Typewriters and Making Corrections

#typewriter #typography #writing
In Episode 429, Joe takes a deep dive into the world of typographical errors and discusses whether we should correct them and, if so, how best to.

[@stanfordwhite]

Joe… a fantastic video. As you mentioned, the type of correction will vary with the type of written document being produced. For a “working draft” of a book, manuscript, article, etc, typing with extra line spacing works well. This allows the author to type without interruption…. going back after the piece is finished to make “strike-throughs”, corrections (and or changes) with a pen (using the space between lines for new or corrected words). Of course, this wouldn’t work for a finished draft or for correspondence, but it is an effective method when looks don’t count! Keep typing and keep up the great work!

[@AArtVarkVark]

I tend to strike through words if they're atrocious - otherwise I tend to look at my typos in correspondence as akin to my handwriting style in type. If I need a perfect doc I'll OCR the type and then edit and print electronically.

[@paulhopper9879]

I have been using correction fluid. Instead of painting the liquid on I dab just enough on to mask what the mistake was. It does however interrupt the flow of typing.

[@jahanacek88]

Not overthinking at all, sir. This was awesome!

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

Thought-provoking video. I loved it! I overstrike my faint letters, the "a" that is low, and any uppercase letter that is too "upper." Sometimes overstriking works for a over s, e over o, b or p or d over o, l over i, k over h, etc. I used to erase my errors on any type of paper, and it worked pretty well with one of my eraser pens, but not the two others. Might have been that the good eraser was newer. I stopped erasing because it was making too many eraser crumbs inside the machine and on my desk! Then I x-ed out, but it seemed ugly, so I decided to use cover-up tape, and I still do, but only for full words. I mostly use Type X now. I also often read back what I type and fix missed errors in pen, hand written. I use a wavy symbol for two transposed letters. But after viewing this, I will try x-ing out my words once more and see how it goes. That is, when I am not on the Correcting Selectric 3... Thanks for your all your work. Daniel

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Nice office. Nice t-shirt. The typewriter is not floating in the air today. We are tuned or tunned.

[@christophermckellar1352]

Nice! Thorough. Thanks.

[@gamingchinchilla7323]

I had not seen your videos in ages on here. And yet here it is I have a sudden desire to start writing again and BAM! A new typewriter video :0 The universe is a funny thing isn't it?

[@bletheringfool]

Another great and thought provoking video. When I'm using white paper I use Tipp-Ex sheets (these only cover the letter in white) but of course I have bought all kinds of paper. Really great quality stuff, or cheap and thin. Off white and yellow and pearlescent. In those cases I can't bring myself to leave any mistakes and so end up retyping. Thankfully I have taken great care to begin with when typing on those sheets it hasn't happened too often. But you are right in that it depends who is receiving it and if I'm sending to a type pal I want it to look good.

[@ingeniouskeys]

Excellent video! I recently bought a Tipp-Ex "Shake'n Squeeze" cover up pen, because my last correction paper has been used. Although the pen has a metal tip that should (in theory) allow corrections with precision, it is just a mess. It takes ages to dry and sometimes leaves white specks on your typewriter and the type slugs. I wish they would still manufacture correction papers. It is not a perfect method, but the best I have tried so far. Adding two correction methods that haven't been mentioned: 1. A missing letter could be squeezed in with the half-space function. Not pretty in most instances. 2. Use a typewriter with a correction tape feature (IBM Selectrics, ...). Haven't used one, but I assume they should work pretty well in combination with the correctable carbon tapes.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I tried one of those pens, they’re a mess! I ran out of time to mention inserting missing letters, thank you!

