Typing Your Way to Success: QWERTY Keyboard Rules and Tips
An average Internet user’s typing skill is conceivably rather poor, as you surely know. If you are one, then you might never have drafted an article, and you are not a writer at all. So, when you perceive the title of this article, you might say, “But that’s not for me! I never wanted to learn typing, and it is not going to help me at all.” But, wait a minute, and please listen to what I have to say. How many times have you typed in some text (in a blog comment, let’s assume), and in the end looked at the screen only to realize that you didn’t actually type a single word, for the caret was off the comment box? What if you could type it quickly, without looking at the keyboard at all? Moreover, I am sure many seconds will be wasted for each ten-word comment you make. If you are an active Internet user, then you have to type something at one or other point of your life (no matter whether you are a writer or not), you have no other alternative. What if you are a blogger and in need to update your blog regularly? (There is cash in each word you type.) You can draft a decent blog article in an hour, and it will still have only about two hundred words or so. Now, do you realize how inefficient and unproductive it is?
On the other hand, if you know typing, then you can draft an article of about thousand words in twenty minutes at the most (at 50-100 WPM [Words Per Minute], which is achievable), and you will never have to look at the keyboard again. Most of you have a trivial typing speed of 10 to 20 WPM, 30 at the best. If you learn typing, then you can achieve high speeds of 50-100 WPM on a QWERTY keyboard in a month or even less time. Moreover, your friends are going to regard you more (Now, have you thought of that?). But the greatest advantage is that your efficiency will double in whichever field you work (it’s up to you to judge its effect in your competition). I am sure that all professions in one or the other stage will be in need of writing. Moreover, who knows if you cannot get a new and higher-paying job, just by learning typing?
I began my typing self-study about three months ago. Now I stand at an appreciable 60 WPM, more than twice that of most of the Internet users. Also, the ordinary man has to look at the keyboard frequently to find the letters, while I no longer have to. However, a tremendous boost to my typing came about in a month, when I actually put in time to improve it (not the three months for which I was learning). I also learned some of the professional ways in typing. Here, I have included the best methods I have found.
I work mostly in the nights, in my dark workroom. I had to look at the keyboard for every key I typed; you can imagine the trouble I might have had in the darkness of the room. I depended on my computer screen for some light to see the keyboard properly (still vague and I mostly had to hunch over to squint). Those days represent as the most unproductive time in my life, with despicable typing speeds of 10 or 20 at the most. At a two hundred words in ten minutes, it would take fifty minutes to type a thousand-word article then. In addition, my thought process would take up extra time. So, I could produce a decent writing in no less than an hour and a half (excepting the time for editing, of course). But, now I type those thousand words in a mere twenty minutes, gaining more than forty minutes in the process.
When I decided to learn typing, I downloaded the software Typing Master, which you can get free of cost. Typing Master is a gem of a program that can get your speeds to skyrocket, better than a tutor can. Even the free version of this program has immense power. I would recommend that you download this program and work with it every day. However, you just need to follow the rules and tips I retain in this article to get a high speed and accuracy.
Typing is a very simple art, and you can learn it freely by putting in one or two hours a day (it is a lot of fun as well). The rules of typing are very simple and easy to follow. However, you will have to practice everyday and consistently to get the best results.
Typing Rules
Here are the rules of touch-typing. Please follow them carefully. The rules are based on the most widely used keyboard layout, QWERTY. There is another layout, Dvorak. You will find a short description of Dvorak keyboards in the last part of this article. When you go through these rules, look at your keyboard and learn how to do it.
1. Place your index fingers on the keys: F and J. Have you noticed a projection on each of these keys? I am sure you are surprised that these projections escaped your attention all these years of poring over the keyboard. Or, what did you think these projections were for, if you had noticed them? You will notice that there is a similar projection on the number 5 on the number keypad on the right. The projections help you come back to these keys easily. And, these two keys can help you locate the other keys on the keyboard without ever looking at them.
2. The Home Row: The row with letters A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, and ; is called the home row. This is where you place your fingers when you start to type, and where the fingers have to return after every keystroke.
3. Now, place all the digits from both hands on the home row: your left digits on A, S, D, F and right on J, K, L, ;. Place your thumbs on the space bar. This is the basic configuration when you start to type.
4. Type the letters on the row above the home row with respective digits. Q and P with little fingers, W and O with ring fingers and so on. The same goes for the lower row: Z and / with little fingers and so on.
