Are you an experienced writer looking to learn how to become a faster typer? Don’t worry as we’re here to help. Read through this article to get the scoop on useful tips that’ll help you increase your typing speed!
7 Steps on How to Become a Faster Typer (Writer)
Step 1: Sit up Straight
To learn how to become a faster typer, the first thing to do is sit up straight. The right posture can help improve your concentration and boost your typing efficiency.
- To get into the right typing position, here’s what you have to do:
- Sit back at least most 70 cm from your computer
- Keep your back straight and shoulders relaxed
- Plant your feet shoulder-width apart and flat on the floor
- Rest your wrists on the same level as your keyboard (your elbows should form a 90-degree angle)
- Arch your fingers above the keys
- Tilt your head down to get a good view of the screen
Tip: Adjust your seat’s height, so your elbows form a 90-degree angle when you rest your arms on your keyboard.
Step 2: Get a Comfortable Keyboard
Once you’re in the correct typing position, check if your keyboard is comfortable to type with.
Begin by typing a few sentences using your current keyboard. At this point, don’t worry about your typing speed just yet.
As you’re typing, are you having a hard time reaching specific keys? Do you find that the keys are too small for your fingers?
If you’re feeling discomfort on your fingers and wrists as you’re typing on your current keyboard, consider replacing it with a better one. There are many types of keyboards available in the market today. Find one that lets your fingers reach the keys with ease and gives you enough space to rest your wrists on.
Step 3: Benchmark Your Initial Typing Speed
If you want to know how to become a faster typer, you’ll want to know what your current typing speed is. Doing so helps you establish your current standing and allows you to assess your progress.
A popular way to measure your typing speed is by counting how many words per minute (WPM) you can type. For this test, a word is defined as a string that contains at least five (5) characters, including spaces and punctuation marks.
Follow these steps to calculate your WPM:
- Set a timer to last one minute
- Type as many words as you can type over one minute
- Count one word for every five consecutive characters (include spaces and punctuations)
- Divide your word count by five
While you can determine typing speed manually, there are websites you can log that do your WPM calculations for you. Here’s a list of sites you can visit and try right now:
Having a 30-35 WPM typing speed indicates a slow typer. Meanwhile, people with an average typing speed clock in at 40-45 WPM. Anything faster than 45 WPM is considered a fast typing speed.
Once you know what your current typing speed in WPM is, make sure to write it down. Refer to this number every time you train to improve your typing speed.
Trivia: The fastest English typing speed was recorded at 216 WPM. That’s almost five times faster than the average typing speed!
Step 4: Type with All 10 Fingers
After benchmarking your current typing speed, it’s time to practice typing faster. To do this, you have correctly placed your fingers on the keys.
Take a closer look at your keyboard. You’ll see that the F and J keys have little bumps on them. These bumps remind you to place your index fingers on these keys—the left index on F, and the right index on the J.
Allow the fingers on your left hand to lay naturally on top of the keys to the left of F. Do the same with your right hand’s fingers. Rest your other fingertips on the keys to the right of J. Finally, rest both your thumbs comfortably on the spacebar.
Assuming this typing position every time you type allows you to use all your 10 fingers. With all your fingers moving, you’ll be able to cover all the keys on your keyboard, which helps increase your typing speed.
Step 5: Practice Touch Typing
Touch typing is the best way to learn how to become a fast typer. As its name implies, touch typing is your ability to type without glancing at the keyboard.
Learning how to become a faster typer through touch typing takes practice. With touch typing, you’ve memorized the keyboard well enough, so you never look down when you’re working. Not having to glance at the keyboard saves you a lot of time, and lets you concentrate on what you’re typing.
There are many free modules and programs you can access online to help you learn how to touch type. Here are some popular websites to help you get started:
It takes practice to learn how to touch type. It’s all about developing muscle memory in your hands and fingers, so hours won’t cut it. Practice this habitually until you get the hang of it.
Tip: Start slow. It takes time to know where the keys are without having to look at them. Once you’ve memorized where each key is, then you can work on improving your typing speed.
Step 6: Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboards have built-in shortcuts for a reason. Since your hands are already on the keys, it makes no sense to lift them and grab the mouse or swipe the touchpad.
Mastering many keyboard shortcuts helps eliminate the time you spend fumbling with your mouse or scratching at your touchpad. Here are some common keyboard shortcuts you can use on both a Windows or Mac keyboard:
- Copy: Ctrl + C or Command + C
- Cut: Ctrl + X or Command + X
- Paste: Ctrl + V or Command + V
- Save: Ctrl + S or Command + S
- Undo: Ctrl + Z or Command + Z
- Find: Ctrl + F or Command + F
- Highlight All Text: Ctrl + A or Command + A
On Windows keyboards, there are special keys dedicated to performing certain functions on webpages and word documents. Memorizing where they are on your keyboard can also help you save time as you’re typing:
- Home: Places your cursor at the beginning of a line of text
- End: Places your cursor at the end of a line of text
- Page Up: Scrolls up your page
- Page Down: Scrolls down your page
- Delete: Deletes characters to the right of your cursor
- Backspace: Deletes characters to the left of your cursor
Many touch-typing training modules also teach you how to key in keyboard shortcuts. Make sure to learn these moves as well, so you can increase your typing efficiency.
Tip: You don’t have to memorize all the keyboard shortcuts your computer offers. As a writer, we recommend remembering the shortcuts that enable you to copy, cut, and paste lines of texts. The Save keyboard shortcut also comes in handy for when you’re writing drafts or finalizing manuscripts.
Step 7: Monitor Your Typing Speed
As you practice touch typing and using keyboard shortcuts, you’ll notice your typing accuracy and speed start to improve over time. The more frequent you practice, the better you’ll get at it.
To know how much you’ve improved, take the speed typing test after every week of practicing. Compare your current WPM count with the one you recorded during your first take.
If the improvement is significant, congratulations! However, if you noticed that your typing speed didn’t change by much, or worse, went down, don’t fret.
The key to success is to keep on practicing. Redo each touch typing module until you master it. You can try these typing games to help keep each touch typing session entertaining:
As a writer, you know just how important it is to type as fast as you think. You can forget novel ideas at a drop of a hat if your fingers can’t keep up with your thoughts. Sitting up straight, getting a comfortable keyboard, and learning how to touch type are ways you can train to increase your typing speed. With these seven steps and constant practice, you’ll learn how to become a faster typer in no time.
What other things have you done to help you learn how to become a faster typer? Share your tips in the comments section below!
