Megan O'Reilly

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

"I didn't know what 'right' was, of course-but I did have several hundred pages of 'wrong'."-OSC

#writerslife #truth

@orsonscottcard

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

To George and Laura, Bill and Hillary — we're grateful for your friendship, counsel, and devotion to this country. And to Joe and Jill, thank you for being on this journey with us.

[Orson Scott Card @orsonscottcard]

“To get away from the distractions available on screens, what about using a typewriter to write?”

I remember when electric typewriters weren’t on the horizon for me. I learned on a genuinely old-fashioned manual typewriter, where you had to strike the keys with hammer strength. CorrecTape and Liquid Paper were miracles to people trained on typewriter erasers (horribly ugly erasure marks were inescapable). Then came the Selectric, with no more jams (though you could sometimes outtype the Selectric’s internal computer, so letter you typed in the right order could show up on the paper in the wrong order).

I still own a workable manual typewriter, because, you know, electricity is not guaranteed in the future. But I loved loved loved my self-correcting Selectric, and the last Selectric models before the computer/word processor revolution.

Still, much as I loved my highly-advanced IBM typewriters, I bought my Altos computer running CP/M and Wordstar the first moment that I could afford a microcomputer. I kept upgrading and prices kept falling, so for the $10,000 I paid for my first computer/monitor/printer setup I could now purchase five to ten far superior laptops. So no, I don’t want to go back to typewriters.

During all my years with ever-improving typewriters, I never abandoned the notebook-pencil-and-pen that had been my tools as a playwright, poet, and short story writer. For what it’s worth, I never had to recharge my notebook, though I did have to replace pen and pencil from time to time. And my mom seemed genuinely to enjoy typing my manuscripts from my handwritten originals. No computer AI can come close to my mother’s skill and intelligence in reading a handwritten original and putting it in excellent format on paper. I type very well and very quickly, but my mom left me in the dust. From her I learned that instead of mucky erasures or liquid paper corrections, it was better to retype the whole page. I never cut and pasted my typed manuscripts. I just retyped from the start, with far better results.

Sure. Go back to typewriters. Or write by hand. Or … stick with the computer where corrections are clean and auto-correct is always there to turn your unusual words into completely wrong “corrections.”

[Orson Scott Card @orsonscottcard]

Books that have not lost their appeal after multiple readings:

Pride & Prejudice

Lord of the Rings

The Stormlight Archive

The Trees, The Fields, The Town, by Richter

The Princess Bride

Gone with the Wind

The play The Importance of Being Ernest

The Book of Ruth

Dawn's Early Light and Yankee Stranger by Elswyth Thane (I read both a dozen times in my childhood)

I Am the Cheese by Cormier

Cold Sassy Tree

Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Galactic Derelict by Norton

Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy

All of Mary Renault's Ancient Greece novels (notably The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea, The Last of the Wine, The Persian Boy)

I also include these recordings, as they are all storytelling, and I listen to them over and over with undiminishing pleasure:

“Poor Jud Is Dead” from Oklahoma!

Man of La Mancha, play and original Broadway cast album

Judy Collins: the albums Wildflowers and Judith, every track.

Joni Mitchell: the album Court and Spark, every track

Kismet: original Broadway cast album, every track

Wicked: original Broadway cast album, every track

Neil Young: Harvest Moon, every track

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman

[Orson Scott Card @orsonscottcard]

Don't fret that when you are old and limited or uncomfortable, you'd rather be dead. Find ways to be glad, and make others glad, that you're alive.

[Kevin Durant @KDTrey5]

I love that the @wnba is back. Wishing everyone a healthy season. Let’s go

[Tim Walz @Tim_Walz]

Elon Musk is a terrible president.

[Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx @CraigBaird]

What is Canada's Greatest Song?
ROUND THREE

Each song chosen from the list by a random number generator. Two polls per day.
Winning song moves on to Round 4.
#CanadasGreatestSong

Song info & videos in 🧵👇

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@iKissKarlnapity @ashtree17

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@zoelyons @stephencomedy Love this podcast!! Hilarious every time 😆

[Lisa Owens @lamowens]

is there a more ungainly spelling than 'eighth', utter chaos from letter to letter

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@TMurray06 😍

[Dave Coulier @DaveCoulier]

I'm so sorry. Jeff Daniels is already my doppelgänger. https://t.co/ckIcbUDIoh

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@TMurray06

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@TMurray06 Preposterous

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@TMurray06 I fully support you in this endeavor!!!

[Megan O'Reilly @MeganKO]

@TMurray06 OMG you totally are!!!