2~finger typists

I think I sometimes use other fingers too, but I'm not a trained touch typist by any means, so I'm also barely a step up from 2 finger typists. Even with that, and a full time job, I produced 77thousand words during NaNo last year, and 62k the year before. And my word count to date for this year is around 280k words. So it can be done. Hey and there's still time to do some more typing lessons before November starts.

I'm a three or four finger typist, depedning on what I'm doing and this is my fifth year. I've won every year except for last year and I ended up at about 45000 last year. So it can definitely be done without being a touch typist. (Admittedly I type at about 55 words per minutes in my half-assed three finger typing so just goes to show, you don't need those fancy touch typing programs to type fast either.) I'm reasonably accurate too. I've only had to correct two spelling errors as I've been typing this.

So fear not! It can be done. *grins*

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You've got red on you....

I use more than two fingers, but I've never learned that other way they tried to teach me in school. I'm sure it can be done, because I typed up a whole novel in just my lunch periods last school year.

I'm a seek and you shall find, typist. I don't use proper hand positions and stuff. I may use different fingers for the same key and I look at the keyboard to see where I am. Back and forth from the keyboard to the screen.

This is my third Nano. I won the last two time and I did it once on my own before that. Last year I did about 73,000 words.

The key isn't typing speed, it's persistence. I'm sure there's some speed typists that don't make it, just like there's some two-finger typist who do fantastic numbers.

Keep plugging away!

Hope this helps.

2006 (Won) Title: I Can't See Myself! -- SciFi/Fantasy -- invisibility
2007 (Won!) Title: The Amber Pendant -- SciFi/Fantasy -- Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won!) Title: The Conspiracy Class -- Mainstream/ Thriller -- Conspiracy

From my experience, managing at least the 1,667 is definitely possible, but you might have to break up each day into multiple writing sessions depending on your threshold. I've managed at least 50,000 each of the last three years with a modified two-finger approach (sometimes I'll use ring fingers for shift) but my longest stint at any one time has been about 5,000 words. At that point, my hands start to rebel and I have to take a break. I've done 14k+ days, but it has to be in three separate shifts or I can't handle it.

Hope that helps give you some perspective on what you might expect.

NaNoWriMo 2008: Making a note--huge success!

Awakening: 52,709/50,000
Pantheon: 20,937

I only use two or three fingers when I type and I just wrote 1,331 words in 30 mins(word war practice)

So yes, it can be done just fine I think

I used to type that way, but I got over that about 5 years ago. It's the more typing I did I had to start using more of my fingers and my typing class in high school made me start using more of my fingers. Off topic, but the more typing you do the more fingers you end up using so your fingers can try and match the speed your brain is going.

~ Ri
NaNo 2007 ~ Untitled (lost :( )
NaNo 2008 ~ Darkness' Light (won!)

I type with two fingers but I've gotten rather quick at it since it's how I've been typing for about 10 years. :3
I hope those two fingers won't cramp up. xDD

Yeah, unfortunately a two finger typist. I never learned how to type correctly. Or I did, in grade school, but when the teacher wasn't looking everyone just reverted to the two finger typing instead of doing it properly. =p

I won NaNo last year, though, with 68K. You can do it. It's not terribly slow after a bit of practice. I can type somewhere around 40 words per minute (sounds slow, but take into account the fact that I'm sitting there half the time wondering what to write, plotting stuff, pausing...the normal stuff you do when typing a novel...).

I wish I could type like my mom, though. She can type 90 wpm. *envy*

I do not know beneath what sky nor on what seas shall be thy fate.
I only know it shall be high; I only know it shall be great.

I'm a two-finger NaNo veteran, in that I show the computer two fingers throughout the month... No, not really.

Yes, it is entirely possible to type 1667 words per day just using the two fingers - I even exceeded the minimum. I personally use my two first fingers because it's more comfortable than using them all. I'm like you; my family got me programs to use all fingers, but I never got used to it.

I suppose it all depends on how speedy you are. I have friends who type properly and do about 50 WPM. Mine's closer to 120 with just the two, although I've never measured it exactly.

"Imaginary numbers? Are they just imaginary friends for maths nerds?"

Deidra (above ^ ) has put the wind up me by mentioning the dreaded C word ("cramp")

i'm a 2-fingers typist and i get strain very easily so i'll be doing lots of those hand and wrist exercises during november i expect!

I'm definitely a two-finger typist. You can hunt and peck your way through this thing just fine.

I think it's worth pointing out that NaNo puts one hell of a strain on your hands no matter how you type. :)

2003: Plywood Violin
2004: The Star, The Bird, The Clock
2007: Dogwood
2008: Glass Catfish

I'm a two-fingered typist and I (just!) hit 50k last year. *grins*
I would have gotten higher, but I had too many sub-1000-word days. ;)

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Winner, 2007: "Baptism of Fire" (Book 1 of the Virikal Trilogy)
Winner, 2008: "The Zilennian Throne" (Book 2 of the Virikal Trilogy)

I'm sure it's possible, but keep in mind: the more you type the better at it you'll be. Just by typing 50,000 words you may find yourself using more of your fingers and working faster without even trying. Also, two finger typing is probably bad for you fingers and wrists. Make sure you take plenty of breaks, leave your keyboard at a comfortable height and distance, and strech out your hands a lot!

I'm a two finger typist that looks at the keyboard while I type. I've been getting faster over the past year simply because I've been typing more.

November last year I did 130K. Since then I completed a 50K novel, three 30K novellas and a 15K short.

60K of that were in September (a pre-Nano!)

