Confession of an Inky-fingered writer

Iwasgoing to throwaway my keyboardbut it still works if you hit the spacebar near the middle. A good way to slow down and think what you write.

I’mobsessed with fountain pens. This more than anything else is probably my reason for scribbling voluminous notes in dozens of  orange notebooks in a near-illegible style. There’s also the vanity that when I’m gone, someone will read it with curiosity . . .

Here are my seven fountain pens, some working better than others. Trying to fix them tends to cause ink blots: on my fingers, duvet covers, the floor carpet and my clothes. A lesson here: don’t fix it if it ain’t broke; and if it doesn’t work well enough, leave well alone.

• Lamy NEXX, bought in a John Lewis sale, 11 years ago
• Lamy Safari, bought twice after one of the many times the Nexx had gone missing. I left the the first one on a ledge at the bus station. I write everywhere I get the chance
• Parker IM Fountain Pen: black lacquer with gold trim in gift box
• Parker Jotter, bought recently after problems with the above
• green Dryden, bought after problems with the red
• red Dryden, given free to replace the original black one
• my original black Dryden, bought 9 years ago found again today under a wardrobe where it had lain for the last two years. Long before this, its refiller plunger had broken off, but I glued it back on. It’s lasted till now .

I’ve ordered an ergonomic keyboard, similar to the one one I bought in another life, when I was typing and ultimately typesetting my only published book. Here’s  the blurb:

Sebert Graham’s laughter pervades this tale of a Jamaican immigrant who sailed to Britain in 1960. He found work easily and his employers soon recognised his potential and he found himself as mayor of his local town. This book was distilled from his conversations with Ian Mulder. Ian distilled their 40 hours of audiotape into this record of their shared journey, which will entertain and inform all who are interested in the quaint traditions and constant transformation of the United Kingdom through the decades.

I’m not proud of the content: essentially it was a vanity project for Hansib published at great expense. But we became friends and I charged him only £1000 for many weeks’ work. 

And of course this blog is a vanity project; or to put it more politely, a harmless hobby.

Anyhow, after this digression, here’s the new keyboard I’ve ordered: