Can your keyboard make a difference in the quality of your work?
We’ve gone Cosmo style this week, frankly because that’s what this blog is about, is us editors, coming on here and sharing what we have had to learn the hard way.
I had an ordinary, cheap keyboard at home. I was able to type pretty well on it, after I moved the cat off of it. I only had to right click on spell check a few times, but not bad.
I type 90 words a minute, sometimes faster when I am in the zone (blows on knuckles and pats herself on the back). Then, when I go to our comic book store and type on the laptop there, my god, it’s like a chicken pecking the ground for food. People literally stop me and say "aren’t you a writer?" it’s that bad. LOL
Our keyboard at a home died, so I had to buy a new one, an expensive one actually. Why not? The cheap one worked so well, so a pricey one is sure to work better. Now on that one I made so many mistakes it’s like I’d typed a foreign language, it’s ridiculous, but those keys are weird. Oh I am constantly hitting the cap lock and I'm a keyboard starer, I don’t look at the screen, except occasionally.
My husband (I love him) went out and bought me laptop and made sure he bought one that had just the right keyboard and I will be damned, not one mistake. The keys are flat and not too far apart and that works best for me.
Will the fact that I have a keyboard I can actually spell on save my career? Maybe not, but it will make the work go faster and the initial quality better.
So my suggestion to you is, next time you’re out buying a laptop or keyboard, type on it a bit and find the one that is the most comfortable. If you have a hard time on your keyboard and you have an old fashioned computer, you can always go out and buy a ten dollar keyboard that is more comfortable.
So writers, “let your fingers do the talkin” that’s what they do best
Come back next week for tips on Character development.
Dawn Binkley
Executive editor
Hellfire Publishing
Also known as:
Keira Kroft, Romantic Suspense
I use the Wave-type keyboard as shown in the above photo. Much easier on the hands as it spreads out your fingers, they aren't so cramped as when typing on a standard keyboard.
ReplyDeleteHa, ha, I use the same keyboard too--and my laptop is an acer, so the keys are slightly curved, but it works great!
ReplyDeleteGood post Dawn! Happy Paddy's Day!
How did I miss this post...here I come to read my Horrorscope and see it..LOL. I am so out of whack!
ReplyDeleteI'm a pecker, so it doesn't really matter. However, my pecker fingers have become used to hitting my very normal flat laptop. I can go to my kids house and have heck tryin' to use her computer. She has both types of key-boards and no-way can I use the one in the photo above. I would have to have two heads and four hands..LOL.
Love the post, Dawn, and agree with always go and hit a few keys before you buy!