[@lorensims4846]

Actually the very first kind of writing was a hybrid mechanical/manual process, pressing a stylus into soft clay to produce what we now call Cuneiform. There was very little opportunity using this process to reveal personal style. Handwritten text, when it was the primary form of written communication was also somewhat standardized to promote legibility. In my humble opinion, typos are indications that you are trying to type too fast or carelessly. I think they're only acceptable in documents for your own personal use, such as a first draft, or for transmitting information very quickly, as with a teletype, where strikethough became standard. Liquid Paper would help in those situations where correction tabs wouldn't work and is/was sold in a variety of colors to more closely match different papers. The whole point of mechanically produced writing is to standardize the presentation and it really should be as error-free as possible. Personal style is still presented in word choice and writing style in the choice of overall tone.

[@douglasjackson9058]

I think you nailed this Joe. Thankyou for another fine video!

[@gaborlangi1422]

I was kinda suprised to see you make another video about corrections, but I did enjoyed it! I've watched your previous videos 2 or 3 times already, because - as much as I know - you're the only one who makes videos about typewriters frequently enough that cover most things regarding these machines (not just repairs). Personally I still like to experiment with different solutions. For instance, japanese stationeries have colored correction tapes like the "Cream Tape" from Plus Corp. that combined with Rollbahn notebooks which have a cream colored paper seem to work perfectly. Or using a black marker with a stuby nib(used for calligraphy) to cover up the mistakes and giving the page a secret document kinda vibe. Thank you for another great video!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I like that black marker idea!

[@mikequinlan9585]

Joe when are you going to write a book about typewriters? I can’t wait to read it. 😀

[@therandomguy_official]

@joe van cleave very true

[@tjpj111]

My Olivetti Lexikon 80 E has reduplicative typing on some keys. I usually just strike out the whole line with the letter x. Makes errors fun!

[@TravelingRailfan]

Typically if it’s just fixing a small mistake but one that can’t be over typed, I will use a small diamond file to physically remove the miss- typed letter. It works pretty well and is not very noticeable once retyped.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

That’s interesting!

[@MrKrause]

Using computers all this time, we have forgotten the process of preparing documents on a typewriter back in the day. It's not just sitting at the machine and correcting and revising until you are done. When you're thinking about what to say, that's a first draft, and as long as you know what you meant, it can be a mess. I usually ended up marking up my first draft with pen and handwritten revisions that nobody else could figure out. Then I would revise and retype, more drafts depending on how important the document is. And for typing final copy, part of learning to type is learning how fast you can type with very few errors. So a normal paper for school I would type pretty fast but use correction tape. But if I was making carbon copies or something else where corrections don't work, I would slow down to avoid errors as much as possible. (Professional secretaries who had to make stencil masters were super accurate because those were hard to correct!) It took me years to get used to using a computer and I had to print out and mark up drafts at first until I learned how to slow down and revise on the screen. What is satisfying about a typewriter is that it is a good tool for all these phases. For a draft, it is physical and immediate and makes you move forward. For a final draft, because of its physical limitations and the conventions about what typed documents should look like, there are a lot of decisions you don't have to make about formatting your document that a WYSIWYG word processor requires. You just take your draft and put the words where they are supposed to go. I think my writing was better when I made a few passes through the document, retyping every character.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Great points!

[@saulysw]

