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Totally unrelated note: If you haven't entered the First Official Strikethru Drawing For A Random Prize (FOSDFARP), it's not too late! The winner will be announced Friday the 5th. And now back to our program...
If you don't do any of your web wandering on literary agent (or editor) sites, it's time to take a detour. Below I've listed a few of the ones I read-- please suggest any others that you know.
Literary agent blogs provide a sound education on do's and don'ts for queries and manuscript submissions, in addition to providing the latest news on developments in the publishing industry. Nathan Bransford has to be my favorite-- he's a young agent with a refreshingly positive attitude about writers and writing (if you hadn't already guessed, agents tend to be a sarcastic bunch). In a recent post, he asks the question of how one's chosen writing tool affects one's writing, and the comments contain many observations on the virtues and drawbacks of typewriters. Might want to chime in with your thoughts.
Blogs to check out:
Nathan Bransford
Colleen Lindsay
Bookends LLC
Janet Reid
Angela James
Maria Schneider
Kristin Nelson
Rachelle Gardner
Chip MacGregor
lighthouse lines
10 hours ago
10 comments:
Thank you for this list! I looked over at Nathan Bransford just now and it looks interesting, especially as I have had absolutely no contact with the world of literary agents, ktl*. Here's to happy reading!
JLNS
*I'm trying to use ktl instead of etc. Come on, Greeks are so much cooler!
Did you *see* how many responses there were to the Nathan Bransford post about writing tools?
The act of writing is such a personal, visceral experience. I don't want to over-dramatize it (God knows there are plenty who do), but it's a repetitive tactile action for those who are primarily kinesthetice. There are no posted responses about talking into recorders, for example.
We love our tools and we love hearing about everyone else's. I love that.
Actually, I *did* see one guy refer to dictating his writing into a pocket recorder. He sounded like an older gentleman.
Did you notice the unusual civility in the comments? I saw only one person who was being an anti-typewriter snob. Any other subject, and the tone would have degraded into warfare almost immediately. (I have seen--and I am not making this up--overflowing vitriol erupt over the proper way to eat grits*.) The thing about that topic which makes it different is: *everyone* is correct. What works for you, works for you; what works for him, works for him. You can't really argue that down.
Something that struck me among the younger folks commenting was a running theme along the lines of, "I have to use a computer because my first drafts suck", "I have to use a computer because I'm a poor speller", "I have to use a computer because I can't stand to revise". The excuses can be distilled to one word: laziness. They have no problems with a typewriter that could not be solved by making an effort to be better writers. First drafts suck? Learn to be choosier with your words. Poor speller? Work on improving your vocabulary. Don't like revising? Do more of it until you automatically use the best words and phrases the first time.
* I am an unredeemable heathen who puts butter and sugar on my grits.
Oh gosh...there goes all my free time for the next few weeks! I can soooo get sucked into reading endless threads on writing technology and other writing-related minutiae.
I'd agree with what Monda said. And I'd say there really isn't any one best way, even for individuals. Some stories come out better when I hand write, some typed, some on the computer. And sometimes I have to switch back and forth to get my brain jogging again.
Writing toys are the bestest toys there are.
I can't stand to read anything about literary agents just yet. Sure, I've submitted short stories (with limited success) before, but the possibility of having some months-long labor of love rejected...that would be tough.
I was amazed by the number of responses. But even more amazed by how many people took the issue as an either/or proposition--i.e., "using a typewriter" was taken to mean "using ONLY a typewriter".
To me, this misses the point. Sure, it's a hassle to produce perfect pages on a typewriter. Um, yeah...okay. So that's not what I use it for. I use it to write, and when I get to the cleanup stage I enter the last draft into a word processor. Works together! See?
Here's a metaphor I use: Typewriters are like bikes.
It used to be that bikes were transportation; you got one because you needed to get from Point A to Point B. Then cars came along, and did that job faster and more efficiently.
Did the car "kill" the bike? No. It looked that way for a while--lotsa bike companies went under. But really, it freed the bike up to be something more than mundane. People started rediscovering the joys of just pedaling, and being out in the open air. They discovered the cardiovascular benefits. They started making specialized bikes to zip down mountains, where no car could go.
The car, by the way, facilitates much of this. People drive to where they want to ride, pop the bike from the car's rack and take off. So it's really a hybrid of technology at work.
Same with typewriters and computers...hell, as evidenced by this site, and the typosphere in general. I wish more people would understand that. Owning and enjoying a bike doesn't make me a retrochauvinist, culturally backward neo-Luddite; nor does owning and enjoying a typewriter.
Nicely said.
Aw, but I wanted to be a neo-Luddite, shirtlessly shaking my fist at the integrated circuit.
But yes, very aptly put.
I agree it is weird, the vitriol some people reserve for proclaiming how ***unthinkable*** and ****horrendous*** writing with typewriters was/would be. I can easily think of more drawbacks to writing on computers... number one being, you don't write on them. You comment on blogs instead!
Yes!! I was thinking the same thing when I spent ahh well how ever long it took to get through all of the comments. But the whole time I was thinking just what Dactylist was. People were thinking of what it would be like to "JuST" (LOL) do all their work by hand or on a typewriter. I kept saying to myself, I don't think anyone who is serious about writing would write only using one medium. But its PERFECT for writing first drafts. Way better IMO than sitting at the computer that you have already spent hours at. I also love riding my bicycle so maybe thats why I love my typewriter so much. I really like that metaphor!!!
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