I need an alternative to the traditional typewriter
I enjoy writing letters, but my hands have progressively hurt more and more from handwriting. For a time, I tried typing letters on my computer, the personal feeling of my letters diminished. Having printed it out, looking clean and mechanically perfect made my letters feel less valuable, they didn't feel like I spent time on them.
So, for the last few years, I've typed letters on two older typewriters and that has felt like a happy medium. I make mistakes and have to fix them, sometimes the text looks odd or the paper moves, I love it.
I have two questions I need help with:
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Does anyone know of a mechanical typewriter that doesn't utilize the rolling pin to secure the paper? When I write on cards, they have to be bent and sometimes they never retain their former shape. I'd also like to get into journaling this way, but can't feed a whole journal through the rolling pin.
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Can anyone think of other ways I could write letters, other than the methods I've listed already, that may bring a personal nature to my letters?
Thanks!
One thing that came to mind for me is possibly trying to import your handwriting and making a font out of it. It might be considered cheating in terms of personalizing, but with sufficient variations of your writing, it could look noticeably less mechanically perfect as you could have variations of each letter and combinations all together that may produce relatively distinct looking letters. Of course if someone looks hard enough they may be able to identify variations and notice it's not handwritten as it appears so that's part of the "cheating" perspective one may consider.
https://www.calligraphr.com/en/features/
I'm thinking of something like that, though I stress that I did not look hard to find that site and don't know the validity of their particular product, I just thought it was a sufficient example of a product that on the surface meets what I was describing.
For some maybe there are concerns about having their handwriting converted into a font that could potentially end up misused in an unintended way, so that's something to consider as well.
This is pretty cool and pairs well with the advice from @first-must-burn.
Thanks!
From your post, I can't tell if you want the act to be more involved for your own feeling or the final product to look special in a way that is apparent to the recipient. It seems like maybe both, but it could be worth reflecting on what is most important because the former means looking more at the process vs more at the output.
Regardless, here are some ideas that came to mind:
Such a great distinction. I think the primary thing I care about is that the person receiving the letters feels like I put time into it. That only comes from my personal feeling that reading a letter written in a word doc and printed, doesn't feel that way. I don't dismiss that the time and thoughts within the document are what actually matter, it's just preference. Someone else recommended an ink pen writing bot, which is really cool, but I do think I want to personally connect with the process.
I am thinking about fountain pens as I read your post and realize that they do require less pressure, since pressure is what releases more ink. I wonder if practicing with one would help me break my lifelong habit of pressing hard while writing. That may make it a viable candidate for my writing!
I appreciate the last suggestion, as I really am grappling lately with what kinds of expectations I hold myself to after mentioning to my sister that I wanted to be a better uncle. She asked me why I thought I wasn't doing enough and I realized it was basically just me deciding that, because I wasn't hitting the metrics I had set for interaction. Maybe I can let myself off the hook for how it's printed and just know the person has the words that took thought and time.
Fountain pens are what helped me learn to stop the hand numbing pressure style of writing. I'm studying a part-time degree currently, and handwrite all of my notes with a fountain pen. My hand never gets tired anymore at all.
In fact, when I use some ballpoints I need to actively press a little harder or they don't make a mark, heh.
I will second the fountain pen recommendation. I use them for journaling and they are SO much nicer to write with. They require no pressure and you don't need to squeeze them. I experience far less hand fatigue when using my fountain pens. For a basic starter pen, there's 3 commonly recommended ones to start with: Pilot Metropolitan, TWSBI Eco, or Lamy Safari. They are all durable, affordable and easy to start with options. If you would like more information or have more questions on fountain pens, just ask!
The Lamy and the Pilot both use proprietary cartridges IIRC. I personally love the Kaweco Sport which is nicely sized and takes standard short cartridges. IMO it also looks great (but admittedly I'm a sucker for interwar designs).
I have both a TWSBI Eco and a Lamy Safari, for the lefthanders the Safari does have a nib that writes better for that but otherwise both have good handfeel and a slightly wider hold than a bic which can help with hand strain.
I find that my attempts st self-awareness can end up focusing too much on awareness of my flaws and failures and cause me to look past my better qualities and successes. I find it helpful to talk through things with someone outside the situation (usually my therapist). When I do that I am forced to highlight both the good and bad.
Sometimes that is enough for me to realize, "Hey, I did okay!" But sometimes I need someone else to call attention to things as a reminder.
As with so many things, finding a healthy balance is the hard thing. I hope you can forgive yourself and give yourself permission and space to explore and find a balance that feels right.
Really do consider giving a fountain pen a try, even if not for this.
I can write all day with a fountain pen and not have any pain in my hand. I can write for a few minutes at best before my hand starts to cramp up with a ballpoint. A Pilot G2 will do in a pinch, but for any sustained writing I’m pulling out a fountain pen.
I’m not a fan of Lamy Safari/Vista/AL-Star but lots of people do like them, they’re relatively inexpensive, and the unique grip might be helpful for people new to writing with fountain pens.
