Post-Script: Of course, I haven't tried every ribbon supplier out there, so there's more exploration to do. One of my YouTube viewers suggested an Etsy supplier of cotton ribbons, which I'll have to try out and review. Another suggested FJA Products, another good supplier.
Blog articles like this one aren't spectacularly informative, but they do represent the ongoing lifestyle of a typewriter aficionado, living with these machines, taking them to the cigar store lounge to write a blog article about taking a typewriter to the cigar store lounge. Self-referential, yes; but I think it's an important aspect of typewriter culture, documenting how we live with, and use, these mechanical wonders, mundane as that might seem.
On a technical note, I like to fold this green engineering paper in half when typing a narrow column for this blog, especially with the Rocket's 13 CPI typeface. So the left edge is creased and the right is open, when threaded through the platen rollers. But the right side must have fed faster than the left, because in the scan you can see the lines of text start out at the top slanted toward the left and end up slanted toward the right at the bottom of the page. Probably some subtle pressure roller issue in the carriage, but nothing that's going to keep me up at night. I should be just left the paper unfolded and used a backing sheet.
In the resulting video, linked below, I have some wonky audio issues, caused partly by a weak battery in my dynamic mic's preamp, which spoiled the video's overall quality, since audio is so important of an aspect to video. I tried to even out the clips' levels, but it's still rather awful. I need to take better care next time.
I have a number of video projects needing to be made, but my time these days has been occupied with edits and rewrites for my Cold Hard Type short story project. I've also been holding off on another typing assignment until the deadline has passed, because I know a number of participants to the series that are also in the midst of writing their Cold Hard Type stories.
Last night I spent hours typing changes to the story on my Royal QDL, while today I once again broke out the Olympia SM3 to type a neat copy incorporating all the changes thus far. While the Royal is a darned good machine, the SM3 is yet a cut above.
I hope to get one more video done this week. Wish me luck, and that the quality will be up to par.
Post-Script: Perhaps it's the feverish summer weather (actually, it's been rather nice in the high desert this week), or because it's July and with it comes the commemoration of both the Trinity Test and Roswell. I'd like to think, being the rational person I am, that in 1947 the only nuclear-certified and combat-experienced bomber squadron on the world, the 509th Composite Group, happened to be stationed at Roswell Army Air Base. And over in White Sands they were beginning to test German V2 missiles. So perhaps there's nothing more to it, right?
What else happened in 1947 besides (supposedly) Roswell? How about the National Security Act, that created the CIA and NSA. How about the US Air Force becoming its own military branch. Or the US was (supposedly) "enjoying" a global monopoly on nuclear weapons, that would only last another two years. Lots of changes in a short period of time.
But if you're a sci-fi fan like I am, and also a typewriter nerd, you can't help but notice that Corona typewriters and the town of Corona, NM share a common name. And Corona, NM happens to be near one of the supposed crash sites of the 1947 incident. So, naturally, this story comes together with that in mind. This is becoming a theme for my fiction, what you might call typewriter insurgency fiction. Is that yet a thing?
One thing I love about sci-fi is it doesn't have to be realistic, though in order to be successful it does rely on realistic characters.
This is my entry of Typing Assignment No.18, on the theme of sci-fi. If you're so inclined, write up a one-page sci-fi story on a typewriter and post a scan of the piece to a publically-accessible photo hosting website, then post the link to your image in the comments section of this YouTube video. Deadline is this coming Sunday, July 29. I hope to see your story in the upcoming review video. Until then, keep watching the skies, and be careful out there!
Story first-drafted on SCM Skyriter, completed on Royal QDL.
WPPD 2018, Grounded Rocket and Addiator Pouch Repair
This previous Sunday, the last Sunday in April, was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. While I don't practice the craft of pinhole as prolifically as I once did, I try to make an effort to get out with a pinhole camera on this day, if for no other reason than to remind myself why it is that I have a virtual mountain of pinhole cameras (mostly collecting dust) that deserve to be employed in the pursuit of that elusive image.
