Writers at Work

User avatar
Muirium
µ

21 Jul 2014, 18:44

Great little site full of just what it claims.

Vonnegut:
Image
Whose room is too awesome, even if he doesn't have a computer.

Roberto Bolaño has one of the few keyboards that isn't a typewriter on the site.
Image

And Stephen King, naturally.
Image

George Plimpton's got some multimedia going on in, 1990s style.
Image

But the computers are fairly few and far between. It's mostly typewriter porn, and more than just a little of the old pen and paper…

Larry McMurtry, one of many featured whose home looks like a library.
Image

Peter Carey, with ladder.
Image

And Thornton Wilder, breaking the trend.
Image

But the prize for best office goes to Dalton Trumbo.
Image
Can't beat working from the bathtub.

Found via Craig Mod on Twitter.

User avatar
Grond

21 Jul 2014, 19:26

Good post! Thanks for sharing.

User avatar
Dubsgalore

21 Jul 2014, 19:47

thanks for posting these - these are always fun to look at

I like seeing photos of programmers/writers in their setups..and their keyboards too

oddly fun to look at

User avatar
Muirium
µ

21 Jul 2014, 19:49

Indeed. The typewriters are quaint, but I remember my own experiences with them, which were maddening!

Meanwhile, if anyone sees a writer typing on an SSK, I will be compelled to read their work.

User avatar
SL89

21 Jul 2014, 19:55

What kind of computer is it that Stephen King has?

User avatar
Muirium
µ

21 Jul 2014, 20:17

Teletyping Mr_A500 or anyone else with a clue!

Looks a bit like an HP system I saw in storage once. But the picture's too small for me to know.

mr_a500

21 Jul 2014, 20:33

Muirium wrote: Teletyping Mr_A500 or anyone else with a clue!

Looks a bit like an HP system I saw in storage once. But the picture's too small for me to know.
Did somebody teletype me? I've seen many similar terminals, but it's too hard to tell from that distance. The monitor shape reminds me of one of the Beehive terminals.
Muirium wrote: But the prize for best office goes to Dalton Trumbo.
Image
Can't beat working from the bathtub.
You got that right.
Max Headroom keyboard.jpg

User avatar
Muirium
µ

21 Jul 2014, 20:45

Knew that would work. There are few things quite so effective at snatching a man's attention than unexpected noises from his teletype!

User avatar
webwit
Wild Duck

21 Jul 2014, 21:31

Hemingway.

Image

Roald Dahl.

Image

Mark Twain.

Image

Image

User avatar
Muirium
µ

21 Jul 2014, 22:19

Notoriously dynamic, Hem could write standing up, too…

Image

User avatar
Halvar

21 Jul 2014, 23:29

They spend such a lot of time there. Some of these pictures don't look like anyone could stand working there for a longer time. And I don't mean the bathtub.

I won't bore you with German writers nobody knows... Instead, maybe not quite as inspiring, but brand new:

Linus Torvalds' workplace.

User avatar
webwit
Wild Duck

21 Jul 2014, 23:44

I once read some research that it is a bad idea to drink cold water in meetings and such, because that lowers your IQ a couple of points for some time after consumption. This is because part of the capacity of your brain, without you knowing it, is wasted on processing this matter with a temperature alien to your body's temperature. So I wonder if likewise, it's a bad idea to stand while doing work with your brain. Part of your brain will be occupied with beating gravity.

mr_a500

21 Jul 2014, 23:58

Yeah, but if you're sitting, part of your brain is wondering why your ass hurts so much.

I'd like to hold a meeting while suspended in a tank, like this:
Image

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 00:20

It's a bad idea to drink "cold water" in meetings in Scotland, that's for sure.

User avatar
Daniel Beardsmore

22 Jul 2014, 00:52

:D

mtl

22 Jul 2014, 03:48

Image

And one with the keyboard:

Image

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 04:00

Ebert, you great nerd!

What sweet keyboard is that he has? Blue on blue…

mr_a500

22 Jul 2014, 14:47

Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury liked their Selectrics:
Image
Image

Douglas Adams with an original Macintosh (DEC VT100 in the background)
Image

Arthur C. Clarke on his Kaypro II:
Image
Image
Last edited by mr_a500 on 22 Jul 2014, 15:13, edited 2 times in total.

mr_a500

22 Jul 2014, 14:52

Dick Van Dyke signs his much used Amiga 4000T before selling it:
Image
(Too bad the Amiga 4000 had a rather crappy Mitsumi keyboard... but I think Dick used the mouse more - for his 3D renders and video work.)

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 15:43

Adventures with trying to get in touch with Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka via Kaypro:

http://www.davidrothman.com/jungle.html

Decades later, he had an iMac G5. With perhaps my least favourite keyboard of all time, incidentally…

Image

Douglas Adams had, supposedly, the very first Macintosh sold in Britain. Stephen Fry claims he was next in line behind him for the second.

http://www.stephenfry.uk/2014/01/24/mac-at-30/

User avatar
Grond

22 Jul 2014, 15:52

While computers evolve, Arthur C. Clarke remains remarkably the same! :D

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 15:56

Indeed. My favourite picture of him, from 1968!

Image

Clarke was the quintessential hairless gentleman. He seemed to sidestep time itself.

Image

mr_a500

22 Jul 2014, 15:57

Muirium wrote: Decades later, he had an iMac G5. With perhaps my least favourite keyboard of all time, incidentally…
I know. I wanted a Mac in the late 90's/early 00's and I used to go to the local Apple authorised resellers (pre-Apple Store days) to check out the latest Macs. When I first saw that keyboard, I thought, "What a cheap piece of shit." It was the beginning of my disappointment in the cheapening of Apple products. I decided to not waste money on a Mac, upgraded my Amiga and used that for another decade. That shit keyboard (along with a horrible Compaq... Comcrapq) was what started my transformation into a rubber-dome-loathing keyboard freak. (from which now there is no escape)

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 16:02

It was my induction into actually noticing what I was typing on, too. Rare is the board which looks so good (for the first few seconds out the shrinkwrap) but feels so intensely shite.

mr_a500

22 Jul 2014, 16:17

Arthur C. Clarke also had an Amiga (after Kaypro, before Mac). Here he is talking about fractals:

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2014, 16:43

Speaking of fractals, Benoît Mandelbrot, the man himself, was a bit of a Clarke lookalike in his latter days.

Image

He worked at IBM so we can rest assured he had his share of great keyboards. Although I can't seem to find a picture of him actually using one! Well, besides…

Image

His Fractal Geometry of Nature is a classic read, by the way. And has one of the best introductions I've seen:
Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line.

User avatar
Madhias
BS TORPE

23 Jul 2014, 01:00

Did we have Terry Pratchett in here? He has a serious desk setup!

Image

Image

User avatar
scottc

23 Jul 2014, 01:07

Holy shit, those monitors! I can't ID the keyboard, but if you're using a beige keyboard with a six-monitor setup, it's probably a nice keyboard.

User avatar
Madhias
BS TORPE

23 Jul 2014, 01:42

For sure it's ISO.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

23 Jul 2014, 02:36

I wonder if he just kept it going…

Image

Nah, scratch that. The board he's got in the modern pictures has an extra bit of bodywork at the top this old one does not. Did anyone watch the documentary and remember whether there's some good closeups?

Some writers do stick to the same keyboard for decades. Well, John Gruber still uses an Apple Extended II to write Daring Fireball, at least.

Post Reply

Return to “Gallery”