Art Space

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27 Ways I Use a Typewriter

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Three years ago I had not yet bought my first typewriter but was longing to do so. (The Type Bar at the Gardner tells the story of that adventure.)

Typewriters have since worked their way into my life, filled the corners of our home, led to meeting some extraordinary people, and become a mainstay of my creative practice.

But what exactly do I do with a typewriter? Aren’t they obsolete? Here is a very personal list of just a few ways I use a typewriter.

  1. Brain dump everything on my mind when I feel stuck or too busy. As I reach the end of a typed page I frequently find solutions I could not have forseen.

  2. Write Morning Pages. (A first-thing-in-the-morning blurt of anything goes, as outlined by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way.)

  3. Write labels, envelopes, index cards: little things that are fussy in a printer. Also postcards and notes to mail.

  4. Compile lists for especially complicated errands, plans for Christmas, or prep for a trip.

  5. Type out a collaborative story episode for my granddaughter, as written by my youngest, aka Aunty A. The next episode arrives, granddaughter-dictated, from across the country a few weeks later. Slow communication.

  6. Ask myself a question. Leave the paper in. Gradually come up with answers.

  7. Shop for one! Either online at sites like Etsy or local typewriter finds on Facebook Marketplace. Or in person, browsing at a thrift store or, better yet, at Cambridge Typewriter, my local typewriter shop. Oh, the joy of the pursuit and the things there are to learn! Whether I purchase or not, each intriguing model leads me to search out more history.

    Want to buy a typewriter? I summarized some things to consider.

  8. Explore the history of a model, on one of a myriad of sites such as Robert Messenger’s Oz Typewriter, or Richard Polt’s many-faceted Classic Typewriter Page.

  9. Enjoy the antics of the cat when a new typewriter and its case comes into the house.

  10. Methodically clean the inner workings of a newly found machine, while listening to an entire Agatha Christie novel. (I’m obviously very slow. More frequently I take a machine to the typewriter shop. For a potential repair shop near you, check out this list.) But I have thoroughly enjoyed when I am able to do the cleaning myself.

  11. Leave a typewriter out on the hall table for family messages to be randomly added. Perhaps have a joke joust with one of my kids.

  12. Have a beloved machine out on each desk I use, ready for inspiration.

  13. Display others and enjoy looking at them. (I like the Ikea FABRIKÖR cabinet, though get thicker glass cut for the shelves.)

  14. Marvel at the design of a vintage machine.

  15. Photograph one in the early morning light of my studio, taking an image each day as the start to a studio session.

  16. Host a Letter Writing Night for friends and neighbors: good food, a fun time together, and a pile of finished mail to take home.

  17. Take a machine to a coffee shop to write. Or a very understanding library. A quiet-ish typewriter, if possible.

  18. Write poetry in public.

  19. Attend a Type-Out.

  20. Enter a speed typing competition (held at the above).

  21. Visit a middle school history class studying the American Girl stories of Kit Kittredge. Take the model of typewriter featured in the stories. Watch the wonder as the students try out the unfamiliar machine. Answer questions. “No, it does not plug in.”

  22. Take a machine for each student in my high school writing class. Answer the same questions, watch the same wonder. Sit back and enjoy the clatter, news-room style, as they eventually settle down to type their Ideal Writing Life project on index cards.

  23. Lend a machine to a student, answer more questions. Tell them where they can get their own machine, because they are likely to want one too.

  24. Give a typewriter as a gift. Enjoy the wonder and surprise on a recipient’s face.

  25. Take a machine with me on vacation. Journal the trip.

  26. Keep the car on the road in a sudden snowstorm, helped by typewriter weight in the back! I hope not to repeat this one.

  27. Write my heart’s desire project, a story that happens to be set in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the place where I finally decided it was time to buy a typewriter.

Some days you have to make your own sunshine. Using a beautifully designed, working typewriter for even a mundane writing task can add a ray of delight to any gloom.

A Few of the 27 Ways

(Click any image to view as a lightbox image.)

Uses of a typewriter #2: Write Morning Pages. (Typewriter: 1956 Smith-Corona Silent-Super, also in header)

Uses of a typewriter #7: Shop for one! And ask and ask for it to be packed properly if shipped. (This one was! Double boxed and everything inside stabilized. Still, in person purchasing is better.)

Uses of a typewriter #9: Photograph the antics of The Typewriter Cat (Typewriters: 1966 Olympia SM8, above; 1922 Corona Folding 3, below)

“Some days you have to make your own sunshine. Using a beautifully designed, working typewriter for even a mundane writing task can add a ray of delight to any gloom. ”

Uses of a typewriter #14: Marvel at the design. The variety of solutions to the simple job of typing lends itself to endless exploration, learning, and enjoying. (Typewriter: 1970 Olivetti 35i)

Uses of a typewriter #16: Host a Letter Writing Night for friends. Food, fun, and letters written. (Typewriter: 1970 Lettera 35i)