One of these days, before very long, I'm going to up my web presence. This will be in anticipation of publication in Spring 2012. (Yay!!) Expect more, much more, on this in later posts.
So I've been surfing around, looking at various writing and author web sites to get an idea of what's out there. And it struck me how often you find an image of an old typewriter at the top of the page. Is this nostalgia, or have we endowed that out-dated machine with a kind of glamour? As one who actually learned to type on one of those clunkers, I can tell you there was nothing glamourous about it.
Yes, I took a 3 month secretarial course between leaving ballet school and starting at uni. Typing was brutal. Apart from having to wham those keys down with a force at the opposite end of the gentle stroke we need today, we also had to type blind i.e. with a kind of green apron covering the qwerty etc. At that time, people who were starting to wake up to the women's movement used to advise: never admit you can type! But the skill has stood me in good stead over the years. I'm only sorry I lost the ability to take shorthand notes!
I suppose a photo or drawing of a computer doesn't carry much cachet, and the image of the old typewriter conveys a certain romantic notion of 'the writer'. I can't imagine there are many of us today who use those machines, although I have to admit I like using an even older method of putting words on paper, and often pick up a pen or pencil.
And come to think of it, I have an image of a quill-like feather on my business card!
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