The Freewrite Smart Typewriter: A birthday/Christmas/anniversary present for the ages
There’s a reason I made sure my partner know it was a gift for all three
Picture this. You’re sitting at your desk. Your fiance is playing NBA 2K in the background, someone is shouting about “ball handling,” and you snicker to yourself while you stare at the blank Word document blinking on your screen.
“Ball handling,” you write, and then you wonder if there’s supposed to be a hyphen between those two words so you open a new tab and google if there’s supposed to be a hyphen between “ball” and “handling.”
You discover there are many options for ball handling. It may be one word in some cases. “Ballhandling.” That doesn’t look right. But there’s only a hyphen when “ball handling” is used as a compound modifier, but for the life of you, you can’t remember seventh-grade grammar so you go down another rabbit hole of googling what the hell a compound modifier is.
Wait. Fuck. Time to focus. Put some music on, that’ll make it easier for you to concentrate. You open Spotify, but when did there get to be so many music options? Your playlists have become boring. You could make a new one or browse the thousands available for consumption. In the interest of time, you choose the latter.
Thirty minutes later, you choose your daylist (when did Spotify start making a “daylist”? Should you be concerned about their analysis of your listening habits?”). You press play, crack your knuckles, and return to your Word document.
Ball handling.
Shit.
But wait! What is that, shining in the distance? It approaches, and you gasp at the sight. Could it be? No. Impossible. Sure enough, however, your fiance holds the Freewrite Smart Typewriter in his hands, his smile as angelic as, well, a fucking angel.
All your problems are solved. You take the typewriter, sit down, and write 50,000 words in one furious sprint. You become a bestselling author. You can afford a house. Ballhandling be damned.
That might have been mildly dramatic, but my first few days with this electric typewriter have been nothing short of productive and satisfying. Juniper Song from Yellowface be damned (the quote for those curious: “They make those ugly and overpriced electronic typewriters, for authors who can’t string together more than a paragraph without losing focus and hopping over to Twitter” [R.F. Kuang, 13].).
I’ll admit—this is partially true! The typewriter is expensive ($649!!!), which is why I asked my partner to get it for my birthday, Christmas, and anniversary present. That’s still a lot to spend for three occasions, but, the kind person he is, he splurged and took the plunge for me. Suffice it to say, my birthday last Tuesday was wonderful, and that first night, I wrote 1,000 words on the thing.
That might not sound like a lot, and for me, it’s below average when I’m ghostwriting and working on personal projects at the same time. But, as I’ve written in previous posts, I’ve been working through a massive depressive episode, and it’s a miracle when I manage to get a word out some days.
So, when I managed to crank out 1,000 words that first day, it felt rejuvenating. At the time of writing this (12/15), I’ve written over 7,000 words in three days. That’s about 25 double-spaced pages. Has it been a success so far? Definitely. Will it continue to be? That’s for a later blog post.
For now, let’s get into some of the pros and cons.
PROS:
Increased writing output. My typical goal is to write a first draft in three months. Considering this book has taken me a year and a half to get to the last quarter, I’m hoping to be finished soon utilizing this new tool.
Distraction-free. No emails. No social media. No googling. I still have my phone, but I try to put that far away when I’m writing. How that siren calls to me, gosh.
The clickety-clack of those keys, goddamn.
The e-ink display screen. Not harsh on the eyes, kind of like a Kindle or a Nook, so it doesn’t hurt your eyes when it’s dark, and there isn’t any glare during the day.
It’s got a cute little handle so you can carry it around easily.
Automatic sync to Google Drive and other Cloud platforms.
The battery life, apparently. It’s supposed to be able to last one month without needing a charge, but mine seems to be having a few issues with that. I’m not sure yet since it’s only been a few days. We’ll see.
CONS:
The price. If you’re not writing every day, it might not be worth it.
The formatting after syncing, especially with the TAB function. It uses spaces instead of the standard 0.75 indent, at least in Google Drive. I can’t speak for other platforms.
Battery life? To be determined. I may need to contact the customer support folks at Freewrite if my battery continues to die quickly, but from what I hear, they’re quite responsive.
The typewriter isn’t super portable, and it may be a bit too loud if you like writing in public spaces. I wouldn’t bring this baby to the library for example. You might be able to get away with a noisy coffee shop, though.
I will note that Freewrite has more portable, more affordable options! They don’t support as many words, and they aren’t quite as aesthetically appealing (imo) as the typewriter. Still, it’s important to note that the company is working to provide options for writers who may not have the funds for the typewriter.
So? What do you think? Would you take the plunge and purchase one of the Freewrite products?