• The Core Thesis:

  • Generative AI should almost never be used to produce the actual prose of substantive writing—such as essays, analytical memos, research reports, or thoughtful emails.
  • The author grounds this argument in three central reasons:
    1. Writing is an indispensable mechanism of thinking.
    2. AI text is chronically vague and subtly incorrect in hard-to-spot ways.
    3. Publishing or sending uncredited AI prose to others is disrespectful and misleading.

• Writing as Cognition, Not Just Communication:

  • Substantive work requires a human author to hold the entirety of an argument, evidentiary nuance, and logical links in their mind.
  • Outsourcing sentence generation short-circuits this cognitive process, allowing writers to dodge the difficult, necessary thinking that only occurs while struggling to put ideas into words.
  • Reviewing or editing an AI draft creates a passive illusion of competence; writers reflexively nod along to plausible-sounding text rather than rigorously probing concepts.

• The Danger of Plausible, Subtly Flawed Prose:

  • AI-written text rarely fails loudly; instead, it is packed with pseudo-profound platitudes, tautologies (e.g., "export controls are only as strong as enforcement"), uninformative filler, and misleading approximations.
  • Even when fed extensive notes or outlines, models distort domain-specific context (e.g., mischaracterizing chip smuggling methods or confusing components with servers) in ways that require excessive cognitive effort to detect and fix.

• Social Trust, Signal, and Deception:

  • Presenting AI-generated text as your own signals to the reader that you understand the material and stand behind every stylistic and substantive choice when you do not.
  • Readers invest time expecting an authentic human synthesis; offloading the writing betrays that mutual social contract.

Hacker News Discussion

• Communication as a Proof-of-Understanding Signal:

  • A central theme among commenters was that human writing serves not merely as data transmission, but as proof that the sender has deeply understood and synthesized the problem.
  • Sending AI-generated summaries or memos undermines trust because it masks the sender's actual competence, leaving readers unsure if anyone truly comprehends the underlying message.

• Editing AI Slop vs. Writing from Scratch:

  • Multiple commenters cited Eric Schwitzgebel's observation that reading and tweaking existing text is cognitively passive compared to de novo composition.
  • Practitioners noted that debugging, fact-checking, and stripping out the verbose, generic "texture" of AI drafts often requires more time and effort than writing manually from an outline.

• Prose vs. Code and Objective Evaluation:

  • Several developers contrasted using AI for coding versus writing: code comes with a deterministic test harness and runtime feedback to verify correctness objectively.
  • In contrast, prose lacks an automated test suite, meaning subtle logical drifts, hollow phrasing, and false nuances easily slip past casual human inspection.

• Nuance for Low-Stakes & Non-Native Writing:

  • While agreeing on substantive essays, some participants defended LLMs for tedious bureaucratic tasks (e.g., Jira tickets, boilerplate forms) where creative thought is absent.
  • Commenters also highlighted the legitimate value of LLMs for non-native speakers seeking grammar refinement, though many cautioned that models frequently flatten authentic personal voice into sterile corporate jargon.

• The Trap of Full Delegation:

  • Asking an LLM to generate long-form prose or complete articles from scratch produces hollow, cliché-ridden, and synthetically generic writing.
  • Models naturally regress to the statistical mean of their training corpora, defaulting to flat phrasing, predictable transitions, and unearned optimism.

• The Author as Architect, LLM as Apprentice:

  • Effective writing with an LLM requires human ownership of the core argument, structural pacing, and distinct voice.
  • The tool should be treated as an interactive editorial assistant rather than an autonomous author, shifting the user's role toward prompt direction, aggressive curation, and line-level refactoring.

• Iterative & Granular Workflows:

  • Working section by section or paragraph by paragraph yields far higher quality than prompting for entire essays in one shot.
  • High-leverage LLM use cases include:
    • Stress-testing arguments and surfacing counterarguments or logical gaps.
    • Generating multiple phrasing variations for awkward transitions.
    • Expanding rough bullet-point outlines into draft paragraphs for further human editing.
    • Acting as a ruthless copyeditor to trim bloat and spot repetitive vocabulary.

• Preserving Voice and Authenticity:

  • Retaining idiosyncratic metaphors, rhythm, and tone requires actively stripping out recognizable LLM mannerisms (e.g., summary conclusions starting with "Ultimately," superficial balance, and sterile adjectives).
  • Writing remains fundamentally an act of thinking; offloading the formulation of ideas undermines the quality and clarity of the finished piece.

