goverment type writer(taught myself) when in the AF. When I was in school, we had two type writers, one from the 60's, it seemed like it was cast iron. The second a junk aluminum foil type writer, both were manual and both took extra hard tapping to get a good letter to show. I much prefer computer. I have a ME computer, and found MS-word ME edition at Goodwill. So I can type on the old computer or my newer lap top, window7 with MS office 2010. (The difference between the two is amazing.) I find my thoughts flow better into a keyboard rather then with a pen or pencil, and it is much nicer to touch a key and have it type rather then pound on the keys. So I love computer writing. one thing a type writer can't do, find words for you. "When did I introduce Diamon? Oh, there it is page 10." Or the table of contents that allows you to click and go to that chapter you want.
I write faster and less expensively on the computer. So I prefer that route. I love my Kindle. There is something awesome about having dozens of books in the palm of my hands at the same time. But, I am also the kind of guy who loves technology and being green when he can. So it makes sense that I like these methods.
I read Paris Review interviews with William Faulkner, William S. Burroughs, and William Gass (jeez - all those Williams ...) and they all worked with typewriters. And when it came to editing, they'd get out scissors and paste and literally cut and paste their paragraphs and sentences to rearrange them where they want them. William Gass was depicted sitting in the middle of his living room floor, surrounded by clipped-out sentences on bits of paper. He was trying to arrange paragraphs by picking up a sentence here and a sentence there, and gluing them down ... Burroughs called this making his paste-ups. Guys like Vladimir Nabokov and Joseph Heller (oddly, neither of which is a William) wrote sentences on 3x5 inch index cards and arranged them into paragraphs with pins on corkboards before transcribing. This is the sort of mind-numbingly laborious thing that writers would have to do before computers with word processors were available. Give me a computer any day of the week, and you can keep your scissors and glue and index cards.
When I was a kid, sometimes I'd tell my mom I wanted to write a story and she'd get the typewriter out for me. It was a monstrous, clunky, ugly green thing with sticky keys, and I loved it. I loved seeing my words look so -- professional. I was like a real writer. Years ago, feeling nostalgic, I bought a corona typewriter from the 1940's, and had it repaired at a typewriter repair shop (there was one right in my city surprisingly enough). I'd wanted to write my novel just like all the great American authors had written their great American novels. I wanted the feel of the keys and the satisfaction of a solid page of work. But that wore thin after a month or so, after I remembered what a pain typewriters are, for many reasons. We have better technology now and I'm glad to be able to use it. But I still do appreciate typewriters.
wow. that brings the expression copy/paste to a whole new (or old) level I'd like that, though. It sounds fun. Like what i do when I arrange all of the post its with the scenes/ideas in order on a huge piece of paper to know in which order I should put them when I revise. (I wrote the first draft without any specific order but then I had to make some kind of puzzle with them.)
I'm curious about the differences with writing by hand vs. typing. I like typing because it's quick and I love the security of a password, but I also find writing in a notebook intriguing. I've heard that writing by hand really helps with your focus and creativity, and since you have to slow down, you end up with more insightful entries. I don't know if that's necessarily true... but I'm wondering, does anyone keep a hand written journal they swear by? Or do you prefer the efficiency of the keyboard? Do you think the format actually chances the outcome of your writing?
If I'm journaling or writing in a diary I would do so by hand, not by computer. The flow of ideas is better, IMO. It also allows me to get more into my own world.
I hand write my novels. Never been one for journalling. I find that handwriting allows me to bring a book anywhere and write more freely. I get distracted on the computer and reserve that for typing and editing my novels.
