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Thinking about efficiency is a reliable way to buzz-kill creative inspiration.

Editing is only more work with my typewriter (Olympia Traveler Deluxe with British layout) if I write something worth editing and am willing to do the work of editing it.

When it comes to self-expression (a somewhat better term than creativity) the writing is important. Not having the mental burden of possible OS updates, battery, cable and file management, etc. makes a typewriter workflow efficient for some of my work.

Sure, I wouldn't use a typewriter for ordinary business transactions or surfing the web or commenting on HN. Instead I use it when I don't want to deal with those habits.

For clarity, I only have one typewriter, not a collection. It is the fourth in the last five years bought at a thrift shop. The first was a 6 CPI SCM 12. [1] It was replace by a Spanish Keyboard Hermes Baby I bought on eBay. Then an Olympia Deluxe with Script font given to my beloved.

If you are looking for a typewriter:

+ maybe think about the case. Does it stack well? Can you stack stuff on top of it? Because at some point you will probably want to free up the space where your typewriter sits or transport it or store it.

+ check the typeface. The Olympia with script typeface was a bargain, but it is script. The 6CPI SCM was a surprise. Can you live with the typeface?

+ are you handy? Typewriter service is basic millwrighting. You will want decent flathead screwdrivers and some time on Youtube.

[1] If I come across another SCM with 6CPI for the right price I will have two typewriters. 6CPI changes the way I write and matches well with images...I got the Hermes Baby because I wanted a small font. It was too small and the way the text looked on the page turned me off. The Olympia is good enough, which is good enough.

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bluGill 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

For those who don't know: a flathead screwdriver should be flat. Almost all taper to the point and that makes for a bad screwdriver that will cam out and ruin the screws.

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fsckboy 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>Thinking about efficiency is a reliable way to buzz-kill creative inspiration.

on the autism spectrum are systems thinkers, many liking to think precisely about efficiency, we are very creative about it and it makes us happy (read Simon Baron-Cohen's The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention)

you're a buzzkill

	▲	BitterCritter 3 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		No, as an autist, this guy is right. I’ve “systematically”thought about it a lot and creativity is something that must be done the long and hard way. You can be creative about efficiency but not efficient about creativity.
	▲	brudgers 3 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Among the systems I system-think about are systems that produce self-expression and systems that produce creative work. Lots of people like to think about efficiency because thinking about efficiency is easier than doing work...and avoiding work is one of the definitions of efficiency. Or to put it another way (and in the context of writing), thinking about efficiency doesn't put words on the page and what's in our heads is not the result of our creative acts. Efficiency arises from the work, not vice versa. Self-expressive work arises from inspiration. The friction of inefficiency is often a symptom of important self-expression.