This day, I chose to stroll the river forest of the Rio Grande, just north of Albuquerque, with two small one-shot cameras, both made from 1.5" PVC pipe and employing a curved film plane with 2.5" squares of Harman Direct Positive Paper. While I've been trying to conserve this paper, due to it limited supply, these small prints are just big enough to hold in your hand and appreciate up close, while being diminutive enough to not be wasteful of paper.
I developed both images in a steel 35mm developing tank, sans reels, with the prints taped to the inside walls of the tank and rotary processed on its side. This method uses only 100mL of chemistry and produces very consistent results, while also not requiring a full darkroom with open trays of chemicals - ideal for those with limited space or, like me, desiring to process in the comfort of one's kitchen.
Being fiber-based prints, I archivally washed them using my recently devised method of employing a slow trickle of garden hose water under the canopy of a tree in my yard, which serves to wash the prints while also watering my landscaping - we do live in a desert, as we are apt to say. After, I selenium toned them and completed another wash.
The prints were dried flat by being superficially squeegeed, then taped face-up to a sheet of glass, using drafting tape, and placed in my film drying cabinet.
I was please with the way these came out; I'll have to do this more often, with more of my pinhole cameras.
There's something very satisfying about creating one-of-a-kind direct prints on fiber paper. Each is a unique object, and usually intimate in size as are these.
Here's a video documenting the process:
Now onto some sad news. During last weekend's Spring ABQ Type-Out I brought my 1953 Hermes Rocket, which performed fine during the event. Then this last Sunday, while typing up a story for Typing Assignment No. 16, I noticed the carriage was intermittently skipping spaces. This has been a recurring problem with this machine for a long while, one of the reasons why I haven't used it much. I know from previous experience that the problem has been related to the carriage release lever arm, which connects to the rack gear and serves to pivot the rack gear away from the escapement cog when releasing the carriage. This arm appears rather soft and is easily bent. Usually reforming it back into shape solves the problem. But this time I couldn't fix the issue; it seemed the rack gear just wasn't meshing tight enough with the escapement cog.
So yesterday I decided to dig in and see if I could make it better. I started disassembling parts of the carriage, in order to remove the rack gear. In the process, I decided to disconnect the draw band from its anchor on the right side of the carriage. I tried to be careful to let the tension of the spring motor relax itself as I wound the draw band back onto the drum of the spring motor. But evidently I wasn't careful enough, because suddenly the spring motor made an awful noise, and now it's dead.
I also spent many hours afterwards, into the wee hours of the morning, getting the carriage back together. I still have one spring under the paper table that provides pressure for the rollers that isn't properly installed. So now I have a broken Hermes Rocket, in need of a spring motor. I can't see any way to regain tension on the old motor. Attempting to turn it, it just spins; I can't see where the anchor point is, unless it's somehow in around the central hole where it mounts to a bolt-like fixture.
Live and learn. That's why I have 19 other typewriters in my collection, right? Seriously, I wasn't going to be using that machine much in the future anyway, because of its known fragility. Perhaps I can find a working spring motor from a donor machine.
But the story I wrote for Typing Assignment No. 16 will most likely be the last piece of writing done with that machine. The subject of the assignment was to write a one-page piece inspired by some artifact of your possession. My artifact was an old 1950's-style rocket spaceship bank. The protagonist of the story has a similar bank as a kid, which inspires him to become a rocket scientist.
Now here's where this story gets interesting: my Hermes Rocket typewriter, circa 1953, was originally owned by an Air Force officer and engineer who was one of the principal engineers working on the design of the SR71 Blackbird's engines.
Here's the story, the last piece typed on the Hermes Rocket:
And here's the bank itself:
And in more positive news, I dusted off my rudimentary stitchery skills and affected a repair to the leather pouch of my Arithma Addiator:
It may not be pretty, but hopefully it'll serve a few more years of use; it's better than the staples that were holding the pouch together.
