I wrote the final draft of a very ambitious, very flawed novel on an IBM Selectric ii typewriter[0]. Previous drafts were handwritten in notebooks. I even had t

I wrote the final draft of a very ambitious, very flawed novel on an IBM Selectric ii typewriter[0]. Previous drafts were handwritten in notebooks. I even had to change the typing element frequently because the book's dialogue took place in cursive font. I was on a years long abstinence from all personal electronics, aside from my trusty Alcatel OT871AGPIB. The final portion of the book had to be finished on a cheap Japanese reproduction typewriter because my Selectric died and was, sadly, abandoned to the curb of the city I was in at the time. It was the most intense period of sustained creative effort I have ever known. Thinking back on it, I have a mix of regrets and admiration for the kind of focus the lack of distraction produced. Once it became clear that my paper manuscript was doing me no favors in an industry that I had no inroads into, I had to use OCR to convert the manuscript, with all of its white-out and shadows of text where the ribbon ran out of ink or the correcting ribbon was used, to a PDF. This was a mess and only produced more work that was not creative in nature. Still, if I ever get my career on a firmer footing, and perhaps can afford to hire a secretary, I would consider going back to writing in analog. I wouldn't be surprised if a mid-major tech company released a product line that more or less accomplishes a facsimile of the benefits a typewriter confers, even if it is just a passing fad. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter