Legal Productivity from Yesteryear: How to Achieve Flow with a Typewriter
In October, after almost three years of work, my wife will have her first book published, Previvors, on the subject of strategies for women at high risk for breast cancer. As a gift for one of her many accomplishments along the way, I decided to get her an antique decorative piece for our home office: a 1940’s era retro Remington manual typewriter.
The typewriter is cool, no doubt, with beautiful round enamel button keys and an art-deco flair. When my wife opened the gift, my daughter stared at it wide-eyed and exclaimed, “What is THAT!!??“.
What’s even cooler than the typewriter is the instructional book it came with. The poor copywriter who put the book together, with no possible means of foreseeing the word processors which would render his beloved Remingtons obsolete, waxes inspirational:
Forget your pen and pencil. Soon you will develop “typewriter sense” and as typing gradually becomes “second nature” to you, you will be amazed to see how it facilitates and speeds your thinking processes, enabling you to do more work in less time and far more effectively.
…When “thinking on the typewriter,” don’t try to make finished “copy” at the first writing. Let your thoughts flow — your Remington will put them down just as fast as your mind will work. “X” out your mistakes. Don’t stop to erase. Smooth out and correct your grammar later. Then rewrite it.
So there you have it folks! Get inspired. And when inspiration ceases, just rewrite it!
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