Here's a video I recently made about the Addiator. Thank you Ted Munk for the suggestion!
Assignment Number 16 in the Typing Assignments Series is to find a personal artifact and use it as the subject for your one-page typewritten piece. The artifact can be any object you find interesting, even including a typewriter! You can write about its actual history; or merely speculate. Write a future-based piece including the artifact, or something totally imaginative and made-up.
What I'd like to do with this assignment is also have you submit an image of the artifact itself. Try to shoot the image in flattering light and well-focussed, and please make the image in landscape mode (i.e. "horizontal"), so it'll fit better on the 16:9 YouTube screen.
Post publicly-accessible links to both the image of your typed page, and the object itself, to the comments section of the above YouTube video; or, alternatively, email me the two images at: jvcabacus@yahoo.com. The deadline is April 29. I look forward to reading your work and seeing what artifacts you used as subject matter.
Typing Assignment No.12 is about the subject of Thankfulness. Write a one-page piece however you like - fiction, biography, prose, poetry - whatever, on the subject, and have a photo of it posted online by Sunday, November 26. You can include a link to your image here in the comments below; in the comments for the above YouTube video; or by emailing me at: jvcabacus@yahoo.com
We had great participation in Assignment 10, which was open to any subject, including some typewriter art and poetry. For this next assignment we'll be writing on the subject of Halloween. It could be from any angle: history, personal accounts, fiction, even anti-Halloween. Whatever.
Have your assignment done and the link posted to the comments in this blog article, or the YouTube video, by Sunday, October 29. Alternatively, email the image as an attachment, to: jvcabacus@yahoo.com. Please ensure the photo image of your typewritten sheet is clear and easily readable, and that the link to the image is publicly accessible.
Going forward, I will continue this two week interval with assignments, hoping it will give you more time to complete without a mad rush at the very last.
If you have any suggestions for future assignment topics, let me know; I'm always open to new ideas. Happy writing!
The Strip Mall Jesus and First Church of Perpetual Video
Post-Script: Inspiration for this short-short story, my submission for Typing Assignment No. 10, was from remnants of a dream I'd had, last week. It seems I've have episodic dreams over the years, set in the same or similar environs, that evolves over time as my life experience and employment changes. The dream I'm certain was based on a TV repair shop I'd worked in, decades ago, in a nearby strip mall, at the corner of Eubank and Menaul Blvds here in Albuquerque. While the owner of the shop wasn't exactly a messiah-type, mixed in this dream is also something to do with small storefront churches I've been in over the years.
Typed on my aunt's repaired-as-good-as-it's-gonna-get Royal 10, now situated on my office desk and ready to deliver back to Colorado, when I have the time and the weather cooperates.
How about you? Do you get inspired to write creatively from dreams? Perhaps this is another topic for the Typewriter Video Series. Hmm...
Here we are, already at our tenth typing assignment. It's been a fun project for me, and I hope also for you. The first few assignments seemed obvious, but as the series progressed, I wisely fell upon the resources of my imaginative wife, who has assisted me in some of these latter subjects.
Thinking it over, it seemed the right time to do a free-form assignment: participants can write a one-pager on whatever they want. Some people were late to the party and missed previous assignment deadlines - for them, this is an opportunity to post their already completed work. For others, you've perhaps been working on your own project, and could use this time to share your progress. Whatever the reason, I hope you enjoy this open "un-assignment" typing assignment.
As with previous assignments, post the link to a publicly-accessible image of your typed piece in one of three ways: 1) In the comments section below; 2) In the comments to the accompanying YouTube video (see above); or 3) Email me the image as an attachment, to: jvcabacus@yahoo.com
The deadline for this assignment will be Sunday, October 15. Have fun. I look forward to reading your work.
