A Writer’s Life: The Techno-Geek Writer

I used a manual typewriter and carbon paper when I first began writing for publication. I painstakingly hit each key with precision because if I made a mistake, on even a single letter, I would have to re-do the entire thing. And I did my best to keep my assignments short because even a simple edit meant having to re-type every page if the spacing was off.

With the advent of the IBM Selectric and automatic correction tape, life seemed simplified. Since I no longer relied on carbon paper for my copies I used a photocopier instead and the correction tape was usually sufficient to make simple spelling and punctuation corrections. It seemed like heaven. As a freelancer, my biggest bother was keeping an adequate supply of envelopes and postage on hand to submit my queries and work to the appropriate editors. Word processors only continued to make my life easier.

By the time I began using a computer to write my articles and manuscripts, life seemed simple. So long as I remembered to hit “save” now and then and the power stayed on, it was incredibly easy to construct my thoughts in front of the keyboard. Revisions and editing took no effort and features like spell check and word count were bonuses. I did learn early on to proof my final copy – we’ve all heard stories where uncommonly spelled names were turned into embarrassing gaffs by inhuman spell checkers (such as Pincus=Penis, this was an actual name that slipped by me once.) Sometimes the editor requested that I submit my article on a floppy disc along with the hard copy, it wasn’t a problem.

The first time an editor asked me to fax my story in instead of letting the mail delay it, I was stymied. I had to find a local store that had a fax available and then paid a fee per page. Eventually I got around that stumbling block by buying my own fax machine. Life was simple again, I typed, printed and faxed, all from the comfort of my own home. The only hang-ups were when photos had to be submitted; faxing just didn’t cut it then. Then came uploading to FTP sites, fortunately most magazines’ sites didn’t require any special software on my part, just the patience of Job as I maneuvered all of the steps. Finally e-mail became the method of choice whether the article was enclosed as an attachment or pasted into the body – add to that digital images and life couldn’t get any simpler.

By then I had come to realize that many of the hours I spent in my high school typing class had not only been wasted but has also become problematic. My natural inclination had been to use my computer keyboard as a typewriter with tabs and double-spaces and more. I was still composing everything with paragraph indents and hitting “enter” twice to double-space. When my soon-to-be book publisher said she wanted my 55+ thousand word manuscript submitted with paragraph settings and page-setup controls instead of indents and double spaces, I had to sit at my desk through the night to reformat it all. It paid off, but it was exhausting.

I am still learning new ways to make it in this technologically-savvy world. Many of my published articles are available online which makes it incredibly easy to include links in my online or emailed list of credits when I query a new magazine editor. Research is a snap and even thought I may need to follow it up with phone calls or visits, a lot of my preliminary work gets done right from my desk. And the promotion of my books is easy when I use the various resources the internet offers such as press release posting, blogging, company web-sites and more. In person author appearances have been supplemented with guest blogs, online interviews and the latest fad, Blog Talk Radio; the audience base has been expanded in both numbers and locale.

Technology in the field of writing has forced many of us into the 21st century; some of my writer friends are still kicking and screaming. I came across an old spiral notebook where I hand scribbled poetry as a teen-ager – I was thinking of typing in some of the better poems to save, but then I just thought I’ll scan them in instead.