I’ve never used their Eco, but I’ve enjoyed writing with TWSBI 580s for close to a decade.
And if you do explore writing with a fountain pen, you’ll want to get appropriate paper as well.
Can I suggest a different compromise between handwriting and printing than a typewriter? There are devices to write out automatically letters using ordinary pens, as a more authentic version of printing: https://www.axidraw.com
FAQ:
I love this from a tech standpoint, but it would only because you can output a less computerized looking copy, it would still feel detached for personal letters, though.
I'd love to have one for random odds and ends writing, though, in a world where I have $500 lying around.
There's a service that will auto - handwrite a letter and send it out for you called Hello Bond, so you don't need to buy the whole machine. But although it still has an FB page, its website appears defunct.
For my wedding invitations, I typed on normal paper and then cut it out and glued it to the card stock. That might make it feel a little more personal too since it takes that extra step.
I've never even considered doing it for journaling, so thanks for making this post!
I'm in the same boat, but I've switched to pen attachments like this to make writing easier. There are a number of different assistive pen add-ons (sorry about the affiliate links) that can make a long note-taking or journaling session more comfortable. Over-the-counter diclofenac gel (Voltaren is a common brand name) is another big help for painful hands.
If you'd like to ensure your letters still have a personal touch after printing, you could also add stickers, stamped graphics, a spray of scent, dried flowers, washi tape, or other embellishments.
I've never even considered looking into attachments, thanks so much!
There are a number of ways in which revised ergonomics might help - using a wrist rest, padded ergonomic pens, or even just taking more frequent breaks if that doesn't interrupt your flow.
It's okay to take good care of yourself, and that's something we might all learn from any temporary or lasting change in ability.
I don't know anything about typewriters, but I was curious. I found these instructions for a Remington Portable. On Page 2, under "Handling Cards and Envelopes", it says "To write on cards and envelopes, use the permanent Card Finger on the Card and Writing line scale." I have no idea what card fingers or card and writing line scales are, but maybe those are good search terms to try...?
You tagged your post with "analog," so I'm wondering if maybe you're looking for solutions that emphasize more of an intentional connection with the media itself that comes with handwriting and mechanical typing. And I can see what you mean: modern standard typing experiences are slick, efficient, and wholly different from what I think you might be interested in.
I have some suggestions:
If you want to maintain typewriter use to generate authentic-feeling physical media, have you considered (as someone else mentioned) typing on heavy-bond paper of your choice and then fixing it to a card? You could glue it in place, or try alternative methods like layering on some gesso with a thick-hair brush, then lying the paper over top to dry and stick in place (I'm not sure how well that would work, but it's just an idea about "alternative fixative methods" that would also give some texture to the card paper itself). That way you aren't rolling your card through the pin.
In the same vein but for journaling, have you considered buying loose-leaf paper of your choice, writing journal entries, and then binding your own journal? This gives you ultimate creative flexibility over the materials you use, dodges any concerns over a roller pin, and gives you another way to connect to the media itself. I think you could almost certainly find tutorials online for hand-crafting journals, from pretty easy to very elaborate.
If you want to remain with typing on a computer and end up making your own font (or finding an existing font package that replicates the irregular look and feel of typewritten characters, which you can download and install/use with your letter writing), another thing to consider is a mechanical keyboard. There are lots and lots of modern mechanical keyboards - I'm using one to type this right now! You can also find old IBM Model M keyboards on eBay or elsewhere, which will give you a nice mechanical clicky-clack to pair with your irregular digital font (just be sure to get a PS/2 to USB adapter). Paired with heavy-bond paper and printed with a good-quality home printer, this might get close to your original intent while still being a digitally-created item.
Hopefully something here is useful, let us know what you do!
I am very interested in connecting with the method I use, similar to how writing requires connecting to the paper you're writing on. Everyone writes different and the experience of pressing ink to the paper feels very personal to me.
I like this idea and do have a collection of stationary and special heavier papers for the notes to have a bit more character. I also like switching one of my typewriters from black to red and emboldening some words or parts of my letters. I haven't, however, considered writing on free paper and then affixing it to a journal. That may just be an idea I can get behind, thanks so much!
Sadly, most typewriters are incredibly unergonomic—even more so than a standard computer keyboard. I got an electric typewriter (better than mechanical, at least) a long time ago, and used it to write a few letters and stories, but haven't really used it since because of that. So if hand pain is your problem, a typewriter might not be a good long-term solution anyway.
Dictate. Make a recording, transform it into text, then edit.
About computer making the letter by drawing it with a pen (as others suggested) - have a look at Stuff Made Here Youtube channel (on mobile andlazy to make link, sorry). He did try to go the way of making his own wrting style to a font and making PC write the letter for him. It didn't end well, many complications along the way. But he found some (I believe) open source software that does just that - writes letter for you and it looks totally like done by hand. Great video, you may want to watch it and maybe build something like that.