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Using A Keyboard With A Finger Injury

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Devan Isra

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I've cut my middle finger fairly deeply while cooking, and it's reduced my wpm to an absolute crawl. The wound keeps reopening, as well. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to keep up speed with hand injuries? I do have a high quality microphone, if a speech-to-text program would be possible? And if you would suggest I switch to writing by hand (I'm right-handed and it's my left hand that's hurt), I'm actually even slower with a pencil, hahah. Thanks for any responses.
 

blacbird

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Keep up speed? You can't. I am a horrorshow good touch-typist, but I have had finger injuries, and even a broken hand, twice. Best advice? Just slow down. It might help your writing anyway. And the cut will heal faster if you don't push the envelope.

Oh, and get some Talisker or Laphroaig, for analgesic purposes.

caw
 

Brightdreamer

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+1 to the blacbird.

Sometimes, you have to listen to your body when it needs time to heal. There's just no shortcut to coagulation and regeneration.

As for speech-to-text software, seems like a bit of a pricey investment for a relatively short-term need, plus there is (or used to be, as I've heard) a bit of a learning curve for the software. By the time you got it working right, I'm guessing your finger would be mostly, possibly entirely, healed. Invest in it if you're interested in using it longer term, maybe to give your hands a break even after you heal, but just for temporary purposes?

One thing you could do is just use your microphone to record yourself dictating thoughts or words, then transcribe once you've healed.
 

Blinkk

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As a professional guitarist, the other two comments nailed it. A broken finger can cancel an entire concert (ok ok, that was dramatic. Less dramatic example: you'd hired a subsitute guitarist). You just can't do certain things with a damaged hand. You'll end up hurting it more. You said the cut keeps reopening. :( That's certainly not good. Especially if you're trying to heal in a fast way, you want to avoid anything that will reopen the cut.

If the speech to text software is expensive, I might have a compromise. Sometimes if I'm driving I'll make a voice recording. I'll speak a scene that will pop into my head. Later, when I get to my office, I'll play the voice message and manually transpose it to text. Any way you could do that? Just speak your ideas for a couple days. Once your finger is better, type it all up? Cumbersome, I know, but at least you are still recording your ideas.

ETA: I just realized BrightDreamer suggested this exact thing. Didn't mean to steal your thunder! I somehow missed your comment at the end there...
 
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shizu

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When I had a severe burn across the entire back of my left hand (all the way from the knuckles to the first finger joints), typing with that hand was impossible. Even when it reached the point where every twitch of my fingers wasn't causing horrendous pain, any amount of bending the joints kept the skin from healing up. So I absolutely agree with the advice to just lay off using that hand at all until it's healed enough that you aren't causing more damage.

Like you, I'm right handed so I just switched to writing by hand for the duration, although I often tend to work in handwritten notes and drafts anyway so it wasn't too much of a leap. I'm way too weirdly self-conscious for text-to-speech, or a recorder -- can't stand the sound of my own voice -- but that seems a much more efficient way of doing things!
 

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I've cut my middle finger fairly deeply while cooking .. The wound keeps reopening

Sounds like it needs stitches. That might be the first thing to try. Then at least it won't reopen.

Beyond that, I think you'll just have to put up with typing more slowly and carefully until it heals.
 

neandermagnon

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Sounds like it needs stitches. That might be the first thing to try. Then at least it won't reopen.

I was thinking that. Also, there's a risk of infection and infection will make it hurt 100x worse. If the wound's cleaned and stitched up properly it'll hurt a lot less. Probably not enough less to be able to type normally, and any dressing may make typing awkward, but at least it would heal up quickly.

Not much to suggest about typing... I touch type at a crazy WPM and totally sympathise re how much an injured finger stymies typing. I re-read and edit as I go (i.e. don't wait until the end of the draft) so I'd probably take some time to do more of that and less writing new scenes until I can type at normal speed again. But I understand that not all writers work in the same way so it's just a suggestion.
 

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Where did you cut it? I would just put a bandage on it or tape a bit of paper towel around it and continue on, pretending it's not there.
Think of the pain as inspiration. The world stops for no finger!
 

