Don't laugh...I'm bringing a typewriter :-D

College Life
21

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I appreciate the comments put on this thread. You’re right; there isn’t anything “compelling” me to waste time on sites like Facebook or Twitter. I actually don’t have an account anymore with either: never did with Twitter, and have deactivated my FB account – peer pressure did get the best of me, and I am repenting for my sins. It really is peer pressure that I’m trying to avoid, versus the technology itself; the mere mention of a typewriter or even floppy disks is considered quaint and old-fashioned nowadays, and I really need that slowdown because my life is so hectic. Ironically, my online contacts (even the anonymous ones, such as I find here), are far more intelligent than my everyday face-to-face contacts, save for a choice few my age whose lives are equally hectic, and so we don’t get to see each other all that often, and of course, the adult faculty I see on a daily or even semi-regular basis who are just as anti-Facebook as I am. :slight_smile: (Maybe what I need is a new set of friends rather than a typewriter…unless I find a new set of friends at a typewriter enthusiasts’ club or something!) :D</p>

<p>About “learning” to be a creative writer: One doesn’t learn, per se; he/she cultivates a preexisting talent in a creative atmosphere with feedback from other writers. Most creative writing courses are done workshop-style; I took one where we held the class outside and some kids read from their work while sitting in a tree (thankfully, not K-I-S-S-I-N-G). :)</p>

<p>What I meant about the great novelists who used typewriters was that obviously, the technology wasn’t available, but it’s also my opinion that there was a little more work involved (toil and sweat of manual editing), versus the cut-and-paste method used in computer software today. Nowadays, it’s not so much a matter of convenience, but a matter of necessity to edit in such a way. I’m not saying that great works can’t be produced using Word or OpenOffice or even Notepad, but that it just takes some of the soul away from the work when Clippy the Office Assistant is your main collaborator. :(</p>

<p>I’m also not trying to be elitist; that’s one thing I’ve often been accused of because of my stance on such issues (and the way I express my views – I know I have to work on being a lot less blunt on such matters). I really like CC and some of the other more topical, “niche” forums that I belong to as well, but I think we’ve become too reliant on so-called “social networking” sites and don’t get out often enough to have face-to-face interaction with our peers anymore. Although, there’s one site I really have taken interest in, ■■■■■■■■■■, which is sort of the reverse of “social networking” as the term applies today – using the Internet to find and recruit people interested in face-to-face conferences on various topics, versus FB or Twitter, whose mission statement when it comes to improving connected relationships in society is more like seek and destroy.</p>

<p>A big thing I’m concerned about is that I really do want to be a successful writer, but readers will be expecting an online presence of some sort, otherwise they won’t bother searching for my work in the bookstores if they can’t find me via Google. I’ll have to get a website; I’ll have to start a blog; I’ll have to do online Q-and-A sessions, and respond to fan (or hate) emails (and then I won’t have time for “real” writing either)…</p>

<p>Another thing is ebooks: I won’t want my words, the heart and soul, blood, sweat, and tears, that I put into my print publications, stripped of all human element and reduced to a mechanical, makeshift disaster-piece of ones and zeroes and prostituted by the faceless Borg Hive Mind at Amazon.com. I mean, how successful will I be if I out-and-out refuse to allow my work to be distributed via Kindle or E-Pub or Nook and Cranny or whatever these who-dickeys are called? Sadly, probably not as much as if I just give it all up for the gizmo geeks. :(</p>

<p>I mean, it’s unavoidable today, but maybe I can compromise a bit: If I absolutely must have the Internet to survive in this world, then maybe I can still switch to dial-up and, you know…avoid the rush. :wink: I might save the typewriter for when I’m out of school and find a place of my own (that is, if I’m ever really “done with school”). I mean, chances are Walden Pond is still immune to the airborne toxic spread of wi-fi…I hope. :)</p>

<p>But again, thanks for the feedback. I’ll try and get by with the bare minimum at most. Call me square if you’d like (and I know a lot of students will), but I think I’m beginning to realize that it’s possible to find a happy medium somewhere between Silicon Valley and Pennsylvania Dutch Country. “Welcome to Windows 3.1. The Wow Starts…Yesterday.” :)</p>

22

<p>ebooks aren’t stripped of all human element. They’re still read by humans. Surely that’s the most important thing.</p>

23

<p>It seems that you’re saying that the internet can be a huge distraction, and I doubt many will argue with you. The solution is pretty much what you’ve said – avoid the twittering, facebooking, and all those other little distractions. Use word processing to write (while not keeping open an internet window, and don’t sign up for any chats) and when the time comes, maintain a modest website. You can minimize the distractions on the internet while not completely ignoring it. In fact, many of us could and should probably do the same.</p>

<p>Have you ever actually used dial-up? It’s a time waster, more than anything. Utilize your high-speed internet, but reduce the time on the internet for the most effective use of your time.</p>

24

<p>Cherry, I have several AOL floppy disks that I can send you to sign up for dial-up. As for your nascent creative writing career, good luck; you already seem to have one of the prerequisites, that of being overly enamored with your own words.</p>

25

<p>Go tell your moms, ALF is droppin’ truth bombs</p>

26

<p>

</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>lol yeah ink on a page was how God Intended us to read words, well, after He Intended us to read engravings upon stone and clay tablets.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>haha ALF rules</p>

27

<p>I thought this was ridiculous until I heard that someone actually WANTED Dial-Up. Then I KNEW it was ridiculous.</p>

28

<p>Hmmmm. I have to wonder how many high school students–especially those who supposedly hate the Internet–have ever heard of CompuServe. Maybe the OP is going to be an unusually old college freshman.</p>

29

<p>Hunt-Maybe you are on to something here. CompuServe MAKES you hate the internet…</p>

30

<p>

</p>

<p>Hunt – good catch. </p>

<p>Also, authentically good writers don’t have to explain themselves. Cherry, creative writing can be taught, and I hope you learn soon, if that is your dream.</p>

31

<p>if my roommate brought a typewriter into our dorm, and if i have to deal with listening to that thing, i’d either blow it up or murder my roommate in his/her sleep</p>

32

<p>

</p>

<p>This person speaks the truth.</p>

33

<p>trollololololololololol</p>

34

<p>I hope she gets a Technology Major roommate…</p>

35

<p>Here’s to trying too hard to make a point!</p>

36

<p>I’m going to go ahead and say that you’re cheating yourself by not getting a Laptop.</p>

<p>I do agree that there is a lot of crap on the internet and facebook, and sometimes we get distracted by all of it. But almost everything in school these days are done on the computers. Teachers want you to send them the papers and assignments through emails. To meet with your advisor often requires you to confer through email as well. assignments are posted online, etc…</p>

<p>plus almost every other student will be bringing a laptop to school…</p>

37

<p>It is an interesting idea…I myself have done classes using an abacus for basic math :p.</p>

38

<p>Is the typewriter manual or electric? Who’s going to fix it if it breaks? Personally I’m a fan of the kind with the self-correcting ribbon.</p>

39

<p>

</p>

<p>…I was thinking the same thing</p>

40

<p>Dear OP: Are you a republican? It has nothing to do with what you said, just how you said it.</p>

<p><em>runs and hides from your wraith</em></p>