Typing Assignment 8, which was to write in the style of a favorite author, received good results, being simultaneously enjoyable and yet challenging. Myself, I wrote a piece inspired by William Gibson, though not necessarily in his exact style.
For our next assignment, we will be writing a hypothetical story in the life of a real-life stranger that you periodically see. This idea was inspired by my wife, who mentioned some of the strangers she sees regularly, like the checkout clerk at the grocer's, or the mother walking her kids to school. Everybody has a story, it seems; and writers love to spin those stories into something other people will enjoy. So dust off your typewriters and start thinking about those strangers that you periodically see in the course of you day. What's their story? You tell us!
Make a legible scan or photograph of your typewritten piece, post it to a publicly-accessible photo hosting website, then post the link to the image in the comments below. Alternatively, you can leave comments in the corresponding YouTube video. Or, email me with the image as an attachment, to jvcabacus (at) yahoo.com
I hope you have fun with this assignment. The results will be due by Sunday, September 24.
I must be getting old. Last week, when I announced the subject for Typing Assignment No.8, I implied there would be a corresponding blog article onto which you could post links to images of your typed sheet, via the comments below. Well, I forgot.
So here it is, better late than never. But I do hope you've been having fun with this assignment, which is to write a one-pager, using a typewriter, in the style of a favorite author. It can be fiction, nonfiction, prose, poetry - whatever, as long as you can tell us what author inspired you, and what typewriter you used to write it.
Myself, one favorite author is William Gibson. I'm going to have to buckle down and get something on paper today, if I hope to make the deadline of next Sunday.
As usual, scan or photograph your typed page, post it to a publicly accessible website, then post the link here below in the comments; or post the link to the YouTube video (see below); or email the image file to me at: jvcabacus@yahoo.com.
Here we are with Typing Assignment No.7. Our last assignment was to write about a notable person in your life, and we had some very interesting stories. This new assignment is to "Climb the Highest Mountain." Describe a time in your life when you achieved something significant, or overcame a major obstacle. Or perhaps you did climb a literal mountain!
I'd like to think that story telling is the essence of writing; humans have been telling stories since the beginning of human history. And what better source of good stories than one's life experience. Perhaps this is why so many legendary writers also lived colorful, story-filled lives themselves.
For this new assignment, you'll dig into your life's experience and find something significant that you achieved, or a major problem you overcame. Perhaps you might think you've never accomplished much, never tackled some significant feat that's worthy of note. But to ourselves, in our internal life experience, many things loom large that might otherwise be seen as insignificant to others. Our job as writers is to communicate the magnitude of our internal experience to others in a way that they can appreciate; to enable them to enter into our personal experience.
I also like these kinds of writing assignments because they force us to dig deep into our selves, and in the process perhaps find something that might surprise us. I hope you find some personal reward in this work. Myself, I don't yet know that I'll write about, but am certain something will surface.
As in previous assignments, post a legible image of your typewritten piece to a publicly-accessible photo hosting site; then post the link to that image either in the comments section below, in the comments to the YouTube video, or email the image to me at: jvcabacus@yahoo.com
I look forward to reading and sharing your work. Have fun, dig deep and climb that mountain!
Midway through last week I put together the video for Typing Assignment No.6, and failed in my haste (and work schedule) to post the accompanying blog article, which this represents. But you are a resourceful lot, and have already figured out, many of you, that you can post a link to your written work as a comment to the video itself.
For those of you traditionalists, or those sticklers for exactitude, please leave a comment below with a link to your written piece.
And, as usual, should you have issues with either method, feel free to email me with your piece as an attachment, if that works better for you.
We all have someone in our lives who represents a story waiting to be told. That story could be uplifting, or not. But that's the way true-to-life stories are; not all fairy tales and happily-ever-after and Prince (or Princess) Charming. But a story, waiting to be told, as a typed, one-page composition. It's your story, to share with others. I'll be looking forward to seeing your story, studying it and making notes to myself for the post-slideshow talk within the upcoming video.
