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

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.

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.

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

Avoiding Internal Typewriter Distractions - YouTube<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]] <br /> accessed on 2025-08-28T11:08:56

Typewriter distractions<br /> - troublesome mechanical issues<br /> - need for finger strength - poor imprint

Well-tuned standard typewriters are excellent for minimizing distractions, especially internal ones.

Joe Van Cleave thinks the 5TE Smith-Corona electric typewriters are the best of their class.

Large horizontally oriented typewriter mats can be useful in that they create a buffer zone that covers the carriage movement and helps to prevent one from accidentally putting their beverages in the way of the carriage.

Local writers host ‘typewriter revivals’ by [[Algernon D'Ammassa Las Cruces Bulletin]]

Step Back In Time At The Mesa Typewriter Exchange by [[Phil Latzman]]

Typewriters? In 2024? Are You Nuts? by Jesse M. Slater for [[Raconteur Press]]

A short, but relatively solid typewriter 101 story for someone looking for a distraction-free writing machine. Certainly not completist, but enough to get your toes wet.

Slater uses his typewriter for a first draft, then edits the second draft as he re-types it into his computer to have a digital copy for further editing and distribution.

The benefits of using a typewriter to write novels and poetry. by [[Classic Typewriter]]

https://astrohaus.com/freewrite/

The idea of a "focus mode" or "distraction free mode" is exactly the wrong framing for writing. You don't want to focus on the nothing and emptiness of a page or a screen. You want to start by focusing on an idea and preferably many ideas. Do this first and then proceed from there.

Given the diversions of modern digital life, perhaps the best way to do one's writing is to do it at the moment of reading the actual references. Often while reading, one isn't as apt to have their attention diverted by the vagaries of life, instead they are focused on the thing at hand. It is while one has this focused attention that they should let their note taking practice while reading take over.

Even if you are distracted, you can at least maintain focus on a single line of text and your thoughts related to it and write them down in either a summary sentence or with a few related ideas which are sparked by the initial idea.

(This note is such an example.)

Then one can start and complete a small idea at a time and then letting them build over time and space, then recollect them to create a piece which then doesn't need to be written and painfully created, but which may only need an outline structure and some final polish and editing.