One of the hardest parts of writing an article of this nature is the fact that people will disagree with it. There are people that are so set in their ways that they will tell you their way is genuinely the best and never deviate from that truth. Ergo, you may read things here that you disagree with, but nevertheless, these are the methods by which you increase your writing speed. Anything else is not going to work as well.
Learn how to touch type
Your two or three fingered way may be great, but unless you are able to type over 40 words per minute on average over a fifteen minute period then you are not a fast typist. Actually, there are veterans that can work faster than that; to the point where the only thing slowing them down is the fact they have to think about what they want to write.
If you are touch typing correctly then you should be able to do it blindfolded
This is because your fingers learn where each key is on the keyboard. Obviously, it is your mind that figures it out because your fingers do not have the capacity to learn, but it feels as if they know what they are doing because if you stop concentrating on your fingers you can type correctly with your eyes closed.
Stop using the shift key to capitalize some letters
If you are using a Microsoft program, then you need not press the shift key after a full stop. Do not waste valuable seconds capitalizing the first letter of a new sentence or new paragraph because the program will do it for you.
Learn how to use your little finger in the left shift key
It is going to help you type in numbers from the top row. Plus, if you use any other finger then you have to move your hand a little, which means having to find your place again before you start the next line of text.
Practice your Qs and your Ps with your little fingers
Your little fingers are probably your weakest fingers when it comes to typing. This is because they are used the least, so you need to practice or else they will keep hitting the wrong keys all the time and slowing you down.
Press and hold CTRL to delete things and do not arrow backwards
Do not use your mouse to go back and correct a mistake and do not press the arrow keys to move the cursor. This takes too long and wastes valuable seconds. Press and hold the CTRL key and press the backspace key and it deletes whole words at a time. This is far quicker because you can type the word again, which is again quicker than any other method.
Do not use your mouse when writing
By all means, find ways so that you do not have to use your mouse as you are writing. If you have to take your hands off the keyboard then you are not writing as quickly as you should. Learn a few key functions. Below are a few to get your started.
Learn CTRL+V, CTRL+C, CTRL+X, CTRL+Z, CTRL+Y
CTRL+V is for the past function, CTRL+C is for the copy function, CTRL+X is for the cut function, CTRL+Z is for the undo function and CTRL+Y is for the redo function. There are a few more that comes with your word processor, but those are the most commonly used functions and also apply to many other platforms and websites.
Learn CTRL+B, CTRL+I, CTRL+S
Here are a few more simple ones. CTRL+B make your text bold, CTRL+I makes your text italic, CTRL+U makes your text underlined and CTRL+S will quick save your work.
Practice pressing the number keys along the top with your eyes closed
The number keys along the top are quite tricky to get right every time, so it is a good idea to practice them with your eyes closed. This is also handy because the number keys also contain the symbols you use with the shift key. These too are often needed and it is a lot faster if you can press them without looking at the keyboard.
Ignore the spelling mistakes that the spellchecker can pick up
This also goes for typos that the spelling and grammar checker can pick up. For example, if you spell “ignore” as “ignor,” then your spelling and grammar checker is going to pick it up and you can change it later. This is going to save you a lot of time. Typos may also be picked up by your spelling and grammar, such as “alss” instead of “also.”
You need only change the ones that the spelling and grammar checker cannot pick up, such as spelling “onto” as “ton” or “learner” as “leaner.” It may look ugly as you write and see mistakes, but the amount of time you save from not going back and fixing them will leave you plenty of time to fix them later when you run your spelling and grammar checker program.