I haven't yet ran out of ideas for upcoming typing assignment themes; but if you do have something you'd like to see us tackle, please leave a comment below and I'll be happy to consider it.
Happy writing. Keep fingers on keys and the ribbon properly spooled in the machine.
Post-Script: I had to do a bit of tinkering with the Underwood Portable, as it seems the ribbon advance was a bit wonky. It liked to prematurely reverse direction midway through the lefthand spool. I found the margin release linkage was interfering with the left spool auto-reverse mechanism, which required "reforming;" and I also adjusted the heights of the spool drive shafts, so they would turn freer. To test out my work, I began typing nonsense on a scrap of paper, but then decided to take advantage of this opportunity and not be as wasteful of ink, so moved the operation out to the Man Cave Shed and began some more premeditated writing, ribbon covers removed. Thus far, my work seems to have been useful, but I haven't gotten entirely to the end of the ribbon to test the reverse from the left spool.
I also added one more turn of tension to the spring motor, and the carriage return feels entirely normal. Not that I was experiencing any issues with lighter tension, but I didn't want to induce any problem in the future.
I also typed a piece of remembrance concerning my dad, whose birthday would have been on August 8. I'll use this for Typing Assignment No.6; which reminds me, I forgot to post the blog article accompanying the video, so I'll get that out today also.
Post-Script: As it turns out, we had attempted to radio the Pakistani ship on an international hailing frequency prior to the collision; they responded but only too late, and attempted to navigate the gap between what they thought were the lights of two smaller ships, but was actually the darkness between our bow lights and superstructure. Despite their size, it seems you can hide an aircraft carrier, in the glum of a dark and stormy Arabian Sea night.
Subsequent to this event, the US Navy installed a navigation lighting mast on all its carriers, a tall pole fixed to the starboard catwalk between bow and superstructure, to serve as a visual indication that this is one huge ship, not two smaller vessels.
The freighter ship ended up being towed back to Karachi via US Navy oceangoing tug, and financial recompense was made. Our port Terrier missile radar antenna was retrieved from the deck of the freighter. The four-foot hole in our ship, high above the waterline and just below the flight deck, was merely a superficial wound; we remained at sea for several more weeks before turning east and returning to Subic Bay for repairs.
Captain McCarthy, one of the best skippers I served under, it is said didn't make the rank of Admiral because of this event, but did become a Commodore and served as head of the Naval Academy. His voice can be heard if you tour the USS Midway museum, in San Diego bay.
If you visit little old landlocked Albuquerque, you should visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, formerly know as the National Atomic Museum and once located, prior to 9/11, on Kirtland Air Force Base. In the parking lot of the museum you will see a blue and white Terrier Missile launcher. This is because these systems were capable, as was the Connie's, of being nuclear armed. At the time of the collision, it was said that the Connie's was the last nuclear-certified Terrier system left in service. These employed a W30 1kt nuclear warhead and had a range of something like 40 nautical miles; designed in the atmosphere of nuclear idealism in the mid-1950s, before the advent of ICBMs, when it was thought that virtually every conventional tactical weapon could be nuclear armed. That was a different time.
Today, sold to a salvage company for $1, the Connie is being cut apart for scrap metal in the Galveston shipyards, while the governments of the United States and Iran remain at odds over their respective views of national sovereignty. Meanwhile, events like these that transpired during those long, dark nights of the Cold War remain but sea stories old men tell their grandkids.
We had a fun time with Typing Assignment No. 4, which was to expound on that old pangram, "The Quick Brown Fox..." I was surprised to have found my wife participating, and this further inspired me also to try my hand at it.
Now, our latest assignment is to work with that worst of all opening lines to a story, "It was a dark and stormy night." This line has been panned for decades by critics and cognoscenti alike; but are we afraid? No! Instead, we see it as a challenge. After all, we're already writing on manual typewriters. Typewriters, I tell 'ya! So a little more salt in the wound shouldn't be any trouble.
