The Keystrokes Journal

Writing, Machines & the Analogue Life

Essays, interviews, and field notes from the world of typewriters and the writers who use them.

"The Typewriter Forces You to Commit": A Conversation with Novelist Elena Marsh

Elena Marsh has written four novels on the same 1958 Olympia SM3. We visited her studio in Vermont to talk about slowness, revision, and why she'll never switch to a screen.

James Calloway12 min readJuly 10, 2026

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Typewriter History

The Olympia SM Series: A Brief History of Germany's Most Beloved Portable

From the SM1 of 1950 to the SM9 of the 1980s, the Olympia SM line defined what a portable typewriter could be. We trace its evolution decade by decade.

Clara Hoffmann8 min readJuly 7, 2026

Restoration Projects

Bringing a 1962 Royal Quiet Deluxe Back from the Dead

It arrived in a shoebox, keys frozen, platen cracked, and smelling of a garage. Six weeks later it types better than the day it left the factory. Here's how.

Marcus Webb10 min readJuly 3, 2026

Writing Inspiration

The Case for Typing Your First Draft

There's a reason so many writers swear by the typewriter for first drafts. It's not nostalgia — it's physics. The resistance of the keys changes how you think.

Nadia Kowalski6 min readJune 28, 2026

Collecting Guides

Starting a Typewriter Collection: What to Buy First

You don't need a warehouse or a fortune. A thoughtful collection of five machines can cover every era and style. Here's where we'd start if we were starting over.

James Calloway9 min readJune 22, 2026

Typewriter History

Hermes 3000: The Machine That Writers Called Perfect

The Swiss-made Hermes 3000 earned a cult following among journalists and novelists alike. We look at what made it so exceptional — and why good ones are getting harder to find.

Clara Hoffmann7 min readJune 15, 2026

Writing Inspiration

On Correspondence: Why We Started Writing Letters Again

A letter typed on a real machine, sealed and posted, carries a weight that no email can match. Three of our customers share the correspondence that changed their writing lives.

Nadia Kowalski5 min readJune 8, 2026

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