5. Your index finger reaches these keys: R, T, G, V, and B, with the left index finger and U, Y, H, M, and N, with the right.
6. Your small finger on the right hand reaches “, /, [, ], and | besides P.
7. For numbers, use the respective fingers as well: 1 with left small finger, 2 with ring finger and so on. 4 and 5 should be typed with the left index finger and 6 and 7 with the right. For some new keyboards, the ergonomic design will thrust the key 6 to the left side, away from the right index finger, forming a gap. In such designs, you can use the left index finger to type it. The little finger of right hand reaches 0, -, =, and backspace.
8. Always make sure your fingers graze back to the home row after every keystroke or collection of keystrokes.
9. Always use the same thumb to press the space bar (either right or left).
10. Use the right small finger to type the Enter key.
11. In order to type capital letters, you have to follow this rule: both hands contribute to the capitals. You have to type the letter with the appropriate digit according to the rules above, and press and keep the shift key with the small finger on the other hand.
12. In order to type on the keypad, place first three digits on the right hand on the keys 4, 5, and 6 (Middle finger on 5). Place your thumb on the 0 key. Type the keys in this fashion: use middle finger to type 2, 5, and 8, index finger to type 1, 4, and 7, and ring finger to type 3, 6, and 9. Small finger can type +, enter, -, etc.
That concludes the rules section. For the special character keys (!, @, #, etc.,) follow the same rules as that of the capitals. For omitted keys, it should be easy for you to judge how to type from the basic rules themselves. Go through them and understand them fully before starting your practice.
Tips to Get Fast Results and High Speeds
1. Take some text from either websites, or any articles you can find and type it through Notepad application. Type at least one or two hours every day. Keep practicing to get the best out of it and high speeds.
2. Type accurately. Do not try irrationally to achieve higher speeds, because “Haste makes it waste.” (This is a simple mistake I did myself. Had I concentrated on my accuracy, I would have gone beyond 80 WPM by now.) When you have high accuracy, speed automatically improves. The errors you make when you try to achieve high speeds can turn into a habit, and can potentially hamper your typing speeds.
3. Follow the rules carefully and try not to deviate from them as much as possible. Some of them are very difficult to follow (the rule of the capital letters, for instance), but if you follow them carefully, then you will have great ease after you master the craft.
4. Try to remember key positions and type. At first, you will have to look at the keyboard for this, but later on, your fingers will automatically trace the correct keys.
5. It is “touch” typing you do. You should lay your fingers effortlessly on the keyboard and graze over it to type the keys. Also, be firm with your keystrokes. Each finger has to have enough force when it types, and remember to place fingers square on the keys (this is very important. It can potentially affect your accuracy if you don’t).
6. Do not be disappointed if your speed is low or stays so in the beginning, just concentrate on accuracy for a while. Speed will come in time, and it will be far greater than you expect. Practice makes it perfect. Remember!
7. Whenever you are relaxing, try to mentally picture the rows of keys and imagine typing a-z. This exercise can improve your speed drastically.
8. Collect a list of words you find difficult to type in your practice, and give them extra practice.
9. When you type, the sitting posture is very important. You should sit straight, with proper support for your back, elbows, and wrists. Keep your eyelevel slightly above the monitor level.
A little About the Keyboard Layouts
You all know about the classic keyboard layout, known as QWERTY owing to its first row of letters. The QWERTY is not the only layout out there. There is another design called Dvorak due to Dr. August Dvorak and William L. Dealey. The Dvorak keyboard layout is the most efficient, while QWERTY helps only hamper your speeds. Most people think that the QWERTY layout was designed specifically to improve ease and speed of typing, but in actuality, it was designed for lower speeds. It is the most inefficient standard human beings have (oddly so!).
The Dvorak keyboard layout, which makes typing very fast and easy is adopted by most of the fastest typists out there (the fastest among, Barbara Blackburn averages at 150 WPM with this keyboard). There are three main types of layout for Dvorak, left handed, right handed, and both handed. In Dvorak, the most used keys like E, T etc, appear on the home row itself, giving us faster access to them. The less used keys are in top row, and the least used keys occupy the bottom row. This design can take you up to a hundred WPM, while QWERTY averages at sixty to eighty at the best.
The rules described above all fall in the QWERTY design, and it is advisable that you follow only one of the layouts. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for you to master QWERTY and Dvorak at the same time. In my next article, I will expound on the Dvorak basics. For the time being, exercise your QWERTY skills, and try achieving high speeds. All the best!
