When I started out writing in the 1970s, there were no personal computers, no Microsoft Office and Auto-Correct, no AI-generated scripts and images. Instead, I hand-wrote my ideas into a notebook. Then, when my notes made sense, I would sit down at my low-tech ribbon-typewriter, with A4 sheets of paper, and laboriously type up my manuscript.
That process was not only time-consuming but required patience and precision. If I made a mistake, I might get away with Tipex correction fluid; but if there were a lot of errors, then the only option was to put in a fresh sheet of paper and completely re-type that page. Grrr!
Once I had typed up all the pages, then I compiled them in to a manuscript, which I placed in an envelope, along with a covering letter to the editor of my target publication. Then I had to physically go to the post-office, to send off the manuscript, all the while hoping for a miracle, that it might just get accepted!
All this took time. It could be weeks, or even months, before hearing back from the editor. My manuscripts often came back, covered in coffee stains, with a polite note saying: “thanks, but no thanks!”
Thankfully, not all my efforts were rejected. I did get some articles and short stories published in both Irish and British publications. My best sellers were “Pot Boilers”, short items of general interest, which were used as fillers by newspapers and magazines, whenever there was not enough copy from regulars. Then there were the “prizes” given for the best letter to the editor. The cheques were small but still very welcome. In fact, as editors got to know me, I was asked a few times to write articles at short notice because a regular contributor had failed to meet the deadline. I always delivered on time and within word-length.
Then Life got in the way, as it often does. I had other responsibilities and little time for regular writing – although I never completely gave up!
Fifty years on and the scene has completely changed. Despite having to learn the new technology, I now use a laptop to type up my “posts” (they are not called “articles” any more!) There is no further need for Tipex correction fluid because the Word computer programme does spelling checks and auto-correct – although I often have to correct the auto-correct, when it hasn’t understood what I was trying to say, or has not got a particular technical term in its memory bank!
I no longer need to physically go to the post office with my manuscripts, because electronic “files” go flying off over the internet at the touch of the “send” button, hopefully not getting lost in Cyber Space!
Despite all these modern “conveniences”, I still miss my old dinosaur of a manual type-writing machine! Why? Because it made me mindful of what I was doing. I didn’t need to be on-line to jot down ideas in a note-book. The note-book was always there, never “crashing” or being inaccessible because I didn’t have internet access to Cloud Storage. The manual type-writer could not be hacked either, or traced in case of perceived “subversive activity”!
Some old dinosaurs are worth keeping!
Ends author: Veronica Smith re-vamped 23rd July 2025
Leave a Reply