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Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

couchto50k.club

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Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#41

Post by eykd »

false_kermit wrote: post #33
zck wrote: post #9

I've been taking a writing class through Second City, and I've found it incredibly useful to write out my first drafts on paper, by hand. I don't think I'm losing any time by having to type my second draft into the computer afresh - you're going to be looking at it anyway, and it's useful to be forced to reread every word. It's easy to skip over parts if you don't need to touch them. There's the bonus that my noteboo…

I definitely think that the worst part about typing on a computer is how easy it makes it to not draft. I write about music on the side, and if I spend 15 minutes planning what I'm going to write prior to actually writing it (for a 500 word piece) then everything turns out much more cohesive at the end. I can pretty much type as fast as I can think, but my thoughts are pretty garbage unless I get a chance to organize…

Yes, I'm realizing there are four distinct mental processes to writing:

1. Planning 2. Production 3. Editing 4. Revision

Each one engages your brain in a different way. You can collapse them, but you get degraded performance when you do.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#43

Post by eykd »

scblock wrote: post #26

This is a concept that comes up fairly often and I must stress that what works for one person may not work for everyone else, whether that's writing longhand on paper, a mechanical or electric typewriter, dedicated word processing device, WordPerfect 5.1 in DOS, Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, Notepad, Emacs, Vim, iA Writer, or anything else. And though constraints can be helpful in some cases, I don't find the appeal…

I've used every technology you mentioned there. :) Different strokes for different folks, for sure. Use what works. Don't use what doesn't.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#44

Post by eykd »

samcgraw wrote: post #31

I've enjoyed writing short (mostly ghost) stories for friends and family over the last number of years, but I've never considered going for something like 50K words (and as a runner, I did appreciate the analogy!) until now. Thank you for sharing this! This might be a bit tangential, but over the last few months I've been working on a collaborative writing project called Storylocks ( https://www.storylocks.com ) to m…

It's nice to know someone got the joke. :) Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#45

Post by eykd »

fbelzile wrote: post #37
ipsin wrote: post #25

I would like it more if the "full-screen" mode was almost completely the content written, similar to a typewriter display. No picture of a typewriter, minimal controls, a small box for the new line, and everything else is what you've typed so far.

Check out my app: https://getcoldturkey.com/writer/ It looks a little like Word, and there's no new line box, but it has the other things you mentioned. You can also set it to block everything else on your computer until you write a certain number of words, or for a certain amount of time. I'm adding typewriter scrolling soon too. The pro features let you disable certain keys, etc. but you get a lot of value out of t…

This looks great. I wouldn't have guessed typewriter-mode from "advanced key controls". For my use case, I needed to disallow any going back and editing. If Cold Turkey can do that, you may have yourself a new customer. :)

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#46

Post by eykd »

205guy wrote: post #39

I was expecting the graphic to animate as I type, with the ribbon holder jumping up and down, maybe even display the text itself, and hoping to hear that satisfying sound of the letters against the platen. Obviously the shutdown hasn't lasted long enough. I'm only half joking. I like the concept of re-implementing typewriter constraints on the writing process, but the skeumorphism was lacking. It took me a second to…

Ha, yeah, you'll have to find your skeumorphism over there. :) That's a pretty neat achievement, I have to say.

But I don't actually want to use a typewriter, I just want to force myself to write without editing.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#47

Post by crooked-v »

zck wrote: post #9

I've been taking a writing class through Second City, and I've found it incredibly useful to write out my first drafts on paper, by hand. I don't think I'm losing any time by having to type my second draft into the computer afresh - you're going to be looking at it anyway, and it's useful to be forced to reread every word. It's easy to skip over parts if you don't need to touch them. There's the bonus that my noteboo…

My hand cramps up horribly after writing about a page's worth (and has ever since I was kid), so this never worked much for me.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#48

Post by ComputerGuru »

crooked-v wrote: post #47
zck wrote: post #9

I've been taking a writing class through Second City, and I've found it incredibly useful to write out my first drafts on paper, by hand. I don't think I'm losing any time by having to type my second draft into the computer afresh - you're going to be looking at it anyway, and it's useful to be forced to reread every word. It's easy to skip over parts if you don't need to touch them. There's the bonus that my noteboo…

My hand cramps up horribly after writing about a page's worth (and has ever since I was kid), so this never worked much for me.

I’ve been told it’s because I was never taught correct form for holding pens. shrug

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#49

Post by garaetjjte »

205guy wrote: post #39

I was expecting the graphic to animate as I type, with the ribbon holder jumping up and down, maybe even display the text itself, and hoping to hear that satisfying sound of the letters against the platen. Obviously the shutdown hasn't lasted long enough. I'm only half joking. I like the concept of re-implementing typewriter constraints on the writing process, but the skeumorphism was lacking. It took me a second to…

>missed letters if you type too fast (though I suspect it's a bug)

It states it's intentional:

>Just like a real manual typewriter, you can only press one character key at a tim

I have never used typewriter, but I don't think this is correct, the limitation should apply only for adjacent keys, not globally for all keys. This is the whole point of QWERTY layout, to type faster by spacing letters in words as far as possible to avoid jamming typewriter.

Re: Show HN: Turn your fancy, expensive computer into a stupid typewriter

#50

Post by reaperducer »

garaetjjte wrote: post #49
205guy wrote: post #39

I was expecting the graphic to animate as I type, with the ribbon holder jumping up and down, maybe even display the text itself, and hoping to hear that satisfying sound of the letters against the platen. Obviously the shutdown hasn't lasted long enough. I'm only half joking. I like the concept of re-implementing typewriter constraints on the writing process, but the skeumorphism was lacking. It took me a second to…

>missed letters if you type too fast (though I suspect it's a bug) It states it's intentional: >Just like a real manual typewriter, you can only press one character key at a tim I have never used typewriter, but I don't think this is correct, the limitation should apply only for adjacent keys, not globally for all keys. This is the whole point of QWERTY layout, to type faster by spacing letters in words as far as pos…

Nope. Letters from almost any part of the keyboard could jam the machine if you typed fast enough. That was one of the reasons that the IBM Selectric typewriter were so popular with professional typists. The ball mechanism had nothing to jam against.
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