What's everyone like doing to improve WPM?

[Pixel Eater]

I was thinking of working on increasing my WPMs, but I haven't really found a thread around here discussing peoples' favorite ways of doing this. I was wondering if people had some favorite programs or preferred to just develop their skill in the field or what. I think I've peaked in terms of speed I'll pick up just writing say this post ;(

[aggiejy]

I don't know... for me WPM don't matter much outside of typing tests. Real practical speed just comes from years typing in the correct way. But regardless... to improve your WPM, I'd recommend http://typeracer.com. It's a fun and competitive way to improve your speed.

But the best way is to just verify that you are using the correct fingers for each key, don't look at the keyboard, and don't be afraid to type faster than you'd talk. (Some people naturally slow down at the speed they'd talk if they *can* go faster... but once you get over that, you can really fly.)

[isp]

Besides a little bit of typeracer here and there, I take tests at http://www.typingweb.com for a few hours every month or so. Sometimes I listen to music that will encourage me to type faster and get me out of the slow comfort zone. Good luck on your journey to faster wpm!

[pyro]

My theory is if you focus on not making mistakes, speed comes naturally.

[rhizo]

My theory is if you focus on not making mistakes, speed comes naturally.

Tried this just now and got my highest ever wpm haha, works!

[shibbyllama]

Be very fast at backspacing and get a feel for how many letters you need to backspace without really looking at the word. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like mistakes are inevitable so if you can recover from them quickly then you can maintain a decent wpm.

[suka]

I just kept practising a lot while learning a new layout and noticed I always got faster when certain frequent combinations of letters were getting typed automatically from muscle memory, without thinking about it much. And whenever I hit a limit where my speed does not seem to improve much, I try to focus on accuracy more and speed then comes naturally, as mentioned above! Also, trying to type without bottoming out and hovering your hands over the keyboard helped me get a different flow.

[voidburn]

The more I think about it the slower I type, hence I really don't care If you want to have fun while practicing though:

http://www.phoboslab.org/ztype/ (warning, highly addictive)

[dsjbirch]

The more I think about it the slower I type, hence I really don't care If you want to have fun while practicing though:

http://www.phoboslab.org/ztype/ (warning, highly addictive)

!!! Ignore warning at peril, sick game !!!

[damorgue]

dammit, now I went back there and wasted more time. I get frustrated in that game sometimes. It feels like if you mistype the first letter of a word, and it selects another target, you can type the entire word before you see that you have the wrong target. I don't look at the keyboard while typing, it just takes a split second before you realize it and in that time, I have just typed a word in vain. /frustrated

My accuracy sucks, and I waste extra time by automatically hitting backspace when I feel my finger slipped, which isn't necessary in this game.

What is the approximate wpm of normal speech in english?
Also, what scores do you get in that game and what wpm do you get when typing a solid text, say reading of a sheet and copying it?

[voidburn]

What is the approximate wpm of normal speech in english?

No idea really

Also, what scores do you get in that game and what wpm do you get when typing a solid text, say reading of a sheet and copying it?

I went on one sad afternoon up till 40k+ score, then I got bored (it's really easy once you realize that you have to take down the larger ships (longer/more complex words) before they shoot the tiny letters. Once those are out they basically suck in your first letter typed, and killing larger ships becomes a lot harder!

I'm am quite a slow typist: 60wpm (if I'm not taking a test I'd probably reach 70/75), and in such sample I hit backspace at least twice, I'm one of those who never learned to type "the right way", I just hack at the keyboard my own way (25+ years of muscle memory are just too much to get rid of at this point). For reference, my starting position for the index fingers is exacly 1 left from F and 1 right from J, this allows me to reach ENTER and BACKSPACE and LEFT SHIFT a lot faster.

Do I feel the need to type faster? Hell no!

[cinch]

i don't care much about WPM as i'm mostly doing shortcut keys (vim, bash, screen, firefox), making quick edits or writing short messages like chat, forums and email.

[ericbentley]

I asked this question a while ago somewhere else and got both TypeRacer and Typing of the Dead as answers, and I love 'em both
I've noticed a 10 wpm increase after practising for a month or so with TypeRacer, and I find Typing of the Dead is a good way to stay "limber" I guess

[hoggy]

Be very fast at backspacing and get a feel for how many letters you need to backspace without really looking at the word. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like mistakes are inevitable so if you can recover from them quickly then you can maintain a decent wpm.

I've remapped capslock to backspace and it did wonders for my typing speed. Not only is it quicker, but it means you don't have to move your right hand from the home row.

Do you have to actually type all of your input? Take a look at autohotkey.

[hq1ify]

I'm at 90-95 wpm, no more of that will make my work easier, so I don't need to improve anymore. Never really focused on typing speed, it's just a side effect of 21 years of typing.
Oh, and I can't type with 10 fingers, using 6 maybe 7, basically pinkies are dead to me

[Icarium]

Yeah, at some point (and that point is below my current wpm) I started to type faster than I can think. When I'm not focused I spend more time with undo then I win with wpm.

[Pixel Eater]

Great, now I'm hooked on Z-Type. BTW the reason I ask is I'm thinking of taking up Colemak or something, so wpm will need work.

[PointyFox]

I can type at 63 WPM with three fingers. Years of being forced to type with one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse for gaming and no time to find the "home row" or whatever. I can actually type "properly" but I drop to like 28 WPM.

[Nask]

Hi
I tried to post a long and detailed post but ... session expired.
And I don't have enough courage to type the whole post once again.
I type on a keyboard since I'm a child as a lot of keyboard enthusiasts here but there are some ways to improve your typing speed.
I used to tell to my friends to always type without faults, do not type in SMS-style or abbreviation or any style, don't use any shortcuts when you have to write or type something.
I'm a french IT student and I learnt to type on a azerty keyboard and typing in french and since I'm on a qwerty I can tell you that azerty is really fucked up.
The good thing is that it helped me to learn to type. I spent a lot of summer typing texts for people. There is no secret for increase your speed, like everything, you need to practice.
I type between 130 to 150wpm, in English and French, maybe now I'm slower in French.
I use typeracer, only for funs to make so races with my friends; hi-games typing test because it's a good one, and a website I found : typingweb. It really helps you to learn to type, and I insist on learn to type. There are exercises who can really hurt your mind and your fingers, like typing only ponctuation is really difficult.
And one that I like because it's the most simple is 10fastfingers, there are a lot of cheaters but it's simple and fun.

Advice: Type a lot, NO FAULTS, TypingWeb to learn, and every others websites for fun.