How I Turned My Pixelbook Into a Creative Writing Machine

Four easy steps to transform an old laptop into a dedicated writing tool

Sometime in the Spring, as I was working through a writing course, I got on Twitter to aimlessly express my wish for a writing tool that lay somewhere in between paper and computers — something faster than writing, but without the distractions inherent in a machine with a display and keyboard.

In the replies, a longtime Twitter mutual suggested trying an electronic typewriter. My brain immediately lit up with the image (and, more importantly, sound) of the electric typewriter in our house when I was a kid. I pictured myself, in my own living room, clacking away at the keys while the typewriter’s motor droned. I then pictured my neighbors knocking on the door to politely ask what was going on. But, after a few minutes of Googling, I discovered something else: portable word processors.

I dived down the rabbit hole on specialized typing hardware — old and new, LCD and E Ink, even a portable word processor that folds…