Writing is suddenly simple.

It's like Hemingway famously said: 'Open a vein and bleed.'

It's just that Hemingway lived at a different time, where there were far fewer distractions. I mean, there were still distractions. Women, whiskey, and war, for instance. But they didn't inundate the writing machine from every angle.

Now, writing is simple. It needs a simple tool.

I know, I know. A vintage typewriter is a miracle of engineering and manufacturing. It's simplicity lies in its purpose for being.

A typewriter writes. It doesn't do a whole lot else. Within the framework of 'writing', the imagination can go sprawling off into any direction. Like a spore on the wind.

People think I'm crazy for working with vintage typewriters. Anyway, I did it long before I ever knew that MANY of the great contemporary writers and recent writers still use them, or used them till the end. Because I'm 'impractical' in some ways. I often choose the 'purest' way of delivery, rather than the easiest or most efficient. Always I've been that way.

So, I've been writing with a vintage typewriter since about 2003, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried other things. Lord no. I've tried every gizmo and doodad in the world.

I've written a lot on a Remarkable 2 with Typefolio, on an AstroHaus Freewrite, on a series of Macbook Pros, on some re-wired Alphasmart and Duo, iphones, ipads, etc.

Every tool has pros and cons. In the end, I found that the writing that kept me closest to myself during writing happened on a 'screenless' instrument. The little minimalist screens are second best, particularly the 'paper white' digital screens. But still, I'm further away from myself, and it shows in the writing.

THE KEY IS TO WRITE AND REMAIN ALIVE...

So I've continually circled back to the typewriter. The more advanced digital technologies get, the more enthralling it is to plunk out letters and watch them kiss a permanent ink imprint into the paper. People who receive letters are mystified, and the writer is mystified. It is a simple way to fall in love with language again. Sometimes, when I type a word, it is as though I see it for the first time. The row of letters, coupled with rhythm, typeface, paper, etc, breaks open new perspectives.

So, for years I used a typewriter in tandem with screened devices; a phone sitting askew; a tablet; a Remarkable 2; a Kindle Paperwhite. But the session always ended with me randomly messaging someone or looking up something at the expense of writing, thwarting creativity in the process... stamping out wonder with 'the answer.'

Answers are fine. But give me inspiring questions, and watch my fingers fly! An answer is always one minuscule fiction at a pinpoint in time. There are layers and layers, revisions which a moment will reverse.

It wasn't until recently that I had the audacity to banish screens from the writing process, and not only the drafting, but the whole damn process. from seed to print. And I confess, I'm still working out the final kinks. But getting closer, and loving it.

What I notice as I build this practice, is an inner calm and serenity that is difficult to express.

I've wasted years; fallen upon my knees to digital idols. If I could have my way, it would be to spare you all of that. To just streamline you to your best writing, without any meandering dead-ends or detours.

When I say by winter you could have a book, it's not the sort of book you've had before. This is the kind that, while in thrall to the blank page, seizes you and writes itself. This is the kind that doesn't tiptoe in tepid waters, but plunges into the heart of the ocean.

No more excuses for what we could have been. We are what we are. Write it down and gradually refine life and literature at the same time.

I didn't want The Screenless Writer, the book, to be a lie; a facade, a charade. Because that is the problem. All of the meditation gurus that no longer meditate, or the financial wizards that had one near-success decades ago, or the guy who was happy once with a woman so he wrote a book no relationships.

The counterweight is something REAL, VISCERAL, and ENDURING.

Writing is only as simple as the tool is, and the focus, and the determination that is brought to bear upon it. Writing on a super computer isn't even complex, it is impossible. I mean, it is 'easy' to crank out pages, but it is 'easier' to get lost in the fray, and write something long and null... so convoluted it nearly doesn't exist. It would be better to say nothing than to spread yourself think across a million conversations, half hanging upon people's lips all over the world; digital lips.

Yes, this is a tirade of sorts. I love when people read books, stare deeply into skies, and furrow their brow in an effort to understand the underlying mechanics of things. Everything else is shallow living, thinking, being, and it is the main problem with the world.

So I just thought, instead of endlessly complaining about it, I'll actually start living my message, more and more. Seize the day and my own gifts.

If you want to join me, buy a writing machine and set sail. Yes, it's halting at first, painful even. But within days those moments of pure rapture fall out of the sky. And then I can guide you further if you desire.

Write on,

Steven Budden
A Man Dedicated to Seeing your Best Writing in Print