Hacker News Discussion

• Slop Detection & the "LLM Texture":

  • Commenters widely noted that AI-generated prose has a recognizable "texture"—bland, overly polite, formulaic, and structurally uniform—that immediately repels discerning readers.
  • Participants emphasized that once a piece reads like it was generated by an LLM, readers assume minimal effort was invested by the author and disengage.

• Usefulness in the Ideation & Editing Phase:

  • Several experienced writers shared workflows where LLMs excel not at prose drafting, but at rubber-ducking concepts, generating counterexamples, and functioning as a thesaurus on steroids.
  • Many agreed that using an LLM to simplify dense paragraphs or suggest structural alternatives is dramatically more effective than having it generate content whole-cloth.

• Cognitive Offloading vs. The Struggle of Writing:

  • A major theme in the discussion was that the difficulty of writing is where original insight happens.
  • By outsourcing the actual sentence composition to an LLM, writers often skip the intellectual tension needed to discover what they truly think about a subject.

• Prompting Strategies and Custom Instructions:

  • Users discussed various system prompts and techniques to combat generic output, such as explicitly instructing models to avoid clichés, omit boilerplate conclusions, and adopt terse, direct prose styles.
  • However, commenters noted that even with tuned prompts, active human editing remains mandatory to achieve publishable, high-signal writing.

reply to Kirk Jackson aka u/NashvilleTypewriter at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wjidrf/what_words_could_we_use_to_better_describe_the/pal3wez/

This is great. I find it to be the case as well.

Watching other spaces like note taking applications (and methods), stationery, planners, notebooks, pencils, pens, fountain pens, etc. it repeats itself over and over. Some will really love a particular object which seems to work for them while others don't. Fora are filled with people asking, what do you like? how do you use it? when instead they ought to be attempting to figure out what they like and how they would use it.

Some turn their love of a particular thing into a religion (Apple vs. IBM comes to mind) which also tends to make others doubt their own choices and what might work best for them. Instead of experimenting around a bit to see what works for them, they take the supposed "magic" propounded by others and wrongly try to make it work for themselves. This is one of the primary reasons I tell potential new typewriter stewards to visit shops or type-ins so that they can put their hands on a variety of machines to see which "speaks" or works best for them and their needs. There are so many people limping along out there on dreadfully maintained machines because they haven't tried others (or even cleaned, oiled, and well-adjusted ones) and don't know what they're missing.

I was reading/listening to a series by APM recently called Sold a Story about how some academics and scientists created a "new method" for teaching reading and sold it as a products to school systems all over the country. While it managed to work for a terrifically small population, it was broadly wrong for the majority of people. Decades of harm was done to children and the educational space because everyone went with what these experts said (and which may have seemed logical) rather than doing some work, trusting testing and results, or continuing to experiment with a variety of strategies. Similarly, while computers and writing software may work for many, some of the older tried-and-true methods out there using tools like pencils, pens, loose paper, index cards, notebooks, notepads, and typewriters can provide dramatically different affordances in ways of working with them which are actually better for some of the things one might wish to accomplish with them. Some tools have the ability to speak to you in ways that others do not.

(P.S. Thanks for your observation as this may become the kernel of the introduction to the book I'm slowly working on.)

• The Core Rule: The single universal prerequisite to becoming a better writer is to read widely, frequently, and deeply; writing without reading is fundamentally flawed.
• The "Too Busy" Myth:
  • Aspiring writers often claim a lack of time, yet spend multiple hours daily on screen time and social media.
  • Prioritizing reading over passive digital consumption is a foundational professional duty for any writer.
• Why Reading is Essential for Writers:
  • Teaches the Craft: Reading embeds narrative patterns, pacing, voice, and structural instincts (e.g., three-act structure) far more effectively than formal MFA programs or writing courses.
  • Cross-Genre Inspiration: Engaging with genres outside one's own (such as poetry, history, or hardboiled fiction for sci-fi writers) provides fresh raw material, concise phrasing, and stylistic depth.
  • Rewires the Brain: Long-form reading develops the sustained attention, focus, and mental stamina needed to sustain long writing sessions and reach flow state.
• The Threat of Digital Addiction and Generative AI:
  • Constant digital engagement conditions the brain for quick dopamine hits, degrading the deep concentration required for both reading and writing.
  • Generative AI caters to people who desire the end product of a book without possessing a genuine love for the literary art form.

