#153 - Write Faster

The physical act of writing is often eschewed for the more philosophical conversation of if the art of writing. And while I enjoy "writing is the most important form of art in history and the printing press is the single most revolutionary tool we've invented" as much as the next writer, I want to talk about pens and keyboards now.

So often, writing is presented only in a technical context. And that's a shame for many reasons, but also I think it causes people to write cautiously, as if there's always supposed to be an audience.

Writing is the art of getting the idea in your head on paper without faffing it up too much between those two locations.

The thing that improved my writing more than anything was journaling, but journaling is often boring for people. And my theory is that it's because it takes them too long to write.

Writing things down is the most boring part of writing.

So getting faster at it cuts the unpleasantness and allows expression to take over.

My most practical writing advice is to literally get faster at it.

In season four of Project Runway, Christian Siriano got questioned about he was able to sew so fast. He shrugged and encouraged everyone simply "sew faster" and while yeah it's pithy and dismissive, he was also correct. He had interned at McQueen, he had put the time in on the machines, and sewing faster allows for more tailoring later!

With journaling, there's even proof that just thinking while scribbling helps our brains process. So if it helps get over some barrier that just formed in the last 20 seconds in your mind–we're not even going for legibility (necessarily) when I talk about speed.

For handwriting, I really do recommend getting used to connecting your letters (like yes cursive ideally but its okay if it's just not picking your pen off the page) and finding a pen you love. I recommend the metal sharpie gel pens if you like ballpoint, but if getting a fountain pen will encourage you to write more and in cursive, go for it! Prints great too, write however you want, I'm just encouraging speed > perfection!

But for typing, there's nothing better than practice.

I use two different websites:

Monkeytype.com and typeracer.com

I prefer monkeytype because you can customize the interface a ton and set it to different types of word sequences (I like quotes of any length, personally) (and tangerine colorscheme right now) but typeracer is fun, especially if competition will help encourage you to speed up.

These sites are great for practice and keep your stats so if you like tracking your improvement they've got that in spades!

Now, just like finding a pen I do think it matters to find a keyboard that you like typing on. Mechanical keyboards are an absolute menace of a habit to get into but I mean, I did get into it and have a lot of fun looking at all the keyboards I bought and never used because I got an Alice layout for ergonomic reasons and now all other keyboards feel cramped.

What I've stayed into is keycaps and finding Osume keycaps last year has been a real issue for me because I finally like one of the fonts used and now whenever they have a sale I'm desperately racing to check out.

But look how cute! So many styles to make and customize! There are certain brands that you just know were made by millenials and this is one of them.

The thing about keyboards is, laptop and apple magic keyboards produce the absolute fastest results because you don't need to push down on the key to generate a stroke. I use yellow switches, which means I have to put a measurable amount of pressure on the key each time. Slows down my raw score, but I've found that I actually love how tactile typing becomes with these kinds of keys.

I don't know if the comparison is entirely accurate but it's like driving a stick shift instead of an automatic. There's just a little more engagement. Same reason I favored fountain pens for a while. I live for a scratch, a click, a whoosh!

All that to say, if you're looking for the "best" keyboard for typing, it's probably the one that came with your computer. But if you feel like getting into mechanical keyboards don't break the bank the first time just get a nice, sturdy prebuilt that comes with everything already soldered together. Keychron's are solid! My keyboard is this one and I changed out the switches and keycaps but I really like the bones of it and would recommend if you like a split keyboard – another element that has certainly slowed my typing overall but now I use the "correct" hand when typing each letter so I'm sure my wrists will thank me later, maybe.

Typing practice is clutch, being able to type without looking makes transcribing my handwritten pieces way easier but also allows me to enter the ~ flow state ~ much easier than when I'm hunched over. I also try to keep my posture straight and my eyes straight ahead because I worry about my neck and spine (maybe a little too much but no ones ever been hurt from having great posture) so my computer is kept at eye level via little acrylic stand that also reflects my fun desk lights.

If I'm going to spend a lot of time here, I do want it to look nice. And I'm also scared of damaging my eyes via staring at blue screens and one way to combat that is having bright lighting behind your screen (basically making it so the screen isn't the brightest thing you're looking at)!

Anyway, the most important part of writing is literally the act of sitting down and doing it, and while there's tons of advice out there I rarely see speed enter into it–and getting faster was a huge part of improving my craft and ability so I hope this was helpful!

Go write! Go find your favorite pen or keyboard! Go make something that only you could! WHEEEEE!