Start your one-page piece with that classic line, and see where the Muse takes you. Make it fiction; or make it nonfiction, if you have a personal tale, set in a dark, stormy eve, worth telling. Perhaps there's a family story or legend you'd like to try your hand at. Make it poetry, make it prose, you get to choose.
As before in this series, scan or photograph your one page piece legibly, then post to a document or photo hosting service online. Then drop a comment below this article with a link to your image. Alternatively, put the link in a comment to the YouTube video itself.
Please include in your comment the name you'd like to be referred to and something about the typewriter (just the make and model is fine; and the year of manufacture if you know it). On the typed sheet, also include your name, so I can keep track of the entries when I assemble the review video.
Because many of you won't be reading this article and reviewing the video until at least Wednesday, I'm giving a deadline of July 30 to have your piece written, scanned, uploaded and the link added to a comment herein or on You Tube. This should give us about a week and a half, plenty of time to do a good job without rushing.
Speaking of doing good jobs, all of the previous entrants have done great work on short notice with these assignments. I hope you realize how much I appreciate that, and also that others are reading your work via this project. I also hope this series will inspire you fledgling writers to take more seriously the call to take up pen (or typewriter) and dedicate yourselves more fully to the art of writing. There are certainly some latent talents amongst us.
We had great results from our last typing assignment, which was about youthful hangouts. Some of the entries were very serious, while others not so much. There are many people here who have a latent talent for writing, and my wish is to enable more people to take up the pen - or typewriter - and begin to discover that wonderful inner world of writing.
This week's assignment will be more lighthearted, which is to write about that old pangram: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. You are free to use this phrase as a jumping-off point for wherever the create muse leads. Write from the perspective of the fox, or the dog, or the dog's owner. Tell us the backstory, or what happens after. Is there animosity between the fox and dog, or are they friends? Why is the dog considered lazy - did he get a false reputation? You get to decide - it's your story.
As in previous assignments, please have an image of your entry uploaded to a photo hosting website, and the link to that image posted below in the comments section before the end of next Sunday. Alternatively, if you have issues with Blogger, just leave a comment below the YouTube video with the link to your image.
Also, tell us in your comment about which typewriter you used, and what name you'd like me to use in the video when referring to you. Good luck and happy writing!
Wow! What great writing we were blessed to have read with the last typing assignment. We had twenty participants and they all produced wonderfully creative expressions of how typewriters work in their writing process. I was interested to discover how many of those participating had expressed similar reasons for writing with typewriters, yet there were also some unique aspects I hadn't considered. This is another good reason to participate in this project, the interaction with others like-minded as yourself, and the opportunity to learn and grow as a creative.
Of course, nothing is perfect, especially the behind-the-scenes technical aspects of doing this project. For some, there were serious challenges, either with finding the time to write, or snags with posting comments to this blog with the link to their online piece. Unfortunately, one hopeful participant had sent me a broken URL that I was unable to resolve, and couldn't contact him via email in time to get his submission.
I've decided as a backup plan that if you have issues with posting comments to Blogger, please instead post a comment to the Typing Assignment #3 video on YouTube with the link to your piece.
Some other issue of note: PDF files: Apparently my mobile video editing platform treats PDFs as documents instead of images, and hence won't permit importing them as photos to my video editor. I was able to find a work-around, by capturing a screen grab of their online piece instead. Evernote: I had saved a document from a person's Evernote site, which appeared in my photo folder as a normal image. But when imported to the video project the image had scrambled letters, unreadable, as if some sort of copy protection were at work. I ended up also taking a screen capture of their online document instead. The Ken Burns Effect: I used this top-to-bottom scroll effect in the video to make the pages wide enough to be readable. But if there is very little margin at the bottom of the image, then the clip fades out a bit too soon. It would help if you include a bit more margin at the bottom of your images to permit it to be fully readable, otherwise the viewers might have to pause the video. Google shortcut links: One person sent a Google shortcut link that was broken. I was unable to fix it. And I couldn't notify them in time for the deadline. It's a good habit to test your image links before posting them to this blog or the YouTube video. Paste the link into a fresh private browser window and see if it works first.
