Most useful skill for a writer
Wed, 2006-02-22 13:48
#1
Most useful skill for a writer
Is being able to touch type. Seriously, it's brilliant.
I learnt about eight years ago using one of those CDs (I bet you can order one through amazon, using the link on here).
I now have a typing speed of around 110 words per minute. It is silly fast. It is great. It means I can often type what I am thinking at just about the same speed as I am thinking it. I find this is very useful for first drafts.
It is also useful when I write loads of stuff out by hand, which I like to do quite a lot, and then type it up. It takes minutes, and I can redraft as I go along.
So, learn to touch type. It will make you happy!
archergirl
I took touch typing as a class in junior high when I was thirteen. I can't believe people actually type things like books and dissertations using the old two-fingers approach, or worse, like my boss, who types with ONLY ONE HAND. Madness.
Still, I can't beat your time, fergal! I'm on about 60 wpm (without error; if I include the errors it's probably faster....).
rokkitnite
I'm all about the hunt and peck approach.
And yes, you can turn that into a euphemism for sexual incompentence if you so wish.
fergal
The cool thing about touch typing is that you never have to look at your fingers.
Hunt and Peck? Were'nt they famous 'comedians' in the 1980s?
Foster
in a thread a month or so ago, i listed "typing" as the most useful thing i learned in school...and it really was.
iceman
I can't touch type, it hasn't stopped me from writing. Hmm, maybe I can touch type with two fingers. Is this even possible? I have never checked how many words I can write a minute, but this post took me less than a minute to write =D
maddan
I taught myself to touch type a few years ago. I type words (and numbers, and sometimes strange symbols) for a living, so doing it fast is a good thing.
That said, one of the best engineers I know never uses the keyboard, he coded entirely by copying and pasting letters from other windows with the mouse.
Now if only I could learn to spel.
tom_saunders
I type very slowly with two fingers - fortunately I think even slower.
Visit my blog: http://whatisthisstrangeplace.blogspot.com/