Hacker News Discussion

• Desiring Status Over the Process:
  • Commenters noted a widespread tendency where people want to "have published a book" or "be well-read" rather than enjoy the actual labor of reading and writing.
  • Similar parallels were drawn to game development and programming, where individuals chase the title or outcome rather than mastering the underlying craft.
• Digital Media and the "Postliterate" Era:
  • Concerns were raised about society shifting from deep long-form reading to fragmented digital snippets, eroding critical thinking and focus.
  • Several participants emphasized that treating book reading as an intentional, disciplined habit serves as a personal superpower in an easily distracted world.
• Reading as a Tool for Developing Taste:
  • Experienced writers shared that voracious reading is the only way to recognize good sentence mechanics, cadence, evocative descriptions, and to bridge the "taste gap."
• Optimism in Niche Reading Communities:
  • Despite concerns over AI-generated content flooding the market, some commenters argued that avid reader circles remain strongly human-centric and appreciative of authentic craft.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBNNXY43?th=1

In the digital age, these typewriter superfans hold the keys<br /> by [[Victoria Hoffmann]], [[Mackenzie Farkus]], [[Melanie Stetson Freeman]] in The Christian Science Monitor CSMonitor.com<br /> accessed on 2026-08-15T16:33:28

a mini history along with some reasons to use typewriters in the 21st century. nothing really new here...

https://nb.notabene.com/<br /> Nota Bene software

This is more common on movies, where the starts at the moment everything changes, with some movies starting after the first plot point, presenting past elements from the normal life as small clips.

Lots of novels have the habit to "start too early", sometimes even making the start of the story abnormally forgettable.

• Core Functionality & Flexibility:

  • The em dash (—) serves as a versatile punctuation mark capable of replacing colons, semicolons, commas, or parentheses to connect or set off related thoughts.
  • Its adaptability allows writers to mimic natural speech patterns, introduce abrupt shifts, or weave sidecar observations into a sentence without formal structural constraints.

• Differentiating Dashes:

  • Hyphen (-): Used primarily to connect compound words (e.g., "word-processor") or split words across lines.
  • En dash (–): Indicates ranges (e.g., 10–20) or joins equal-weighted compound nouns in certain formal style guides.
  • Em dash (—): Used to denote parenthetical thoughts, abrupt breaks, or strong emphasis.

• AI and Typographic Trends:

  • The em dash has become a notable marker in modern AI-generated text, as Large Language Models frequently adopt it for complex or expressive sentence structures.
  • Style guides vary on formatting: American conventions typically favor unspaced em dashes (word—word), whereas European or British conventions often prefer spaced en dashes (word – word).

Hacker News Discussion

• Pedantry vs. Practical Utility:

  • Commenters debate the distinction between hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes, pointing out that major style manuals (e.g., NYT, Chicago, BBC) frequently disagree on their exact usage rules.
  • Many argue that the em dash’s main appeal is convenience—it lets writers bypass strict rules around semicolons and colons while maintaining readability.

• AI Overuse & Writing Aesthetics:

  • Participants note that LLMs heavily overuse spaced em dashes, making their frequent appearance a key indicator of AI-generated prose.
  • Some users advocate for short, punchy sentences over complex dash-laden structures, while others feel that relying solely on brief sentences makes prose feel monotonous and overly simplistic.

• Accessibility & Keyboard Input:

  • Discussions highlight the friction of using specialized dashes in digital environments, as standard keyboards only feature a basic hyphen key, forcing reliance on auto-formatting or Unicode shortcuts.

What a lovely sentiment.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8328077-take-a-writer-away-from-his-typewriter-and-all-you

Q&A with Robert Caro on His Writing Process and Biographies of LBJ and Robert Moses<br /> by Book TV on [[C-SPAN]]<br /> accessed on 2026-07-22T15:44:50

I like the way this sentence concretizes Chiang's thinking about art. The details are the point.

• Core Principle:

  • Shift focus from yourself to the reader's perspective; all good communication is grounded in understanding the mind of the person you are asking.

• Establish You Are Worth Helping (People Before Projects):

  • Demonstrate that you are a serious person by showing "proof of work" (e.g., a trained model, an insightful blog post, or training logs) rather than just stating intentions.
  • Use personal connections warmly but cautiously, as you are borrowing credibility from the person who referred you.
  • Use institutional credibility (e.g., university or corporate names) sparingly, as it only proves you cleared a filter once and can come across as status signaling.

