"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Monday, October 28, 2013

What's Your Typing Speed?

How are your typing skills?  I found this link to a speed test thanks to Lydia Kang at The Word Is My Oyster, and decided to test myself. I used to be pretty fast in college (80-100wpm depending on how much dorm craziness went on the night before). I clocked in at 70wpm, with no mistakes, so I guess I still have it. When you think about it, the keyboard is rather marvelous, one of the few technological advances that have not changed since its invention.

If you want to clock your speed, here's the link. It's easy and fun and I figure good practice.

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php

My writing didn't take off until we bought our first computer and I discovered Word. I LOVED it. My words could finally keep pace with the thoughts in my head. That's the kind of writer I am. What about you? Do you, can you, write stories in long-hand, the old-fashioned way?

9 comments:

Anne Gallagher said...

I haven't taken a typing test in a long time, but with the right keyboard I'd say I'm between 60-70 without mistakes. (My keyboard H sticks sometimes.)

I used to write longhand all the time, but like you, with my first computer, my mad skills took off. lol I still use pad and pen to jot down ideas and bits of conversation when they come to me.

Lydia Kang said...

Wasn't that fun? Thanks for the shout-out, Yvonne! And yes, you still got it!

Frances Garrood said...

I'm not evne going to try, Colette, because while I type very quickly, I make so many mistakes that I'd fail miserably. I have a kind of typing dyslexia: all the right letters, but in the wrong order :(

Frances Garrood said...

PS you see? I even did it in the above reply, AND I checked it carefully. Sigh.

Anthony Duce said...

I still type looking at the keys, using two fingers and sometime a thumb from each hand. I still compile ideas writing long hand from time to time.

Heidi said...

How fun! I do a little of both. I will sometime hand write out stories and then edit as I type. Thanks for the link!

Liza said...

I may be fast, but I make a million mistakes! But like you, the computer saves me as a writer. Otherwise the words would get away from me.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Anne,
Mad skills! I like that!! I write in a journal like you, ideas etal, and when traveling. Thanks!

Lydia,
Thank you. That was fun and it was a relief to know I was still in the ballpark.

Frances,
Who is Colette? Ha! dyslexia is it??

Anthony,
If typing with two fingers, you're better off using long hand!

Heidi,
Thanks! I thought it fun too.

Liza,
Hi! Yes, it saves me as a writer, you have it exactly right.

Other Mary said...

I too prefer writing on the computer. And with poetry it's so much easier to fiddle with lines and change them around 20 times, etc. vs. doing that with paper in pencil or pen.