A writer who uses a typewriter? (Here's why)

Brian Mackey wrote an interesting column in the Taunton Daily Gazette about being connected. First the way things are going:

“Notice a funny sign; upload a photo to Twitter.

Read an interesting article; post the story to Facebook.

Eat a decent meal; write a review on Yelp.

Finish an interesting book; rate it on Goodreads.

Laugh at a funny comic; link to it on Tumblr.

Meet a new business contact; connect with her on LinkedIn.

Attend a concert; add it to Songkick.

Go to the movies; check in on Foursquare ... and Gowalla.”

I can tell this stuff isn’t natural to me yet, I feel exhausted just reading that.

Mackey writes, “Sometimes, I need to disconnect, power down and go off the grid. Enter my typewriter. (Really — I’m using it now. *ding*) As I type, several colleagues come over to my desk to investigate the unfamiliar sound. ‘Do you remember how to use that?’ someone asks. Two separate people come by and take pictures. (They use their phones, of course. Look for the evidence on Twitter.)”

I don’t have a typewriter anymore but I remember how proud I was when I got my first one as a kid. It was one of those old Smith Corona uprights, bought at a garage sale by my parents. This was the machine you’d see in those great 30s and 40s movies—Cary Grant with an eyeshade pounding the keys to beat a deadline. And you did have to pound the keys.

Anyway, he says, “every now and then, I like to go to the typewriter, usually to send a letter to a friend. It usually prompts a phone call or other response from even the most deadbeat e-mail and Facebook correspondents.”

Of course if you want to take the easy way out, you can get a font that mimics old typewriters and do the whole thing on your computer but that’s going against the spirit of the thing.

Whether or not you resort to a typewriter, the principle is the same—do something unplugged (maybe even handwrite a note or a journal) from time to time to create something that isn’t connected in any way to the grid. Just you, your fingers, your brain. Ahhh.