• Keep Context Concise and Connected:

  • Keep background explanations incredibly short to respect the recipient's limited attention.
  • Connect your context directly to things they already know or care about (e.g., how you implemented their specific research paper) rather than sharing generic background stories.

• Make the Request Easy to Accept:

  • Reduce the cost of acceptance by keeping the magnitude small (e.g., asking for 20 minutes of time instead of reviewing a massive manuscript).
  • Make the ask highly specific and low-friction (e.g., providing a forwardable bio blurb for introductions, or asking questions in writing instead of insisting on a call).
  • Keep the obligation strictly bounded rather than asking for long-term or recurring commitments upfront.

• Make it Easy to Say No:

  • Avoid creating emotional guilt or pestering the recipient, as a pressured, begrudging "yes" is the worst outcome and poisons future relationships.
  • Accept a rejection gracefully by thanking them for their time and moving on.

• Ultimate Boundary Condition:

  • Never lie or misrepresent yourself; any hint of dishonesty immediately invalidates the request regardless of how well-crafted it is.

• Core Premise & The University of Chicago Approach:

  • Writing is not a basic, static skill learned once in high school or freshman composition; rather, it is a highly sophisticated operational skill that evolves as material increases in complexity [00:01:00, 00:01:53].
  • Standard writing instruction relies heavily on strict formal rules [00:03:01]. While rule-governed training works well for generating high-volume, low-value daily memos, it routinely fails for high-value professional or academic work [00:03:20]. Experts must stop focusing on arbitrary rules and start focusing strictly on the reader [00:03:54].

• The Problem of Expert Writers:

  • An "expert writer" is someone writing about a domain in which they possess advanced, highly specialized knowledge [00:04:11].
  • Because the thinking required to operate at this level is incredibly complex, experts must use the physical act of writing to help themselves process, structure, and discover their ideas (the horizontal axis) [00:05:15, 00:07:07].
  • This creates a structural conflict: the cognitive, descriptive patterns an expert uses to discover an idea on the page are fundamentally different from the structural patterns a reader needs to absorb it (the vertical axis) [00:07:30, 00:07:41]. Unconscious adherence to your personal thinking patterns actively disrupts the reader's cognitive flow [00:07:54].

• The Illusion of School Writing:

  • Throughout primary, secondary, and undergraduate education, students write to a unique audience: a teacher who is paid to care about them and paid to read their work [00:11:23, 00:11:59]. In this artificial environment, the goal of writing is merely to reveal what is inside the student's head to prove they understand the material [00:12:06, 00:20:47].
  • In the professional world, this dynamic permanently ends [00:12:15]. Real-world readers do not care about the interior state of your head; they only read your work if they believe it offers direct, usable value to them [00:12:37, 00:20:59].

• Redefining the Goals of Writing:

  • While writing should be clear, organized, and persuasive, these traits are utterly useless if the document lacks explicit value [00:13:43, 00:14:52]. Clear and organized uselessness is still completely useless [00:15:01].
  • Value does not reside inherently within the text or the abstract ideas themselves; value is determined entirely by a specific community of readers and what they currently care about [00:15:21, 00:16:21].
  • Professional writing is fundamentally not about communicating or transmitting your ideas to a passive audience; its true function is to fundamentally alter or change your readers' existing ideas [00:21:30, 00:21:56].

• The Academic Rule of Challenge:

  • In professional academia, nothing is accepted as valid knowledge or true understanding until it has been vigorously challenged by someone competent to challenge it [00:23:22]. Your readers read with a professional mandate to doubt and criticize your claims [00:24:20].
  • Therefore, trying to "explain" your ideas right away is a profound mistake [00:24:32]. Explanations should only occur after you have successfully established value and initiated a persuasive argument that anticipates and disarms the reader's specific doubts [00:24:32, 00:40:21].

• The Fallacy of "New" and "Original":

  • Do not view your goal as simply creating "new" or "original" knowledge [00:25:26, 00:25:54]. It is incredibly easy to generate original data that absolutely nobody cares about (e.g., counting the exact number of people in a room) [00:26:03].
  • Knowledge is not an ever-growing, stable pile of facts where every new piece is welcomed automatically [00:27:48, 00:28:09]. Instead, knowledge is an active, evolving conversation held by a specific community of human beings who collectively decide what counts [00:28:29, 00:29:21]. This community leaves old ideas behind and brings new ones in based on utility [00:29:55, 00:30:12].

