The person I quoted got 129wpm lol. I think time limit is a big factor though. Typing like that for one minute is fine, but I couldn't have kept that speed up for much longer I think. I was getting tired and could feel my fingers losing their touch, as it were - not quite as sure I've got the right letters. It would probably be a better indicator of one's speed if it took an average wpm count over 10min or so.
Haha! Now I'm curious what other writers' typing speed is I kinda always thought of myself as a fast typer but I thought that was more just what I liked to think as opposed to it actually being true lol. I thought most people probably typed like me?
I got 85 words per minute with zero errors, and I don't think I'm a very fast typist. Probably "average" includes people who are TERRIBLE typists, people typing with cats on their laps, etc.
I can type without looking, but... My method of writing books involves very intense and complicated editing. If I went blind, I’d probably switch to poetry.
@BayView Following up on my question yesterday (How long have you been writing for), I'm ridiculously curious to ask - Why m/m romance? Where did you find the idea and inspiration (If any) for writing that particular genre?
I stumbled into it from fanfiction... just thought I'd give it a try. I do write other stuff (m/f romance, YA) but honestly, I find the readers of m/m romance are WAY more open to interesting, non-traditional romantic heroes, and I really like that. I can write m/m heroes who are drug addicts, prostitutes, etc., not just billionaires and cowboys. I like the freedom!
Wow... That's interesting. Hadn't even thought of that. I don't see any of your m/f books pop up in the Amazon link "thingy" here on the forums. Could you give me a link to one of them? Or are they on Amazon too?
Different pen name... and I may not have posted them, here. m/f is under Cate Cameron. I'm also Catherine Dale, but she hasn't done much, yet.
You're quite right. To get 129 wpm I have to really, really focus. In fact, by the end of it my heart rate has gone up quite a lot. A good technique to practice is to look at the screen and take 5 words in, then look down at the keyboard (not cheating) write those 5 words and before you've written the last of those 5, look back up again. It's hard to explain as it all goes so fast, but you can get really proficient at clearing a line on 10 Fast Fingers insanely quickly if you do this. It's taken me over 500 recorded tests, 99.9% of which are above 100, to get to 129. That's my best so far and I've not been able to beat it in years. There's also an advanced typing test which is much, much harder. It uses longer words and random capitalizations. Edit: For anyone interested, to get a good idea of what 100+ looks like, try finding videos on Youtube of people typing in real life. Edit 2: By the way, I don't use homerow or any other standard typing method... I just use a random mix of fingers, not even all of them.
Blindness? Voice recognition software and computer generated voice playback. I would be more upset about not being able to bike anymore. Helen Keller became a writer. Typing? I went to high school in an age when it was almost all girls in typing classes. Computers were massive devices that read punch cards. Over the years I have become a quite adept "speed pecker", sometimes using up to three fingers on each hand. Speed? 20 WPM when I get a good flow going. Accuracy? Thank the gods for spell check and auto connect.
I got as fast as I did by not really reading the words anymore. I guess like you said, sorta "take in" a row of words - although I only did 2-3 words at a time like that. I didn't look at the keyboard though. But any time I made a mistake, I froze for a few seconds and I only realised I made a mistake because the software in the test told me (by highlighting the word in red or crossing the word out or some other indicator) - I wouldn't have known otherwise. How come you practised so hard at typing?? Is it for your job or it's just some kind of personal challenge? (like one time I made it my personal challenge to memorise all 50 US states after forgetting Texas one time lol)
Oh, it's just a personal challenge. I remember being at around 80 wpm when I was 15 and I'm now 24. Hopefully I can get to 150wpm one day although I suspect my typing method has reached its physical limit. I think the world class pros use homerow and other methods, whereas I just type in a weird eclectic sort of way without much thought. It's all just muscle memory.
I wandered off and found a random typing test where I got a score of 97wpm. Last time I tested my typing it was 110wpm. Since I've been typing more, not less, since last time, I suspect that the format of the test (itty bitty typing space, can't correct a word after I've gone past it) is affecting the result. I make a lot (A LOT) of errors; I'd guess that my sheer typing speed is more like 130wpm before subtracting errors.
I do about 40 wpm as a three finger typist if i'm transcribing or copying. If i'm writing my own work i'm slower on average because i have to think about what goes where and go back and edit and so on
I just got 42 wpm, not very fast for a person who is constantly writing/programming/playing games on their computer
Same here. I have no particular typing method. Just whichever finger feels the most natural. I seem to use more fingers on my right hand than my left. I suspect if I'd actually learnt how to touch-type, I'd be much faster. But then, I type for the pleasure of writing, not for a job, so who cares @ChickenFreak - but I think the wpm count is more meaningful if you subtract errors. I mean, who cares how many words you can type if it's all misspelt...? Not terribly useful for anything except perhaps your own diary.
Right. I was 110 after correcting errors while typing—so, 110 correct words in that minute, achieved by typing rapidly and backspacing-and-retyping rapidly. I was just musing that I correct so many errors to get to that 110 that my actual speed of fingers on keyboard is likely a good deal faster. The Backspace key is likely my most frequently used key.
I don't think I would ever stop making up stories in my head, and writing it down is a way to "unload" the brain for me. So while being blind and fingerless might stop me from doing the actually writing, it would just mean I'd had more things cramped up in my brain! I draw, make jewelries, make over furniture and anything new I can come to think of. Being creative is a sort of "high" for me. If I can't do creative things I get restless and my anxiety goes through the roof. So doing creative things is the only thing I've found that keep me relatively happy and sane. Writing is the longest lasting thing I've found. I can't fail since I don't have any grand plans for my writing. Sure, I want to start up a project that could be worthy of publishing, but that is mostly to have some kind of goal. If I ever got a partner who didn't like me to write in my free time I'd show them the door. The writing was there first and while I could live alone, it would be harder to live without the writing. The apocalypses - I guess that would depend on if I had somewhere to write, something to write with, and any time over after a hard day of survival. I think it's quite human to keep writing down things for a possible future person to find.
