Eons ago, my first two books were written on yellow legal pads with a favorite pen. One book took nine notebooks and one took ten, using both front and back pages. Obviously by the picture, I still have them. Wow, that was a long time ago. (I still have that pen somewhere. I told you I was a saver.) 🙂 #AuthorLife
Back in those old days when I did book signings, I used to take these notebooks and printed out manuscripts to book signings. It was easy for guests to imagine the hard work that went into writing a book when they saw the various stages.
Next, I typed manuscripts with a rented typewriter because I didn’t own a typewriter at the time. (My dad bought me a child’s typewriter when I was a kid, but that was a long gone. So was the child.)
I’ve had secrets come out of my typewriter in invisible ink. ~Terri Guillemets
Of course, I had to print the manuscripts to edit them. Check out the printer paper on the top photo, bottom manuscript! Yes, I used a dot matrix printer. Do you even remember those? Eventually I upgraded to a laser printer. I don’t remember exactly what the dot matrix looked like, but this image from Pixabay, gives you a good idea. I believe mine was a little more high tech than this one. *Cough!* I use an inkjet now.
My nine-year-old stepdaughter took this picture when I first got published. It had been a long road.
It’s true–we really did have to send hard copies to publishers back then, with the perforated section where the holes are, torn off. If we were lucky, they wanted the complete manuscript, per the top one in the picture. It wasn’t as big a book as it looks, but double spacing took up a lot of pages.
On To The New!
The day I bought a computer, I was excited and terrified of using that wonderful new gadget! So much so, that I had called my techy teen boys many times to help me find my way out of a mess I’d gotten into. My computer tech guy who built my computer for me back then, said, “You can’t do anything to it that can’t be fixed.” It seems I was out to prove him wrong. This was the old days, folks.
Somehow I found my way and eventually I was the one asked to help get people out of their computer messes. I had a good laugh one day at work when I was about to round a corner in a hallway, and I heard… “Ask Mary McCoy-Dressel. She knows everything about computers.” LOL. I earned my way, but come on, now, that was pushing it a bit.
Well, many computers, cowboys, and bull riders later, I prefer my laptop to write, which feels like an extension to my fingers. Oh, and I prefer using email for submissions, though I haven’t done anything like that in a long time. #AmWriting #AmEditing
Cheers! 🙂 Happy writing and reading. ❤
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
10 thoughts on “#AmWriting Many Eons Ago… Yellow Legal Pads, Manuscripts, Computers, Oh, My!”
Kev
The joys of technology! 😀
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
You’re right, Kev! Thanks for commenting.
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D. Wallace Peach
I wrote my first book on a clunky old typewriter too, Mary. What a chore and all that correction tape and the white-out that would get glued to the keys. Blech! And editing meant typing the whole thing over again! I’m so glad those days are long gone. Laptops and laser jets work just fine for me too 🙂
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Absolutely, Diana. Having to go through all that earlier clunkiness, means we are dedicated to our writing. 🙂 Cheers!
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catherinewolffe53
When I get tired of sitting at the computer but have more to add to the WIP, I take out a journal and write the next scene, or chapter, or the last half of the book. It soothes me to sit and write long hand rather than perched at the keys. Love this post, Mary. Thank goodness for the techy people we know and love.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Catherine, Sometimes I do get my notebook out and write out a scene in longhand. It’s true, the effect is different to hold a pen in hand. I can’t write fast enough to get all the ideas down sometimes. Sometimes I have an idea at night and don’t want to get out of bed so I reach for paper and pen. Or, I use the “Notes” app on my iPad to jot down quick ideas instead of a scene. This is how the new series began. A late night idea from a country song. I’m glad you visited and commented.
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catherinewolffe53
This sounds so familiar. I love the voice app on my phone. My day job takes me on hour long jaunts sometimes. I like to add ideas and plot notes during these trips. Love you sharing these tidbits. Happy writing!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I’ve used the voice recorder a time or two. I like it. 😉
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Teagan Geneviene
Mary, I sooo enjoyed this post! Loved the pictures too. It makes me think of 2 novellas I wrote in my late teens… In longhand (no favorite pen, all I had were the cheapest leaky pens) and on notebook paper in a red paper folder — the kind with the metal tab things to hold the paper in place.
Have a thriving Thursday. Mega hugs!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I’m happy you liked the post and pictures, Teagan. I had to dig through storage tubs to get the notebooks. I remember writing on loose-leaf paper in a binder. It was so hard to get the right position to write. 🙂 I like the legal pads because they have the rings at the top. What a pain to flip each page when you’re a fast typist. Favorite pen? I bet you collect Post-it Notes, too. I do! Thanks for commenting.
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