All By Myself

One thing I have learned through reading various resources provided by mostly Create Space, and some by Lulu and other accounts I have ‘LIKED’ on Facebook, that provide links to various blogs and sites, is that you really have to step away from your writing for six months if you are going to edit it yourself.

Working on my series “Partisan of the Blue” I have started to go from notebook to typewriter. The electric typewrite below, one of three from my late Aunt, was the only one of four working. Well, it didn’t work well enough. After three days of a slow purposeful plunking away at the keys with varying results I decided that it to was not working correctly. At $270 per-hour for typewriter repair services I had to take the risk and open up the machine myself.

It looked intimidating, all the levers and springs contorted into a series of complex mechanisms. I didn’t have the know how to disassemble the beast, nor the proper cleaning solutions, still I cleaned it up as best I could. Then I oiled a few spots that looked like they needed oil. Then I plugged it in.

I quickly understood that this belt was the problem. It needs to be replaced; still tracking down the part. I further understood  that the electric part of the machine was quite simple and that if it takes the repair man an hour to take apart, clean and lube the machine, it wouldn’t take much more than that to repair it. I suspect all problems with these machines, as long as someone hasn’t taken a hammer to the interior, are typical and easily repaired. Basically the electrical part of the machine is a small electrical motor that spins a tri-finned rod that slaps up the key lever when depressed.

It makes me want to open up all my machines and try to fix them myself. And I didn’t even look for any how to videos on the Internet before I set my mind to seeking out greater efficiency. The IBM Selectric will be a big challenge.

I promised excerpts from my stories every month. I will have one from “Chuck Hammer, Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” this month and two excerpts next month to make up for January. Chuck Hammer is going ahead straight to the computer, though I bought a notebook to make notes and editions as I continually read over the work, and to write out scattered scenes that strike my mind.

“Partisans of the Blue” is the first work I am trying to go from hand written, to typewriter, to computer. Hardcopy in many ways is easier to work with and I hope this will be a productive method in getting a very good first draft. If I’m going to wait six months to get back to it I hope this will have me well on my way to completion.

As an ‘Amazon Prime’ member and Kindle owner I frequently receive e-mails recommending e-books. Kindle owners with Amazon Prime have a far greater variety of free e-books available, including my own. I was surprised that my own book was right on top of the list. Yes, many people took advantage of my five-day free offer, over eighty books downloaded. I believe I can honestly say, considering the number of downloads, that I easily have hundreds that are familiar with my writing and blogging on some level.

Thanks again to all those who chose my book.