• Unlocking the Code of Value:

  • To show your work is important, you must employ the specific structural "codes" and vocabulary of your target community [00:33:11, 00:33:22].
  • Transition and flow words like and, because, if, and unless indicate logical continuity and stability [00:36:34, 00:39:19]. They do not establish value.
  • Value is generated by utilizing words of instability, tension, and challenge—such as but, however, although, nonetheless, inconsistent, contradiction, and anomaly [00:31:49, 00:54:21].
  • To master this, spend 15 minutes a week reading highly regarded articles in your field, explicitly circling the precise words used to establish value and tension, and compile them into a personal word list for revisions [00:32:28, 00:33:48].

• The Architecture of an Effective Introduction:

  • Standard school training promotes a "martini glass" or foundational model: opening with broad generalizations, historical background, or rigid definitions before narrowing down to a thesis [00:25:04, 00:55:40]. This signals stability and prompts professional readers to stop reading out of boredom [00:59:19, 01:00:28].
  • Effective introductions must open by constructing a specific Problem that your target community deeply cares about [00:56:23, 00:57:24]. Your thesis statement should only appear as the direct, elegant Solution to that pre-established problem [00:58:00].
  • A constructed problem must contain two core pillars:
    1. Instability: Using tension-generating words to prove that the current state of understanding within the community is volatile, incomplete, or flawed [00:58:43, 00:58:52].
    2. Costs or Benefits: Coded language showing that this instability enforces a severe, unacceptable cost on the readers' own work if left unaddressed, or offers an immense benefit to them if resolved [01:00:58, 01:01:14].

• The Pitfalls of the "Gap" Strategy:

  • Many novice writers lean heavily on the "gap in the literature" approach ("We know a lot about X, but nobody has looked at Y") [01:08:52, 01:09:01].
  • The gap strategy is highly dangerous because it relies on a flawed, bounded view of knowledge [01:09:43]. If knowledge is infinite, filling a single gap leaves an infinite number of gaps remaining; readers will simply ask, "Why should we care about this specific gap?" [01:10:26, 01:10:42].
  • Instead of treating literature reviews as a passive historical timeline of facts, use your literature review to actively stack, layer, and deepen the structural complexity and tension of the core problem [01:03:29, 01:05:05]. Turn your data from a mere presentation of facts into an active disruption of the community's status quo [01:18:57, 01:19:39].

Via [[Frank Meeuwsen p]] - [ ] return #openweb #pkm #writing

Much to unpack that is convoluted here. K generation e.g. , when k needs an observer. Or epistemological centipede when no original input remains

Robert Caro Reveals Details of His Final Lyndon Johnson Biography<br /> C-SPAN's Book TV

Caro outlines the entirety of his book before he starts writing. He puts his outline onto paper which he tacks up onto cork boards across his office wall.

Caro writes everything in longhand first then types/revised it on his Smith-Corona Electra 210.

Caro only gave Gottlieb a piece of his LBJ bio draft when he ran out of money and needed an advance. Otherwise, he doesn't give his editor material until he's done.

Caro lives on the corner in Central Park West

Caro was on the 22nd floor (of 29) at 250 W. 57th Street for 22 years and wrote 3 books in a one room office. Joseph Heller had an office there as well.

Definition of slop grenade

Jeff Starr's view that readers will respond to bloggers who "learn to exppress [themselves] in a genuine, authentic manner..."

Making the case that now is the time to start a blog because there are many people out there who are looking for "personal thoughts from real human beings..."

AI is negatively affecting search and organic traffic for blogs. Jim Grey proposes that bloggers should think about what they are doing to build their readership -- which is resilient to external changes affecting discovery.

Distinguishing between readers and visitors for blogs.

On writing about interests in the hope that someone finds it useful.

The case for bloggers to write about the things they want to see writing about.

On not writing about interests due to thinking that no one will be interested.

On being held back by wanting to have something to say about a popular topic for clicks.

On switching from a SSG to WordPress because WordPress is more conducive to focusing on writing than the underlying tech.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10163593836864678/

If typists were Robots

Resemblance to disaster girl?

Encouraging book reviewers to bring some originality to their reviews.

Isn't sentence crafting the core skill? This feels like the wrong pace to build a shortcut.

The benefits of spending time hammering out long-form articles.

Against one-size-fits-all writing tips for bloggers.