Dave.C.Robinson

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I've cut my middle finger fairly deeply while cooking, and it's reduced my wpm to an absolute crawl. The wound keeps reopening, as well. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to keep up speed with hand injuries? I do have a high quality microphone, if a speech-to-text program would be possible? And if you would suggest I switch to writing by hand (I'm right-handed and it's my left hand that's hurt), I'm actually even slower with a pencil, hahah. Thanks for any responses.

If you're on a Windows computer and using Word I would definitely suggest trying Windows speech recognition app. I used the Windows 7 version for a short story some years ago and it worked just fine. If I remember right it only took about an hour or so to train it, and since it's already in your computer you don't have to invest any more money on what might be a temporary solution.
 

Juggernaut

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I've cut my middle finger fairly deeply while cooking, and it's reduced my wpm to an absolute crawl. The wound keeps reopening, as well. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to keep up speed with hand injuries? I do have a high quality microphone, if a speech-to-text program would be possible? And if you would suggest I switch to writing by hand (I'm right-handed and it's my left hand that's hurt), I'm actually even slower with a pencil, hahah. Thanks for any responses.

Hi,

First I agree, that it sounds like you should have your finger checked out by a doctor in case you need stitches and/or antibiotics.

You can easily use Google Docs to dictate your writing:
To start, go to Google Drive and create a new Google Docs word processing document. Once you're in the new document go to the top menu and select Tools > Voice typing... A small pop-up window will appear to the left of your document with a dark microphone icon inside it. Click the microphone to dictate to the document.

It is free and works pretty well.

You can do the same thing when you are in the car. I actually use the note program called Google Keep to do my voice dictations - it saves the audio file and converts to text at the same time, so you can still hear what you said if it seems that the text is not correct.

I hope this help!
Juggernaut
 

Devan Isra

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I'm finally back! Thank you all so much for the advice, I did read all of your posts as they came in. I wound up just rereading drafts and doing research while I healed. I ended up cutting two fingers on my opposite hand very deeply just a couple days after I posted this thread, and it took almost a month to fully recover (I didn't have the chance to get stitches, sadly). But I'm definitely saving this thread in the event that this happens again, thank you all again. :)
 

WeaselFire

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So I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to keep up speed with hand injuries?

Cowboy up and get out the duct tape.

I do have a high quality microphone, if a speech-to-text program would be possible?

Perfectly possible. Annoying to train, sometimes annoying to use, but the current crop work pretty well. I've used Dragon a number of times over the years.

By the way, if you didn't need stitches, your booboo will be healed in a week or so.

Jeff
 

Sarahrizz

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I've used the Text to speak programs before, and the most annoying part would be in going back constantly to correct it when it gets stuff wrong. It's all part of it's learning curve.
I agree that it's much cheaper to record your thoughts and type them out later. Or, if you know anyone looking to earn a little cash, you can pay them to type it out for you.
 

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Sometimes people hurt themselves in order to force themselves to slow down.
It pays to maybe gradually develop a better understanding of one's deeper processes and recognize when the time to slow down has come, and not have to suddenly unhinge a shoulder to achieve that:)
 

Aggy B.

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So, first of all. No we don't hurt ourselves just to try and force a slow-down. If you are, that's unhealthy and please talk to a professional about that.

Secondly, forcing your way through an injury is a good way to cause further and possibly more significant injury. (Ask me about the damaged tendon in my shoulder and the two years it took to get my left arm back to something near normal function because of it. Ask me about the bone spur in my neck and the decade of trying to manage nerve damage on my own that left me sometimes unable to feel the small fingers in either hand.)

It's much better to take a couple weeks (or months) off to heal than to spend far longer trying to recover while *not* being productive. The idea of toughing it through injuries is a bad one. Please don't do that.
 

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Sometimes people hurt themselves in order to force themselves to slow down.
It pays to maybe gradually develop a better understanding of one's deeper processes and recognize when the time to slow down has come, and not have to suddenly unhinge a shoulder to achieve that:)

If one is hurting oneself deliberately for any reason—go see a therapist.
 
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