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When I first saw the EverType, I had no idea the revelation that was to follow. All I knew was that I needed one. I messaged the inventor and maker, Mark, who runs a typewriter shop on Etsy called Mahogany Rhino. He listed it at $65 plus shipping. Not cheap, but I’m sure it took him a while to craft this unique typewriter accessory. It also comes with a 98 foot roll of paper.
He suggested it’d be good as a wedding guest book. These seem to be the rage these days. Setup a decorative table with a typewriter where guests type messages to the newlyweds. Not my line of business.
The only thing that came to mind was not having to keep a stack of paper next to my typewriter. Still vague. I could get a ream of paper much cheaper than the EverType. So, really it was an impulsive whim.
When it arrived, Mark had it nicely packed with instructions. This came in handy because it wasn’t obvious how to thread the paper and attach to the uptake spindle. Easily and with scotch tape. Then I began to type. In order to keep the paper aligned with the carriage that moves back and forth, the EverType is mounted on a swivel base. That way, as the carriage moves, the EverType rotates along with it. It’s not an elegant solution, but it works. The paper twists quite a bit and makes a crinkling sound when you return the carriage.
OK, so it worked. But I still wasn’t getting the, why would I ever use this thing?
I kept typing to see how the uptake roll would work. It worked just fine. I increased the pace, mainly gibberish, to see if I could make the EverType fail. Then it hit me.
Hadn’t someone famous written on rolls of paper? Stream of consciousness type of writing. Of course! Jack Kerouac! That’s what I was doing, just typing without fear of running out of paper. It’s like a scrolling computer screen, but when you’re on a typewriter, you need to interrupt your thoughts to load the next sheet of paper.
The more I typed, the more it came to me. Perhaps it wasn’t the Kerouac style I was after, but the disappearance of what I’d written. As you know, I’m big on distraction free writing with a typewriter. The EverType brings distraction free to another level!
Bear with me, pilgrim, and you’ll see the magic. The life altering magic of the EverType. OK, maybe not that big, but who knows, perhaps for you?
We’ve all heard of that annual rite of passage known as National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. 50,000 words in November. Just slam it down. Get it out. Get it done. Great!
You might get some momentum the first few days. But you will go back and read what you’ve written and when you do, that little critic in your head is going to tell you it’s total crap. You’ll go on, because you’ve pledged to your writing mates that you’ll make the goal. But the word count will suffer. Perhaps to motivate yourself, you’ll read what you’ve got so far. Bad idea. It’s not pretty. What were you thinking, Jack? You’re a hack! Stop this nonsense before it gets out of hand. Discipline, young Jedi. Don’t fall into that trap. Ignore what you’ve written. The EverType will help. Once your writing disappears on the uptake roll, it’s gone. Forgotten. You can’t read it until December 1st. Your goal, my friend, is to fill the roll. Simple. It’s about 100 pages. Do the math, that’s 500 words a page at single space. You’ve hit 50,000!
Bottom line, the EverType works.
Typewriter Review 
Daniel that is pretty cool. The one reason that I wouldn’t use one is that I almost always load the typewriter with two sheets of paper to reduce platen wear. But if not for that, I would probably get one and channel my inner Kerouac!
Daniel, another fun post! It’s great you mention NaNoWriMo. My good friend Grant Faulkner (what a name for a writer) is the director of the project here in the Bay Area. I am forwarding your creative “plug” to him directly!
Very cool! I made a non-swivelling paper roll holder for 6″ wide white paper rolls (available at Napa auto painting supply store as masking paper). The narrower width works better for blog posts. Mine doesn’t swivel, I just place it far enough behind the typewriter. And being thinner paper, less problems.
I agree with you about the typing style with one of these rolls, you just keep typing and typing, stream of consciousness.
For platen wear, just tape a piece of paper to the platen first.
Great idea!
I’m intrigued. Being an active typist now I was just introduced to this idea last week after telling a friend about my new my new book project that I’m writing with a typewriter. Typewriters: they’re like stray cats, I’m up to four. And he was like you mean like Jack Kerouac? And today I find this post! Awesome!
$65 for what is just a glorified kitchen towel holder? You can get that for less than $10. For $65, I’d want an attachment that could connect it to the carriage and wheels on it moving it from side to side so the paper didn’t crinkle. It’s not exactly rocket science to make one. I’ll make one when spring comes and it’s warm enough for me to work in my garage again after winter.
Game on! Bring on the new and improved infinite writing machine!