If you need to contact me directly about some issue with posting or uploading your image link, email me at: j v c a b a c u s (at) y a h o o (dot) com.
Now! Assignment #3 is to write a one-pager about youthful hang-outs. Write about some place you liked to spend time at when young, and perhaps a bit about the people you hung with and maybe even some special circumstance or story that transpired. The deadline is next Sunday, July 9. Please keep the length of your piece to one typewritten page. Try to make the image as bright and contrasty as needed to be easily readable from inside a video. If you need assistance, contact me. Good luck!
We had a great response to Typing Assignment #1 on my YouTube channel, with 18 participants entering their one-page typewritten pieces. For many of you, this was your first foray into creative writing, which I can only respond by feeling grateful that this project has already born some creative fruit. I hope you continue to be inspired and wear out many more ribbons with your future writings!
These short pieces, though each unique, had many aspects in common, especially the devotion and love reflected between machine and user. There was also a strong sense of melancholy, for these machines having sat so many years and decades in disuse, before being rediscovered. Humor was also in plenteous supply, with one writer having the typewriter revolution being started by the machines themselves, and another writer stating that the machines collect their owners - not the other way around. For anybody like us collectors who've sensed that magnetic attraction to some otherwise anonymous thrift store, only to find some wonderful machine inside, waiting to be taken home, we can certainly relate.
Of course, a single page is entirely inadequate for many of these stories to be fully realized; but that is another reason why these one-page assignments are so worthwhile, in that they require just enough creative effort to whet the juices into further expanding the treatment into a full-blown short story, which I hope many participants will take advantage of.
Typing Assignment #2 is less fictional creativity and more along the lines of analytical thinking: write a one-page essay on what you find unique and/or valuable about using typewriters as writing tools. Unless I hear otherwise, we'll assume the due date will be next Sunday, July 2. Please have your entries written, scanned/photographed, posted to social media and the link posted into the comments section below before then. If you require more than one week for this assignment, please post a comment into the YouTube video itself; I'll consider extending the due-date based on responses. I suspect enough of us are typewriter aficionados that we already have a good idea of why we like to use these machines for creative writing.
In last week's blog article I introduced this new video project that I call Typing Assignments, loosely inspired by Ted Forbes's photo assignments series on his The Art of Photography YouTube channel.
Today I introduce Typing Assignment #1, which is to anthropomorphize your typewriter and have it describe how it "found" you, and how it feels about its relationship with you, the writer.
Remember these ground rules to this project:
1) This is not a contest. Scores are not given, points are not earned. This is your assignment, to help foster creativity using your typewriter.
2)The piece has to be typewritten (electric or manual) as a single page. Single, double, triple spaced - doesn't matter, as long as it's legible.
3)Neatness doesn't count. Typewriters are ideal for first-draft, stream-of-consciousness creativity. Corrections, strike-throughs and revisions are just evidence of the creative process at work.
4)Post a legible image online. Photograph or scan the piece under good light. Tweak it to be easily readable. Post it online as a publicly-viewable image.
5)Post the direct URL to the image as a comment below, along with the name you'd like to be called. Also include something about what typewriter you used, if you wish.
Please have your piece written, posted and linked in a comment below by next Sunday, June 25. I screen my blog comments, so it might take a while for your comment to appear. I'll do my best to capture images of as many as I can and include them in next Monday's video, wherein I will also present Typing Assignment #2.
Have fun, and remember: This is an opportunity to bond with your typewriter as a tool for fostering creativity.
