Five years ago, on eBay I bought an old manual portable typewriter—a 1972 Adler Tippa S, a black-and-ivory-colored beauty made in Holland or The Netherlands as it is known. I had not owned a typewriter before, and what I have learned should be of broader interest.

Typewriters are like bicycles or stick-shift cars. They command your full attention. Make a mistake and you pay the price. You can’t stop and start like you can on a laptop, tablet, or PC. While typewriters can be a hassle, you can grow to admire and feel affection toward them.

Some friends and family members disagree. Both of my (teenage) daughters have complained about the clatter of the keyboards. When I sent a friend a typed-up envelope last year, he accused me of being a weirdo or fuddy-duddy from 1982. At least, they have reactions to typewriters. Many dismiss typewriters as useless, like dial-up telephones or transistor radios.

I disagree with the critics. They fail to appreciate that writing is different from other forms of communication. It can be an art. It rewards elegance and beauty in a way that talking on the phone or listening to the radio doesn’t. It’s more difficult. Anyone can talk on the phone or listen to the radio. Composing an essay, story, or even a grocery list on a typewriter takes work.

I’m not making a maximalist case for typewriters. Some advocates note that the machines appreciate in value. Or they note typewriters won’t go out in the event of a zombie apocalypse, malware attack, or an electricity outage. While I agree, those reasons are incidental to writing.

Certainly, I didn’t buy two of the three typewriters I own, the Adler Tippa S and a 1971 Olivetti Lettera (see below), for economic reasons or so they could back up my laptop or tablet. I bought them because they would help me as a writer.

I was right, although not entirely for the reasons I assumed. The typewriters show me and make me appreciate that good writing is like a bicycle ride or driving a car. It forces you to be in the moment. Indeed, I say writers in a digital age should own and buy a typewriter for three reasons:

Reason #1: Greater focus

Rare is the person who gets distracted using a typewriter. You are forced to make sure your fingers are on the correct keys because if not you will make mistakes, and who wants to make those? To be sure, the keys on typewriters differ. Some are heavy like my Underwood or the Adler Tippa S. Others are light like the Olivetti. Regardless, as a writer you must concentrate on hitting or tapping the keystrokes.

In other words, using a typewriter is different from a laptop or PC. It’s a one-trick pony. All you do is type. There are no websites to distract you. Nobody ever got addicted using a typewriter. For a typewriter is, as proponents say, a distraction-free machine. In a digital age, that’s a blessing.

Reason #2: Increases ability to plow through first drafts

I mentioned this reason in an earlier post, but it bears repeating. Typewriters are ideal for persevering through first drafts. You won’t suffer from starting and stopping … and starting and stopping … and starting and stopping. With a typewriter, it’s one-and-done, baby!

Laptops and PCs lack this virtue. You can stop and start until ad infinitum. Instead of plowing through a first draft, you are forever seeking an unattainable perfection or a strong first draft.

To be sure, some writers don’t revise endlessly. They write well the first time. While I have improved, I can suffer from this malady. Perhaps you are like me. With a typewriter, you are less likely to face this problem.

Reason #3: Makes you appreciate the act of writing

Like many people, I find typewriters to be aesthetically pleasing. The clickety-clack of and thwacking of the keys hitting the carriage and the sharp ring of the carriage return.

Typewriters can be great looking, too, especially manual portables from the mid-twentieth century. They can be cherry red like an Olympia Traveler or Royal Portable, the canary yellow of a Triumph Tippa, or the Olivetti Lettera’s teal.

Has anyone admired a PC’s or Mac’s aesthetics? I have no feelings toward my Gram, even though I appreciate its durability and efficiency.

A typewriter’s aesthetic appeal is easy to dismiss as an irrelevancy, something that’s nice to have but unnecessary. Yet I say this is short-sighted.

Unless you are an obsessive, writers need encouragement to write. As Atomic Habits author James Clear notes, enjoying the process turns the quotidian into the elevated. Writers, like other artists, spend more time, a lot more time, working at a result rather than delivering it.

Typewriters as excellent supplements

I’m not saying typewriters in a digital age are necessary for writers. Laptops and PCs perform the same main functions. Yet typewriters, like bicycles, can make writing more practical and the writing journey more enjoyable.

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Postscript: I did type my first draft for this post. See below.

Post postscript: Here is the 1930s-era Underwood typewriter my father-in-law was generous enough to give me. Alas, I have yet to find the time to send it to a repair shop, so I have not typed on it.