Speed

How fast do you write?

I learned something about myself today.

I’ve been doing a morning writing exercise where I write 3 pages longhand as soon after I wake up as possible. For me, that means after brewing my morning cup of java and settling into my writing chair. I’ve even got a notebook dedicated to the effort and have filled 40 pages so far.

Yesterday, I decided to measure myself and see how fast I was writing.

It usually takes me about 50 minutes to write 3 pages, but I wanted a more exact measure so I counted words per line for a few lines, averaged them, and counted lines. I discovered that I could write about 17 words per minute (wpm).

Then, on a whim, I decided to measure my typing/keyboarding speed. I did that this morning and found that when composing or recording a stream of consciousness, I could type 45 wpm. So, on a good day I can type 2.7 times faster than I can write longhand. No surprise, but being an engineer/scientist, I like having hard numbers.

When I graduated typing in high school, I could blaze along at 60 wpm with no more than 1 error. I make more errors today, but I can easily correct them.

Another difference is that now, when I compose, I’m usually looking at the screen. I seldom look at my fingers. My fingers know where the keys are, except for the number keys. I have to look when I type numbers or symbols. I never mastered the number keypad, though I did get pretty good at it when I had to key in tables of numbers for work years ago. Now I only type a few numbers now and then so I cheat and look. I know it slows me down, but I’m not in a race.

I don’t know about you, but I like to measure my performance and know how good or bad I am at doing something.

I’m not particularly interested in improving on that 45 wpm, but I will probably test myself from time to time to see if I maintain that speed or not.

Interested? Give it a try. Just set a timer for 5 minutes and start keying. Word makes it painless by counting words for you. Divide the total words by 5 and you have your speed in words per minute.

I also wonder if I typed from prepared copy whether I would type faster or not. I could try it and see, but that is unrealistic for me as I seldom type from something prepared. The only time I can think of doing that is when I quote someone, which is seldom and usually brief. Then I’m more interested in accuracy than speed.

At 45 wpm, I could bang out a 2,000-word article in 45 minutes. Usually, it takes me quite a bit longer than that because I have to stop and think. I may time myself on my next piece and see how long it takes.

Truth is, I’m not really all that interested in speed. I did this exercise to satisfy my curiosity.

What I’m really interested in is content and writing something that adds meaning and helps brighten our days. Lord knows there’s enough doom and gloom around. Just turn on the evening news and you’ll get a colossal dose.

I’d rather think about words and how fast I can lay them down on the screen than how many homicides there have been in Minneapolis this year.

I was going to time how long it took me to write this piece, but I got called away several times, which is often what happens when I write and may explain why I’ve been in a writing slump lately.

If you are in a writing slump, you might try writing 3 pages every morning longhand for a while — stream of consciousness stuff, whatever comes to mind. It amounts to around 750 words for me and I’m finding it to be a good warm-up exercise. After doing it for two weeks, I’m beginning to feel the benefit. The words are flowing more smoothly. I’ll continue the practice. I invite you to join me. Maybe we can form a 750 Club.

Speaking of 750 words, I just checked and noticed I’m just shy of 750 words for this piece. That’s OK, as my son says, it’s not an exact science. Also, I don’t have to be a perfectionist. “Almost” is good enough. And, with that I just passed 750 so I’m good to go.

Have a blessed day writing, my friends.