写作与思考2016nytimes.com
汤姆·汉克斯谈打字机
Tom Hanks on Typewriters
导读
这是汤姆·汉克斯在《纽约时报》撰写的专栏，讲他为什么痴迷打字机：机械键盘的触感、敲击声、以及用老机器写信时那种郑重其事的手感。对写作者来说，它提醒我们写作不只是脑力活，工具和身体的参与、书写时的仪式感，往往会影响文字的语气与分量。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
写作工具的选择本身就是一种语气选择：用打字机、手写还是电脑，会带来不同的节奏和态度，值得有意识地挑一个最贴合当下文本的媒介。
- 02
机械打字机没有 CPU、没有通知和指示灯，只提供一片安静——写作时主动屏蔽干扰，让思路不被随时打断，比追求更快的输入速度更重要。
- 03
用更费力、更不可修改的方式写信或写初稿，会让人更慎重地对待每一个句子，这种'慢'反而能提升文字的分量。
- 04
物件的仪式感能换来回应：一封用打字机打出的信更容易被打开、被传阅、被记住——形式有时就是你内容的一部分。
HN 评论精选
打字机的最大价值是'安静'：它不像电脑那样时刻索取注意力，能让人独自面对自己的想法。
去年读戈尔·维达尔时我突然意识到，我最喜欢的书几乎无一例外都是用打字机写成的，于是立刻去 eBay 买了两台，一台 Olivetti、一台 Olympia。我觉得汉克斯漏掉了一个关键点：老式打字机在今天对写作者仍有价值，是因为——安静。坐在电脑前和坐在打字机前是完全不同的体验。机械打字机是'死'的，它没有 CPU 在内部不停运转，没有指示灯、Wi-Fi 图标和时钟不断向你索取注意力。电脑是'黏人'的，即使什么都不做也在试图分散你的注意；而打字机是真的什么都不做，只是一台没有生命的空机械。你最终会发现自己独自面对自己的想法和房间里的一片寂静——这可能是你十五年来第一次有这种感受，起初奇怪甚至有点不适，但写叙事小说时，文字会变得完全不受拘束，不是被硬挤出来的，你不再像是社会这台庞大电子工业机器上的一个零件，而是安静地独自待着。
gregn查看英文原文
Last year I had a revelation while reading Gore Vidal that all my favorite books almost without exception had been written on typewriters. I immediately went to Ebay and bought two: an Olivetti and a Olympia. I think Mr. Hanks missed one salient point of why bothering to type on an old machine still may play a valuable role to the writer in the modern age----------Silence. I found there is a vast difference sitting in front of any computer compared to a typewriter. Mechanical typewriters are not alive. They do not have an internal CPU constantly cycling and doing things, constantly prodding you for attention with little indicators and wifi meters and clocks and things. Computers are needy. They are constantly trying to distract you, even when they are doing absolutely nothing. Typewriters on the other hand, are doing absolutely nothing. They are merely empty mechanical contraptions with no life in them whatsoever. What you find when typing is -- well, at least what I found -- is that you are left alone with your thoughts and the workings of your mind and nothing else but the silence of the room. This might be the first time in fifteen years you have experienced this sensation. It was odd at first and slightly uncomfortable. But I found that when writing narrative fiction, the words are totally uninhibited. They are not forced. You are not churning away as if you are a member of a large electronic industrial machine: society, but instead are left in quiet solace with nothing but you and the table, the stillness of the dust floating in the air and this solid bit of metal under your palms, and they are utterly quiet, and you can think, as if for the first time. It is a miraculous sensation. I urge anyone to try it who has been steeped in tech for the last decade or two.
用打字机写信/信封能显著提高被阅读、被记住、被认真对待的概率。
我以处理邮件为生，可以负责任地说：一封用打字机打出的信（哪怕只看信封）几乎保证会被拆开。我曾用打字机给一家大型科技培训公司写信，询问是否有面向我这种离开行业十年的老程序员的奖学金。后来听说我的信被大家像新鲜玩意儿一样到处传看——是的，我拿到了奖学金，还因此学了 iOS 4（也因此知道了 HN）。
losteverything查看英文原文
As a person who handles mail for a living I can assure you a typewritten letter, or should I say envelope, is a sure-fire way to have somebody open the letter. I once used a typewriter to ask a large Ranch technological Training Company company if they had any scholarships for old-time programmers ( I was one) who were out of the game for a decade or so. I was told my letter was passed around like a novelty and - yes I did receive the scholarship and was able to learn iOS 4. (And learn about HN)
用心的形式与媒介本身就是有说服力的表达，能换来对方同样用心的回应。
2012 年，一位播客主持人想采访汤姆·汉克斯，在发出邀请时先寄给他一台 1934 年的 Smith Corona 打字机作为礼物。几天后，汉克斯用这台 Corona 打字机写了回信。
cs702查看英文原文
In 2012, a podcast host who wanted to interview Tom Hanks sent a 1934 Smith Corona to the actor as a gift when requesting the interview. Within days, Hanks responded with this letter, typed on the Corona: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/10/damn-you-all-to-hell.html
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