这个观点揭示了大型语言模型在模仿写作风格方面的能力，但并不一定能够复制工作质量，这是一个反直觉的观点。

Moving things around and arranging thoughts and ideas in an essay is an essential part of the writing process.

Gaining a better understanding of one's own interests and coming to value one's perspective through blogging.

On authenticity and being human online.

https://web.archive.org/web/20260425190331/https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/why-you-should-refuse-to-let-your-doctor-record/

Impact of having doctor visit being transcribed by AI The GDPR issues aside, there is a strong indication that writing is the thinking for physicians but they might not realise that. - [ ] return #pkm

Brian Sanderson on the difference between how a writer sees his or her art vs AI-produced works.

Very well put. My take: "Speaking for myself as someone who has been writing online since launching The New Leaf Journal on April 27, 2025, I use things I read or see in the world around me as inspiration for new article ideas and topics, and writing about one thing often leads to trying another." https://social.emucafe.org/naferrell/blogging-as-mindset-12-12-2025/

On blogging as a routine.

Improve blogging by blogging and refining your craft.

Benefits of writing and blogging.

Writing makes you live more curiously.

Making the case for writing in that it changes how you look at the world.

Tip for bloggers: Just start writing.

These Writing Devices Changed How I Write (7 Tested)<br /> by BYOK

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1sjw8r1/does_the_typewritertypeface_you_use_with_affect/

大多数人认为AI写作会加剧不平等，但作者将其视为一种民主化工具，可以让没有传统写作资源的人获得专业级支持。这挑战了人们对AI写作的精英主义批评，表明它实际上可能缩小而非扩大创作领域的差距，为更多人提供专业写作支持。

大多数人认为AI写作始于人类向AI提供想法，但作者展示了相反的过程：AI先通过采访人类来提取想法。这种反转挑战了人们对AI写作方向的认知，表明AI不仅可以辅助写作，还可以成为激发和引导人类思考的工具，重新定义了写作中的主导关系。

大多数人认为AI写作就像简单的提示-生成-粘贴过程，但作者将其比作烹饪与微波冷冻餐的区别，暗示真正的AI写作是复杂且需要技巧的。这挑战了人们对AI写作的简化认知，表明它实际上是一种需要专业技能和创造性的复杂工艺，而非简单的机械化任务。

大多数人认为AI写作减少了思考量，但作者认为这种观点过于简化。实际上，作者展示了AI写作需要更多的思考、批判性判断和严格的编辑过程，远非简单的'少思考'。她的AI写作过程涉及复杂的交互、深度反思和多轮修改，实际上可能比传统写作需要更多的思考投入。

In the age of autocorrect, this typewriter shop owner in Hamilton wants you to write with intention<br /> by [[Justin Chandler]] in CBC News<br /> accessed on 2026-04-06T22:46:03

interesting observation, when the [[Assumed audience definieren 20211113212257]] is a machine the joy of writing diminishes. Not sure if I think of prompting / editing plans etc as writing, but I recognise the sentiment.

A good case for disfavoring the use of AI/LLMs to write first drafts of blog posts. Implicit I believe is a distinction between using external tools to edit/proofread a human-written draft vs editing/proofreading a machine draft (granting I do not use these tools for either). Related to points I raised in Re; On AI in response to: A Positive Technologist Identity (2/4).

Choosing a Typewriter for Writers<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Manual typewriters for writers with a focus on machines made without needing to tinker/repair them.

Joe primarily focuses on typewriters he actually has in his personal collection more than other potential great machines. Having been collecting for his particular purpose for a long time, he's got a pretty tight set of good recommendations.

He's also got some good advice here about how to go about finding a machine and using professional typewriter shops to do so.

Electric typebar typewriters with more tolerance for poor technique.

IBM Selectrics, maintenance intensive, need carbon replacement film.

Printwheel/Daisy Wheel typewriters. Brother, Nakajima, Swintec (components made by Nakajima),

Ultra portable typewriters

• Royal / Silver Seiko typewriter - no tabs
• Olympia Splendid 33, 66, 99 - no tabs the 33 is monochrome

Portables

• Smith-Corona 5 Series
• Olympia SM series: SM1 - SM9
• Hermes 3000 series (overpriced on the used market)

Standards

Big and don't come with a case; will last nearly forever<br /> - Underwood 5<br /> - Royal standards, especially those that came after the 10

Typebar Electrics

• Olympia Reporter (Nakajima in Japan); designed in 80s for journalists
• Royal Saturn (Silver-Seiko) one of the quietest out there; uses 9/16" ribbon; bichrome with tabs,
• Smith-Corona Electric - first portable electric to hit the market.
• IBM Selectric (71; manual correction)

Daisywheel typewriters

• Brother
• RaRo has new Daisy wheels
• delay between keypress and print

Hot Take: Academic writing has taken on a gatekeeping quality recently. Bafflegab abounds. The jargon lends itself not to precision and clarity, but obfuscation.

