A New Access to Writing

Yes, Virginia, the typewriter is gone. Recycled, as it were. As if it weren't enough to have a computer with Wordpad, a computer with MS Office, even, now one can also write "online".  I know, I know; what I say here is not new to the millions of technorati now many years (10 is many?) engaged with the Internet. But for those of us that, for as many reasons as there are those of us, are either later to come or slower on the uptake, it is all quiet amazing. And I'm not yet even at the point of what prompted me to make this entry. This entry is about two matters really: writing, and where/how to.

Writing, as a subject, has pervaded much of my writing effort in recent years. I suspect that will continue so here, giving the perfunctory nod to the subject, I am focused on my own amazement at the current tools of writing. As it were, the where and how to. 

When I was a young man my writing began to take shape -unbeknownst to me- as a young married sailor writing letters to my parents and then to my wife. I recall still how I enjoyed, and took some pride in my penmanship. At that time I was probably less aware of word-crafting than my handwriting as the good nuns taught us -or, at least it was the lesson I took away- that handwriting would tell our character.  What would that say of my character today as these much older, well-worn hands have trouble managing a pen or pencil, much less so scribing in good handwriting. And there was always something "special", not just "proper", but "special" about letter writing. It was satisfying.

In college I managed to get -we bought, though I no longer recall from where- a typewriter.  I do remember that it was light-green plastic and cost twenty-five dollars which would have been a big expense for us then. By the time we purchased this typewriter I had already submitted several class papers in hand-written form on lined paper. I'm sure that the discussion around spending the money on a typewriter included comments about how hand-written papers had a long, distinguished history, and how buying a typewritter just fed some inexorable movement of commercialism.  But, of course, it also included the practical consideration of how much faster, and clearer, I could get my work done. And no doubt, it would produce better grades. (Some of us will remember the job of correcting errors on a typw-written page, not to mention, on carbon copies)  What the discussion did not include -because such things had not yet come to light of admittance in my brain by that time- was that a typewriter is a gizmo to be engaged and "worked", manipulated.

(People hang things on walls about them for various reasons. It may be grocery notes, pictures of loved ones or adventures had, or pieces of art. The art may be for pure pleasure of its beauty, or appreciation of skill and craft; or both. It may be inspirational.  As I was finishing the two paragraphs above I glanced up from the keyboard -yes, I must look- and noted two pieces I -intentionally- hung from the shelf above this desk: two New Yorker Blitt cover-art pieces. One portrays a fellow, obviously a writer, who has been hand-writing his story on the floor, and now finds himself boxed in the corner of his room. ((The last six words he'd written were, "However, it was only a matter of time"))  The other cover portrays a a group of monkeys in various poses of thought and effort working at their small typewriters not unlike the one that I had owned.  But then, this piece isn't about art and writing per se.)

In most of my employment career as a social worker I had many reports to write. Now and again the secretary staff would allow some of us access to their typewriters, but for the most part, notes and reports were done in hand-written form on lined paper. Then came the dictaphone, and what a great gizmo that was. But that was bettered by the portable, 5-pound, tape recorder. To the extent of their batteries, the tape recorder added the benefit of being able to record in the field while events were still fairly fresh in memory. If I were writing about that career here, I'd have another take on that actuality of that process. But as the tape recorders got smaller, and better, things were about to change by a quantum leap. The advent of the personal computer hit the government office.

It was about ten years before I retired that network-based computer terminals were placed on our desks. I'd say that there were two camps of reception to these new gizmos, and one camp had two components: one that disdained them as a new expectation to the workload, and one that phoo-phooed them as silly because they were not stand-alone "desktops". On the other hand, the camp I was in saw them as breakthrough (gizmo) tools that would not only facilitate our work, but would enhance our workday (after all, they were, gizmos). In, probably, the last six years of my employment we had networked "desktops". These indeed did provide much greater flexibility.

The desktops, in addition to, or perhaps as an aspect of the flexibility, did in fact enhance the workday for several of us. It was a tool with software fittings that allowed for much creativity on the job. As a "storekeeper" in the Navy I had learned the hunt-and-peck method of typing sufficient for promotion and the job. That skill level was also sufficient for my years and learning ability in college. Now, as a mature adult nearing the end of my career my typing method was just-sufficient, it was actually a challenge. For now there was little-to-no resistence in the keys, no carriage to shift (though in truth, the electric typwriters had nicely overcome that task). The new desktops provided such potential for speed that I found my hunt-and-peck method actually improved -and, yes, that's my level today despite all my resolutions to become a "typist".

Some of the creativity aspect that the desktop brought to the job was that we could work to develop digital forms, forms that were quicker and easier to complete, and forms that would distribute the entered information to other places that would then preclude duplicate entries. These tools increased the flexibility -enhanced- of report-writing. This aspect led to further creativity in that there were times when one could do "notations", case-notes, and even, some personal writing.

But the time for personal business was always way to short -as it should have been at work.  Still, the enhancement and flexibility incorporated into the task of writing reports, in my instance, invoked that long-dormant satisfaction in writing. Such writing provided the opportunity for not only word-crafting, but for expression. And it came to an end none too soon. What I had not known most of my career, not until some four or five years before my retirement -about ten years ago now- was much about personality structure, personality profile. I had not the conceptual framework to realize and articulate the notion of introversion. My career as a social worker -often to my denial- was very taxing, draining, on my personality type. When I reached retirement eligibility, I was a long time ready.

And when I retired almost five years ago, we bought a new computer; the one I work on today. We'd had a desktop for about five years. But in those days, even more so than now, personal computer technology grew by leaps and bounds. Your new gizmo could be outdated within as little as a year. This current computer, a VPR Matrix made for Best Buy, with 111GB of hard disk (in five years I've only used 26.3GB -though I've taken 7 CDs of pictures off) and a Pentium 4 operating XP at 1.99GHz is still quiet enough. And now, with good fortune, plenty of hard work, and my wife's brain power, we have a cabin-home at a lake where a son and his wife have donated an eMachine. I have recently learned the the dial-up connection there and have begun use of that e-gizmo too. Soon, thanks to the Internet and the things that amaze me -and prompted this piece- these two computers will be virtually connected, and here or there, I'll have my gizmos to put to use as satisfies me.

About 18 months ago I became aware of, and began using a web-based wordprocessor application that was in beta development. It was enticing as a writing tool and I "bought" into it. It was free. About six months ago Google bought that application and has named it "Documents & Spreadsheets". I had already begun some preliminary blogging at Blogger, a Google operation, and hold Google in a high regard similar to my regard for Microsoft. (I like what works well). I've become sold on the applicability of Docs&Spreadsheets especially in view of being in two different places for periods of time. D&S is one of the amazing things that allows me to write where I am. The building of the cabin detoured me from much engagement with these gizmos and applications. But now as that building comes near to an end, I have looked again at the computer and in tripping around, found the application I'm using for the first time: MS's Windows Live Writer. Its a relatively small application that provides a desktop wordprocessing interface with one's choice of blogging services, in this case, Blogger.com. (It just occurs to me that in my hands this brings together Microsoft and Google) It should be noted that the Live writer was initially designed to serve Windows Live Spaces, another blogging space.

I'm trying out Live Writer and becoming very pleased with it because it allows me to work offline as my MS Word would do, but then save and post directly to the blog site. And it provides a working space so similar to Word (actually, so is D&S) that the learning curve for use is very low. With two good computers, good program applications including a web-based wordprocessor (D&S), three good publication sites (Gather, Blogger and LiveJournal), Live Writer is a new access to writing, and I'm in business. Here goes the first post from LW.