Tips To Improve Your Speed Without Losing The Heart Of Your Story – Part 1

By Ewrither

This part is about the mechanics of writing – when you put pen to paper, finger to keyboard etc. It is not about the creative side of writing. That gets some attention in part 2.

The best way to speed up your writing is probably either:
– becoming a touch typist if you’re not one already,
– taking up dictation/transcription tools, or
– hiring a secretary to transcribe your words.

Typing and dictating are free but a secretary is way beyond the reach of most authors.

Your phone, computer or tablet probably has apps to help. Some can operate on your phone and make the result available on your computer.

Many phones can take dictation and transcribe it inside the phone or can send it to a document for transcription. No matter what devices you have, there are apps and sites that offer a free transcription service where you talk and it delivers text you can download to your preferred software.

Touch typing to a speed of 8-10 words per minute with an accuracy of 90 percent or better takes about 10 hours of your time if you follow the typing tutor software’s advice on doing the practice sessions. Once you get to that accuracy, speed will build. Accuracy matters, speed develops. You will recover those 10 hours over the next few weeks.

Touch typing isn’t just about hitting the right keys; it’s about freeing your mind. If you drive a car you can focus on the road and chat to your friend and let your body find the indicator stalk or the gear lever without having to look. Similarly, touch typing means not looking. More importantly, it means not dragging your mind away from creating and into hunting keys. No more will you say, “Now, where was I before I had to find that key?” It also vastly improves your editing.

The above methods will allow you to stay in your mind’s creative mode as you write.

Ewrither writes short, long, soft or strong. Hence the writhing nature of the beast. The writing and the beast are non-venomous and prone to random humor.