It all begins with one typed page
While it’s not the digital collapse many of you read in Cold Hard Type, it feels like the world is collapsing around us, especially if you’re shuttered in, keeping your social distance. Many of us writers are naturally distant, often letting our written words speak our minds. Your brain is just wired that way. And for good reason! We need people who can structure thoughts and ideas, then write a compelling story so others can make sense of the world. It’s easy to stop writing when the seams of the world are coming apart. Don’t! Get a clean hanky, wipe away your tears and write. Write like the world depends on your words. Write like a warrior who is fighting for their survival. Write, because if you don’t, you’ll end up in a dark corner, balled up and sobbing.
But that won’t happen, because you’re the typewriter type who punches keys and makes the hammer strike. The force of your fingers is the force of will that conquers the page. Close your web browser, turn off the news, mute your feeds and get on the typewriter.
It doesn’t matter what you write, just get an hour or a page a day. You might already be in a project, great! If not, plumb your thoughts or grab an idea from one of these prompts (https://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/). Or, use this time to expunge those baddies as outlined in The Writing Cure. Whatever it is, strap on, because the only way through is you getting on the keyboard and typing it out.
Submit your page
Now comes the challenge. Sure, all this sounds good in theory, but are you ready to put it into practice? If these were normal times, keeping these rough typed pages to yourself might be best. I mean, who wants to read that rubbish, right? However, right now, it’s not rubbish. It’s life. It means you’re alive, thinking, breathing, writing. If your only purpose right now is that one typed page, that’s all that matters. We want to read it. We want to know you’re OK. We want to feel that we’re not alone.
Send me your page. Half a page. Quarter of a page. Doesn’t matter. Snap a picture with your phone. Each day I’ll post what I get. Send as often you want. But don’t just stop at one. If not for your benefit, then perhaps your page will inspire others to say yes to life. I won’t post your name. You can include it on the typed page if you want, but otherwise you’ll be anonymous. I recommend setting up a new email account with any of the freebies and send it under a made up name. Whether you send anonymous or not, be sure to set the photo resolution to large.
Send your one typed page to:
submissions@typewriterreview.com
(Large resolution from your phone, or 960×1280 pixels from other)
GUIDELINES & DISCLAIMER
While it’s the intention of this site to provide hope & healing, pages submitted may claw at your nerves, cause bouts of asphyxiation, dizziness, drowsiness or excitability. All content submitted will be covered by Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, unless otherwise noted by the author.