It's the ideas that you want to come fast and furious. If I could type faster I would probably have finished my writing sooner but not necessarily typed MORE. I figure by the time nano rolls around I'll have 7 stories completed in one year. Not bad for a newbie.

OH!! But I do want to mention that 'spell check' and autocorrect are my best friends. There is nothing sweeter than looking up and seeing that my 'becasue' has automatically shifted to 'because'. Take the time now to train your computer to know your finger trippings and things go faster later.

I think it depends more on how quickly you can type with two fingers...I am hopelessly slow at typing...so I'm handwriting a lot of my novel and typing it up...easier that way...

I only use two fingers. I'm absolutely hopeless when I try to do more. I get lost. I've had quite a bit of practice, though, and last year I got 100k doing this, so you can win no matter how you do it.

Named Characters Introduced: 13
Named Characters Killed: 5
Highest Daily Word Count: 12,139
Word Count: 53,452

I used to be a whatever-finger-works type typist, but i have since attempted to learn to touch-type / use all ten fingers. I can tell you that it really is an advantage, but i think that the more typing you do, the better you will get. So after November, i expect you will be a little better, at least. =]

If you can type moderately fast, i would suggest sticking to how you are doing it at the moment.

However, if you think that you are pretty slow (find and type, 'vulture' keyboard circling fingers type thing) it might be worth using nanowrimo as a step to learn touch-typing.

___________________________________

For anyone interested in learning to touch-type:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2778035593_38ef3dc8c8.jpg
That is the picture i used to learn to touch-type. Each colour is a different finger, and the 'base keys' are the circled ones, and that is where your fingers stay when they are not typing.

I also used http://www.typeonline.co.uk/index.html to help in the beginning, but i don't know how much use that will be if you are manically typing a novel (:

Good luck everyone!

jaii

x

Err what? Home keys K to ' ? I always did Home keys J to ; ... I thought that was the normal way. There's no way that I could even try to move everything over like that, it would freak me out. But yeah, I've been "touch-typing" since I was in like 6th grade, so I'm no help here.

A side note, strangely enough, I type the ' and "s with my middle finger and pinky on the right shift key. I also backspace with the ring finger in mad spasms. Not to mention my pinky:left control + middle finger:S saving spasms... You should watch me, I'm insane! I probably backspace once for every four or five characters I type.. >_<

I believe at the start of Nano last year I was a 3 finger user (that is, pinky for shift) but I was onto at least 5 fingers by the end of it. You use more fingers the more you type, and when's a great time for typing a lot? Nano, of course.

Formal exercises may be beneficial, but they never helped me. Lesse, I'm 86wpm now, using about 8 fingers, all in incorrect positions. I hover over the keyboard, but even like that I've got an intensely low typo rate. Maybe this year I'll get my thumbs helping the rest of them.

I just smiled and laughed randomly upon seeing this thread, and now all my family is sitting in the livingroom, leaning over their chairs, and staring at me as if I just committed a murder. Thank you for the color to my day. About one or two years ago, I was a two-finger typer. Right now, I've found use of all ten of my fingers. HOWEVER, I think I typed just as quickly back then. My only flaw was that I looked rather odd and couldn't bring myself to look up at the screen as I typed. It was bothersome and I got aggravated, so I took on the gruesome, irking task of learning to use my hands to their full potential (Involving only my writing... mind you.)

I think that it will be more than possible for you. If I only had one hand and two fingers, I'd still be taking on NaNa this year. THAT is how dedicated I am. It's all about will power and dedication. Forget the enormity of words and small, little itty bitty time...

Not two finger......but I do type everything with one hand :)

Is it just me who thought this was a euphemism? ;)

On a serious note though, I've never learned to type properly (I taught myself on an ancient typewriter at the age of six, and old habits die hard). I can type 70-80wpm though. If anything, nanowrimo should improve your typing speed - practice makes perfect!

Like many of the above, a two-finger typist. (On my left had, my index finger, on my right hand, my middle finger. Don't ask me why. Sometimes, I will use other fingers, usually my right-hand index finger. But not often.)

I won NaNo last year, and really - the only reason why I never learned to type properly is because it slowed me down! (I imagine I would get faster as I got sed to it, but the period of time where I would be typing very slowly was too much for me to handle...typing slowly doesn't work well for me. ;p )

If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a different world.
-Ludwig Wittgenstein

NaNo 2006 - [untitled] - 28 801 words
NaNo 2007 - [untitled] - Won!
NaNo 2008 - Memories of Sanctuary (tentative title) - Won!

It's weird as well, in that if I try to pay attention to what fingers I'm using to type, I can then barely type two correct keys in a row, and definitely only use two fingers. But when I'm lost in the flow of the writing I think I'm using more fingers. Maybe I need to get someone to secretly film me typing!

I also type better on a laptop keyboard than I do on a desktop keyboard, now that I've written so much more on my laptop than on a desktop.

This is definitely a concern for me. Especially as I find it impossible to "create" with a keyboard. I work best with pen and paper, then have to transcribe everything into legible form. I guess that means 100,000 words for me. :D

You can type fast with both methods, but the advantage with touch typing is that you tend to make less mistakes. I've learned to touch type and 10-key, but I always have problems with the top row number keys, that's why I prefer keyboards with a 10-key pad. That means I typically type much better on a PC keyboard than a laptop.

Have you considered a dictation software, like dragonspeak?

I think a person can do well even with just using the 2 finger hunt and peck method. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that way and he wrote a trilogy that a good many people know now. I've got to the point where I don't even have to look at the keyboard in order to know which key to press so I don't use the hunt and peck method myself but if J.R.R. Tolkien can do it and come up with his epic work then I think just about anyone can.