I ask because sometimes, if I'm hammering out a first draft, I focus on the keyboard and transcribe everything that comes out of my head. I don't mind typos and all since I'm focusing on putting down the first draft, which I'll revise on the second draft. Looking at the keyboard shuts-up the inner editor in me. Thoughts?
I'm used to touch typing so....I look at the screen xD Even if I do see a typo, I usually just keep typing anyway. If you prefer not to look at the screen, why not just turn it off? (Well, if you're using a PC...)
I thought of turning the monitor off, but I kept it on just to make sure that I am writing it in Word. Damn pop-ups and notifications. Norton AntiVirus 11th-thousand has a new update, proceed?
I read the screen as I type. Typos are pretty quick to fix and don't interfere with my thought process as I type around 90 wpm.
i'm a touch typist, so don't have to look at the keys until i have to type numbers [never got those factored into my 'touch']... i watch the screen, to catch typos...
I can usually touch type, for the most part. Once in a while I'll have to look down for a word i'm not used to typing. But, yeah, I like to see what i'm writing as i'm writing it.
Thanks all. I just did an experiment lately with this. I can type without looking at the screen, but when I start out with a new story, I tried typing without looking at the screen. I'm not sure if this is okay, or if it's detrimental. But so far I did 500 words in 30 minutes.
I glance back and forth from the keyboard to the screen quite quickly. I think not looking at the screen is an excellent way to get that first draft punched out though!
i'm pretty much a touch typist who looks up to check for typos when I work. I had a mother who was a typist to teach me. I just don't use the exact same technique.
I find myself trying to watch both at the same time. It gets quite frustrating sometimes. I can't help but fix things as I'm going along... I really need to try and fix that.
I think that writing without looking at the keyboard is something you achieve after spending time writing with it. I have pretty much mastered the technique, although I still glance at it for the harder symbols sometimes (like € and }).
When I'm improvising at the keyboard, I usually look at the screen. But often I'm transcribing my handwritten text from my notebook, so I'm looking at the notebook, not the keyboard and not the screen.
Can I say the space between the screen and my eyes? I can get this thousand mile stare happening when I am writing large blocks of text. It will lead to some errors and things to go back over. I find it quicker to do and redo than do it right once.
I don't usually pay attention to either i just get the flow of my thoughts flowing out my fingers to the keys and am usually playing peek a boo or something with my kids...as my mother says i'm one of those people who can rub my belly and pat my head while chewing gum and reading a book...I mentally can't focus on any one thing it drives me to boredom
I really couldn't tell you what I do, other than I rarely have to look at the keyboard, if at all, to type anything. My problem is, I do not type the way you are supposed to. I type with half of my right hand, and my entire left hand. Not sure how this happened, but years of being on computers, playing games, and working on things for school have programmed me to type in such a way. I can type pretty fast, even for not making use of my entire right hand, especially with my left. And if I mis-type someting, I delete and fix it. When I'm writing a draft, whether a first or third, I still look at the screen when I type, though I may look off to the side, or stare at my keyboard, not to figure out what I'm typing, but because I'm thinking of what I'm attempting to describe, wordchoice, visualizing the scene, and the list goes on.
I hand-write my first draft of my novels so I tend to look down at what I am typing up and not on the keys. My fingers know where the keys are and the rest I can do by not looking at the screen.
Uninstall Norton Anti-Virus, it's a rubbish programme. Try Comodo Internet Security instead - it's free - that's what my husband installed for me and he works in IT. Or my family likes AVG and they used that for several years, also free. Neither bothers you with a million updates And I look at the screen actually, and occasionally glance down at the keyboard just to double make sure I'm typing the right letter lol cus I can't touch type but I know the keyboard well enough not to look most of the time, especially if I'm on a roll It'd be pretty weird not to look at the screen tbh and I hate typos.
I look at the screen all the time, never at the keyboard, unless my fingers aren't positioned correctly. I can touch-type. I've never tested my WPM, but I think I'm pretty fast. Thank goodness for the Mavis Beacon computer game. Though, it was pure torture! I nearly jumped every time it would yell out that I misspelled a word and cry when it would make me start all over again! Ah well, I owe it all to my mom for making me do it everyday. It was tough, but it was worth it.
Yeah, I'm up around that mark. It's funny, this post made me go online and look for exercises showing the 'proper' finger placement for the right hand, because I pretty much use my right pinky for shift when I need to capitalize anything, and mostly my index and middle finger, while my left hand does the rest. Typing properly, I average like 25-55 wpm, sometimes a little faster depending on the drill. But, when I cast aside all proper technique, and just went at it, I hit around 98 with very few mistakes.. It also made me laugh, because of the order and positioning of letters in certain words, I often mess them up. This thread is probably going to make me start looking into typing more properly, or at least attempting to do it more efficiently. Thank you, OP.
