why do most authors write their works with typewriters and not computers?

Answer 1

And who is tellling you this? Sounds like a made up statistic to me. Most of the authors I know use computers even to the point of sending their manuscripts to the publishers via email.

Answer 2

An author by the name of Harlan Ellison still uses a typewriter to write his stories. He has a desktop model that he uses at home, and a portable model that he takes with him to book signings.

Both are Manual typewriters!

I have written two stories on a typewriter, albeit electric, and I have to say, there is just something about writing on a typewriter that cannot compare to writing on a computer.

For one thing, the words come alive as you write them. you see the letters appear on the page as you strike each key. With a computer, the words are dead on the screen. There is no life to them, they are simply there. Oh sure, you can print them out, but you are printing dead words.

There is also a sense of satisfaction when you take a page that you've written, look at it, decide you don't like it, and crumple it up in your hands. It gives you a feeling of power. Here is something that You created, and now you have destroyed it. All you can do on a computer is hit the Backspace, or Delete key. Too quick, too easy.

I write with a computer now, but if I could get a hold of the typewriter that I used before, I would go back to it in a minute.

Maybe less than that.

Answer 3

Most authors today use computers. But some still prefer the typewriter, or even hand-writing (all my preliminary work is done by hand).
The reason is the author is, first and foremost, an artist. The artistic process is mysterious and you find what works with you, to get creativity going. The sound of the keys, the fact you can't correct, the feel of letters going down one by one, these are all reasons that can inspire a writer to prefer the atmosphere of the typewriter. You have to respect the process.

Answer 4

The very worst thing to happen to a writer after he/she has written maybe 20 pages on the computer is when a power outage happens or when the battery dies on the laptop. And then there's the risk that all is lost.

Writing on a real typewriter gives the writer an immediate hard copy of the work. Handwritten manuscipts can be taken anywhere and I think it's easier and faster to flip through the pages.

Answer 5

My guess would be because working on a computer, while practical, could be considered cold and sterile. While working on a type writer, you can hear the keys making a clicking sound when it hits the paper, and you would be more interactive with the typewriter. Also, you can see what you have typed right then and there on paper, while you would have to wait until you have a page done before printing it out on a computer. That's my 2 cents.

Answer 6

What makes you think most authors prefer typewriters over computers? Most contemporary writers use computers because it is much easier to make corrections, changes, and revisions. Not to mention produce multiple copies.

Answer 7

Do most of them use typewriters? I don't think that's what writers do in modern times.

Answer 8

I think that if they do use typewriters then they would write as well as they can because they have no backspace or delete. They can also see how their mind can wander off. 'course, i could be wrong.

Answer 9

not sure where you get that idea a few still do because a key board is a key board is a keyboard some of them just like to hear the noise or like the feel of the finality of a key stoke as it pounds ink into the paper. so are superstitious and like to keep using the same machine that they have always written on

Answer 10

Who does that?