The Rights Tool For the Right Job

I'm sure I've written here endlessly about the 1930's Remington typewriter I bought (but rarely use) at Jones Typewriter in St. Louis.

And about the various Bluetooth keyboards I use that look like old Typewriters: my Qwerkywriter and my Azio Retro Classic keyboard, which I am currently using to type this. 

(And to preemptively answer your question, yes, indeed, I do also use the app iTyper for my Mac to replicate the sound of a typewriter when I write on my laptop... please don't call me a Hipster. That word offends me greatly. I am a writer and a dork. Let's leave it at that.)  

See, sometime in 2019 a key important letter keys stopped working on my 2011 MacBook Pro.

Long story short, it can't be fixed and I need to replace my (now 11-year-old) laptop (which is the main desktop computer I use at my apartment for everything... including writing). I plan to replace this laptop during Black Friday 2023 (if not sooner, depending on finances). But I digress. Since about summer or fall of 2019, I have exclusively used my Azio Retro Classic Keyboard (with its Bluetooth function) while my laptop sits (sometimes precariously) on an elevated laptop stand.

Now, my idiosyncratic (read: undiagnosed OCD) mind has been going crazy for the last few months (okay, let's be honest... years) with all the dust and debris that has collected underneath and in-between the keys of my Azio Retro Classic Keyboard.

With that said, I was about to buy a 5-in-1 Cleaning Brush to clean off my keyboard (I love finding little gadgets that show up on my Twitter feed). But then I decided to save myself the $12 (plus shipping) and use a small brush/hand-broom that I bought from the Dollar Tree some years ago. It did the job pretty nicely. 

My keyboard is clean and I feel infinitely less distracted, less pathetic, less messy, less everything negative.

The bottom line is: if you're a writer and you care about writing... then have the right tools for the right job and keep your tools well-maintained (meaning clean!).

It's not only good for the longevity of your writing tools, but it's just good decorum... and it's respectful to the tools that help you realize your inspiration in words.