I refuse to use any cover up options. I am on the relaxed end of the typo spectrum I suspect. All typos I make (or perhaps, notice), are addressed in a case by case basis. Most often, I do nothing about it, particularly if the meaning is still perfectly clear. Next most likely is backspace and retype a single letter over the wrong one. Up from there is x over the offender and type the right letter directly after. If I have more than one typo in a word, or a tragic misspelling that makes my look like a complete idiot (more so than usual!), I might X the whole word. That is pretty rare. Sometimes I type a mistake and change what I am going to say, just so the typo is not a typo any more. It is then that I suspect the typewriter is doing the writing, and not me! And of course, there are some typos that need the most drastic of responses. Things like addressing envelopes, or type samples for eBay ads, where really there is a zero tolerance for typos. In this case, you have to simply start all over again. Yes it takes longer, but perfection has a price of time mostly. You need to go slowly and concentrate hard - which is something most people don't enjoy too much, myself included. A funny example of a typo that my wife did on an email that she luckily caught just before hitting send. She was typing "kind regards" but the G got swapped for a T! Yikes. I think actually there is a whole other class of typos now in the modern word - the dreaded autocorrect. When you are typing an SMS or text message and press send, only to see it send something very different to what you had in mind. This is not just a single letter messed up, but whole words, so I think it is often worse as meaning is damaged. Some typewriters induce more typos from me than others. So one other tip is to find a machine that you are comfortable with that just seems to work for you. There might be all sorts of things at play, like the rake of the keybed, the spacing, the layout, the keytops size and shape, the way the typebars return, the speed of the shift etc, etc. Some typewriters too seem better at "keeping up" with the typist. I have found most older Imperial machines are good at that, like the Good Companions. I love both my Erika 5 and Smith-Corona 5 series for a relatively low typo experience. On the PC I use an IBM Model M computer keyboard - the best there is IMHO. It is a great topic overall, a lot to say about it, and a lot of it quite subtle to the experience but oh so important to how it all feels.

[@michaelcase8574]

Or as an old radio character used to call it a typogiraffical error!

[@roysonofroy1]

Using a scalpel, and if the paper is thick enough, I’ve scratched out the erroneous character(s).

[@irmabecx4758]

I don't even know. I feel like i use several different methods and barely think about it. I use a white paint marker (acrylic) instead of Tipp-Ex or White-out. It's much easier and works well enough. :)

[@danieldeary9344]

Very good thoughts on corrections...I feel so sorry for ultra-perfectionist that will type whole pages over and over until it looks perfect! What a waste of time.

[@herothebard]

I have dyslexia so there is a lot of corrections done in my writing. That being said I feel as if there is a very beautiful and human element to corrections and looking at a page that someone has worked on. If I saw a page that was typed on a computer with a courier font and printed it still wouldn't have the look and feel of a type writen page because of the quality, time and effort that goes into making those corrections. Perfect doesn't exit and I refuse to give up on my pursuit of creative passions in writing because someone says I'm too stupid to write a good book. I've published 13 books in fantasy, sci-fi and LGBT romance.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Those are beautiful thoughts, thank you.

[@mastercylinder1939]

They’ve stopped teaching kids cursive writing in schools.. I received a letter from the courts, hand written envelope, it looked like it was written by an infant.

[@jhondoe3213]

I just got a 1934 Royal KHM I've tried to find videos on this forgotten middle brother of the 10 and KMM but very few exist maybe you could find and do review. Ps. awesome content.

[@thorgodofblunder5928]

I’m curious what you think the best options for a typewriter for a a casual traveling writer would be, I’m looking for a classic one that’s as small as possible to take on vacations

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Generally, larger machines work better than smaller. However, the condition of the individual machine matters too. If you are traveling by car, get a medium sized portable like a Smith-Corona 5 series (Silent, Silent-Super), Hermes or Olympia. For small machines I like the Olympia Splendid 33 or 66, or the Royal Mercury.

[@thorgodofblunder5928]

@@Joe_VanCleave thank you very much sir!! I agree bigger is better for feel and ability to tinker on but for me and a lot of other people portability is necessary haha

[@paulopirescoelho4973]

Hi Joe… link for the blogger you mentioned in the final part of these useful video, please… thxs !

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Here it is: theuntimelytypewriter.com

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Excellent video.

[@paulopirescoelho4973]

@@Joe_VanCleave thank you ! Greetings from Portugal!

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Does Portugal exist yet?

[@leewilliams6200]

Hello Joe! Yesterday I got a Groma kolibri and cleaned it and it looks very nice but the carriage is stuck to the left and I don't know what to do. Is there a way I can reach you by email and maybe send you some pictures? I was so proud of it. Now it's just stuck. I can't even get it back in the case. Please help. Can we correspond via email?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

[e-mail]