How many words per minute do you get?

lucidzfl

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I don't mean in typing tests, I mean, when you sit down to write for an hour, two hours, what's your average WPM?

One of the exercises I've been doing is really concentrating on my WPM. Interestingly enough its been forcing me to get out of my own way and worrying about the "perfect way" to say something, and just get it out in the interest of having a higher WPM.

What say you?
 

Blarg

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Interesting question. I'd like to improve mine a lot too. Being such a perfectionist can slow my output to a stingy level. But I don't much care for the results when I'm not careful, either. Finding a workable compromise is a long-standing struggle of mine.
 
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I'm a firm believer in emptying yourself.

(No, not in the "Lucid, you shat yourself again," way).

Many people allege that if you write fast and write anything, you must be getting crap down on paper but I believe the more you write, the faster you write, the better you get. Always give your best, don't save up ideas or words you want to use when you're better. Act as if you're better now.

When I'm on fire I can type around 2k an hour but I have to work up to that. Standard is maybe 1k-1,500 an hour.

So okay, not every writer concentrates on targets the way tt42 and I do, but it works for us and there are few more productive than Lori. That's why I say force yourself to keep writing, do it fast, don't worry about quality because that will come automatically.

Now okay, I just said 'give your best', and yet...don't worry about quality? Huh? My point is, give the best you can and don't worry about being good enough because the act of writing, of getting in the habit, will gradually help your 'default standard' rise.

I hope that makes sense.
 

Leukman

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First draft should be nothing but flow. If you slow yourself down to revise and edit, you don't allow the flow.

Door shut vs door open/first reader (in the words of SK).

Door shut (ie: first draft/stream of...uh...wherever it comes from) should most definitely NOT be encumbered by worries over copy edit garbage...
 

Silver King

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...Door shut vs door open/first reader (in the words of SK)...
For a moment there, I thought you were referring to me. I was all like, "What? I never said that!"

I can't give anyone advice on how to write faster. Hell, even my posts here are created at a snail's pace. I'm usually not in a hurry, though, so it seems to suit my style just fine.
 

Inky

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Deep thinker, that Cray.

WPM depends on how fast the scene is unfolding in the mind, how many times I have to backspace due to typing TOO quickly, and if I catch myself being too wordy when it's supose to be a tension-building-scene.



And if my bowl of Wheat Thins empties before I'm finished typing then progress halts while I sabotage the box...pet the cat, do some dishes..oh, why don't I start a quick load of laundry...here-here, espresso is good, I'll just make the beds real quick like while that's brewing..is that rain?

Gah...
 

KTC

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It's too obscene. I could tell you...but then I would have to kill you.
 

amlptj

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i find myself sitting for hours in front of my computer and it varies, sometimes i only get a page or two done other times i might get 10...
 

lucidzfl

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Hrm. I'm a bit OCD I suppose. But I've been experimenting. I am totally with SP on this, if you try to just write as fast as you can, be reactionary, don't stare at the screen, don't search for the perfect word, THAT is when I feel like I'm really improving.

I've started keeping the times that I start writing, completely minimizing my distractions and tracking word count.

Currently, I'm doing an average of 43 words per minute. Last night for example, I wrote for 68 minutes and got right at 3005 words.

I'm gonna continue posting in this thread to see if I make any progress :)

The cool thing is I can tell my wife, give me ONE hour to myself, with headphones on and no distractions and I can write 3K per night. Its much better than the 2 or so hours I need if I'm meandering and being interrupted.
 

Blarg

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This is really interesting to me and I hope we keep getting comments. A lot of my writing has been very dense stuff like flash fiction and poetry, so every little thing is something to fret over endlessly, and if it doesn't make sense in my head before it hits the page, it often doesn't hit the page at all.

I think that's appropriate for those forms of writing, but unfortunately I tend to apply the same overbearing scrupulousness to other types of writing too, and I often find that stifling.