BYOK Review<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]] on YouTube

A 12-Year-Old Folded Newspapers and Read Dan Bernstein's Column; Now He's Naming a Writing Room After Him<br /> by [[Justin Pardee]]<br /> accessed on 2026-02-20T09:31:07

This piece does not look at cognitivedebt where I saw it mentioned most (i.e. around the effect of vibecoding), it looks at using LLMs in writing (essays)

So when it comes creative writing, Its all about coming up with the idea and structure of your idea. that's what I'm understanding for what I'm reading.

reply to u/Yiqu at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1r08q2i/buying_a_first_typewriter_for_writing/

The first three articles you'll find under https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/#Typewriter%20Market will give you a quick crash course about what to consider and look out for in your search.

If you want to get to work, your best bet (and honestly the best value) is to get something from a repair shop that is serviced and ready to go. In the US this means a budget range typically from US$300-$600, or perhaps slightly more if they've recovered the platen which will improve your experience. Prices dramatically in excess of this often include a lot more custom work or less common typefaces which don't necessarily improve your performance (or are people selling typewriters who have less of an idea than you do about typewriters.)

Many hobbyists here may say to get something cheap that "works", but the amount of time and knowledge you have to scaffold to do that is worth a lot of writing time, and often still requires a lot of cleaning, restoration, and potential tinkering which is even more onerous when you just want to get to writing.

In case you haven't found them, some great resources on leveraging typewriters as distraction-free writing devices:

• Flint, Woz Delgado. 2023. The Distraction-Free First Draft. One Idea Press. https://www.oneideapress.com/product-page/the-distraction-free-first-draft.
• Joe Van Cleave: https://www.youtube.com/@Joe_VanCleave
• Damon DiMarco: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJ2zbs0bvcjaTYx5zV52sw

And if you need some serious distraction free advice, since it's hiding as deep knowledge amongst a handful of serious collectors/writers, the bigger your (standard) machine, the more visual space it takes up as you're writing and subtly helps your concentration. Similarly placing it in front of a wall (and not a window) helps a lot too.

blogging as sense of wonder

blogging as being comfortable with not knowing, holding questions. This comes close to writing as thinking itself.

Harold used his blog as source for creating ebooks on diff topics. #idea Vgl jaarboeken v blogarchief

Harold is nearing the end of his working life, what does it mean for his blogging? If it is a signboard more, or a professional writing outlet, then yes it may fall away. But if it is your primary space for expression, whatever the topic then the blog can morph with it, no?

the groups are used for sharing drafts, meaning the blog contains more 'finished' writing in contrast. Imo this means the blog is less about wonder, curiosty and more about performance / presentation?

question how to keep blog as authentic space, for sensemaking/learning. And if it changes writing in the context of ai slop

writing and blogging as sensemaking, as learning

Typewriter-Adjacent Writing Devices<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]] on YouTube<br /> accessed on 2026-02-02T09:17:37

Typewriter-like writing devices: - Privacy - security - autonomy

Freewrite (fka Hemingwriter)

• Smarttypewriter $699
  • Hemingway Signature $1000+
  • Valentine $999
• Traveler: clamshell device, smaller $549
• Alpha $349
• Alpha Cosmic $499 with colorful keys
• Freewrite Plus subscription service

Remarkable

• cloud storage or subscription
• Starts around $400-600+

Pomera

• $499

Zerowriter

-$250 - open source, SD card, customizable keys - raspberry pi based

Supernote

• tablet
• $329-500

BYOK

• Kickstarter; shipping now.

for - AI - status - writing most of the code at Anthropic

Typewriter Video Series Episode 37: AlphaSmart Neo<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]<br /> accessed on 2026-01-26T12:21:40

Note the shifts in potential audience(s) of early writing.

