Choosing a Typewriter for Writers<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Manual typewriters for writers with a focus on machines made without needing to tinker/repair them.

Joe primarily focuses on typewriters he actually has in his personal collection more than other potential great machines. Having been collecting for his particular purpose for a long time, he's got a pretty tight set of good recommendations.

He's also got some good advice here about how to go about finding a machine and using professional typewriter shops to do so.

Electric typebar typewriters with more tolerance for poor technique.

IBM Selectrics, maintenance intensive, need carbon replacement film.

Printwheel/Daisy Wheel typewriters. Brother, Nakajima, Swintec (components made by Nakajima),

Ultra portable typewriters

• Royal / Silver Seiko typewriter - no tabs
• Olympia Splendid 33, 66, 99 - no tabs the 33 is monochrome

Portables

• Smith-Corona 5 Series
• Olympia SM series: SM1 - SM9
• Hermes 3000 series (overpriced on the used market)

Standards

Big and don't come with a case; will last nearly forever<br /> - Underwood 5<br /> - Royal standards, especially those that came after the 10

Typebar Electrics

• Olympia Reporter (Nakajima in Japan); designed in 80s for journalists
• Royal Saturn (Silver-Seiko) one of the quietest out there; uses 9/16" ribbon; bichrome with tabs,
• Smith-Corona Electric - first portable electric to hit the market.
• IBM Selectric (71; manual correction)

Daisywheel typewriters

• Brother
• RaRo has new Daisy wheels
• delay between keypress and print

reply to u/Yiqu at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1r08q2i/buying_a_first_typewriter_for_writing/

The first three articles you'll find under https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/#Typewriter%20Market will give you a quick crash course about what to consider and look out for in your search.

If you want to get to work, your best bet (and honestly the best value) is to get something from a repair shop that is serviced and ready to go. In the US this means a budget range typically from US$300-$600, or perhaps slightly more if they've recovered the platen which will improve your experience. Prices dramatically in excess of this often include a lot more custom work or less common typefaces which don't necessarily improve your performance (or are people selling typewriters who have less of an idea than you do about typewriters.)

Many hobbyists here may say to get something cheap that "works", but the amount of time and knowledge you have to scaffold to do that is worth a lot of writing time, and often still requires a lot of cleaning, restoration, and potential tinkering which is even more onerous when you just want to get to writing.

In case you haven't found them, some great resources on leveraging typewriters as distraction-free writing devices:

• Flint, Woz Delgado. 2023. The Distraction-Free First Draft. One Idea Press. https://www.oneideapress.com/product-page/the-distraction-free-first-draft.
• Joe Van Cleave: https://www.youtube.com/@Joe_VanCleave
• Damon DiMarco: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJ2zbs0bvcjaTYx5zV52sw

And if you need some serious distraction free advice, since it's hiding as deep knowledge amongst a handful of serious collectors/writers, the bigger your (standard) machine, the more visual space it takes up as you're writing and subtly helps your concentration. Similarly placing it in front of a wall (and not a window) helps a lot too.

For Susan Orlean, editing on a computer as opposed to handwritten or typewritten work, is much easier as it's not as messy and encourages experimentation. [30:45]

One suspects that the words seem less precious or permanent as well.

Let Yourself Be Partial by [[Chris Osmond]]

On writing and first drafts... meh

How to Choose a Typewriter for Serious Writing by [[Jonny Eberle]] on 2024-11-24

A good overview of some of the considerations one may want to make when looking for a typewriter.

The additional "hidden context" is that the rachet/gear seen in many of these diagrams is usually attached to a radial spring (or some other device) which, as it is wound, stores energy which is later used by the bigger device in which the rachet and pawl are encased. Examples include the stem of watches, which when wound, store energy which the watch later uses to run as it counts the seconds. Another example is the mainspring of a typewriter which is attached to a ratchet/pawl set up; when you push the carriage to the right, the spring gets wound up and stores energy which is slowly expended by the escapement a space or a letter at a time as you type. In the zettelkasten analogy, the box and numbered cards placed in it act as the pawl (the wedge that prevents backward movement), as you add more and more information, you're storing/building up "potential energy" in small bits. This "stored energy" can be spent at a later time by allowing you to more easily write an article, paper, book, etc. In some sense, the zettelkasten (as most tools do) allows you a "mechanical advantage" in the writing process over trying to remember everything you've ever read and then relying on your ability to spit it all back out in a well-ordered manner.

reply to Muhammed Ali at https://discord.com/channels/992400632390615070/992400632776507447/1286577013439594497

continuation of https://hypothes.is/a/GTPIPnYiEe-GTUu4YcdeAQ

Typewriter Video Series - Episode 147: Font Sizes and the Writing Process by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

typewriters for note making

double or 1 1/2 spacing with smaller typefaces may be more efficient for drafting documents, especially first drafts

editing on actual paper can be more useful for some

Drafting on a full sheet folded in half provides a book-like reading experience for reading/editing and provides an automatic backing sheet

typewritten (or printed) sheets may be easier to see and revise than digital formats which may hide text the way ancient scrolls did for those who read them.

Jack Kerouac used rolls of paper to provide continuous writing experience. Doesn't waste the margins of paper at the top/bottom. This may be very useful for first drafts.

JVC likes to thread rolls of paper into typewriters opposite to the original curl so as to flatten the paper out in the end.

digging the words into the page sounds adjacent to Seamus Heaney's "Digging" which analogizes writing to digging: https://hypothes.is/a/J-z8OgfQEe-0adtJyXyb3g

There's something here which suggests pens, typewriters, keyboards, etc. as direct extended mind objects as tools for thought. A sense of rumination and expulsion simultaneously.