It was before computers with word processors replaced typewriters in the newsroom. Deadline time was approaching. I was deeply absorbed with writing an article, scratching it out with my favorite ballpoint pen on lined paper. My editor walked by. “Put down that pen and compose on the typewriter,” he said.

I wondered how I could ever finish what I was writing in time if I did that. I knew what he had told me to do would save time from putting a story down by pen and copying it on the typewriter. The question confronting me was could I ever compose a story that way. Well, I had no alternative; I did what I had to do. I put down my pen, inserted paper in my typewriter and copied the few sentences I had written by hand. As I finished them, inspiration slowly returned. I plunged right into the story and finished on time. I could hardly believe it. I had never been an outstanding typist, but that day I only had a few typos which I easily corrected.

The day came when a big change occurred in the newsroom. First it was a word processor that revealed only two lines of type. Then before long came better word processing. Could I handle it I wondered as I was chosen to sit down before the new machine and follow the instructions I was given? It was then I discovered something wonderful. I did not have to be a whiz-bang typist to use that word processor. If I made an error, I could back up and erase it. No more struggling with replacing aggravating, nasty old typewriter ribbons. No more jerking sheets out of a typewriter and tossing them in the wastebasket. I felt more confident already. That was something to rejoice about.

The change even helped my writer’s block—those times I sat staring at a blank page, trying to come up with a subject for a column. Ideas whirled in my head and my fingers flew, well, moved a little faster anyway, across the page.

People have asked me how I find ideas for my weekly column. Sometimes I overhear conversations that trigger thoughts for a column. Inspiration strikes at the most unlikely times. I have scribbled thoughts on paper napkins at a fast food place. I have stopped while stuffing clothes in my washing machine to write down something that occurs to me. Such simple things as a lonely walk on a beach, a leaf blowing across the lawn, the scent of soap, the cry of a child, the amazing things I think my dog does, and other random happenings become subjects for a column. These things come, but seldom near deadline time. I lose a thought occasionally, while others make my fingers dance across the keyboard.

And just think it all began with words I hated to hear Editor Jim Lambert say: “Put down that pen and compose on your typewriter.”

 

 

 

Nina Keenam is retired from the newspaper business. Her column appears on Saturdays.