Is there stronger evidence that this form of permanent writing to an audience of gods was being done? Sources?

the shift from proto-cuneiform to early dynastic cuneiform showed greater complexity, but was still a variation of shorthand which didn't attempt to express all parts of speech as converted from spoken language. Verbs weren't always appropriately conjugated.

An index card masterclass to kick start your writing.<br /> by [[Justin Hill]] on YouTube<br /> accessed on 2026-01-14T09:17:56

Justin Hill, a long form writer, uses index cards in his writing for taking notes, inspiration/prompts, as well as for outlining/organizing the plot of his material.

I've probably read this post half a dozen times over the last 10 years.

This is the first time that I've noticed (and—now—am able to appreciate) that this paragraph is deliberately crafted to, in part, have the same effect as what it's actually describing.

original source?

original source?

https://web.archive.org/web/20251226113306/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/26/ai-dark-ages-enlightenment Opinion piece asking if AI is taking on the similar (feudal) role of priests, kings and lords to outsource our decisions to. Leaving the enlightenment behind, and the romanticist invention of the self.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/315733-i-write-because-i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until

original source?

Steinbeck’s 24 Pencil Writing Ritual<br /> by [[Wood & Graphite]] YouTube <br /> accessed on 2025-12-10T08:58:17

John Steinbeck pre-sharpened 24 of his Eberhardt Faber Blackwing 602 pencils in batches to have uninterrupted writing time. When they were all dull, he would batch sharpen them again.

I think this is a good rule of thumb. :P

https://www.reddit.com/r/pencils/comments/p8w070/wooden_pencils_with_red_lead/

Jorge Arango talks about his writing process. He actually co-authored a book on Information Architecture in 2015. This vid more about his latest. uses lots of paper notebooks Mentions 3 (obvious) phases in his non-fiction writing research structuring writing Says all three req diff tools. (he uses Obsidian f research)

Stage 1 research, vague idea about what topic, (s paper notebooks, index/sequence them) His book duly noted is on this phase.

Stage 2 structuring. mistake to go directly to writing. (vgl [[A System for Writing by Bob Doto]] ) Mentions author Robert Caro who had book structure on his wall story book like, vgl what I do when writing reports w wall of post its for structure. Limitation is size of wall. But physcial movement helpt. He does this type of wall in [[Tinderbox]] !!!! canvas, with the sticky notes having metadata. His chapter and heading structure emerges from it! Prevents getting lost in the details. Shows him what is missing too (looping back to research phase sometimes). It's not writing but getting a sense of the narrative flow of the entire thing. Seems like outlining of talks, but a book is bigger and thus the outlining is more filled out with links to material

What question would a reader have entering chapter 2 after reading chapter 1, and go from there. Has opening story/anecdote for each chapter. Mwah. Uses the story board view like how the periodic table suggested the existence of atoms that had not been discovered yet. Dmitri Mendleev.

Stage 3 writing After structuring the writing tools come into play. He used Scrivener, avoiding having a monolithic text. Now Ulysses, in markdown. Uses word count targets in these tools for sections/chapters

set up supportive environments for each pahse structure first but keep flexible, don't make it a linear process, but structure ulnocks the writing swith modalities - walking, free form in [[Tinderbox]] or another tool, to avoid getting stuck.

for - novel - The Inheritor - special quality to the writing

Award-Winning Writer Explains Her Entire Process — Susan Orlean - YouTube<br /> by [[David Perell]]<br /> accessed on 2025-11-05T09:13:24

0:00:38 Susan Orlean uses index cards as part of her process. She's done this for three or four books by October 29, 2025.

She uses her index cards (often in the range of 700) to arrange and re-arrange the material. She uses it to refresh her memory as she's working with it.

Things can be as small as a name of a character. Some are references to longer research documents.

"chunk of thought" (her version of atomic notes)

attention economy [7:59]

Reading one's work out loud is an excellent way of discovering wordings that don't work or which may be boring. [32:45]

For Susan Orlean, editing on a computer as opposed to handwritten or typewritten work, is much easier as it's not as messy and encourages experimentation. [30:45]

One suspects that the words seem less precious or permanent as well.

See Ezra Klein's argument against using ChatGPT for writing even the first draft. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470?i=1000710273359

source? original quote?

neurological study of LLMs on writing and impacts

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https://www.todlippy.com/writing/interviews/bad-day-black-rock

Happiness is a Warm Typewriter: 10½ Years On, the Story Stays the Same<br /> by [[Robert Messenger]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-05T11:21:50

The incipit line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bulwer-Lytton

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