On Typing

Sometimes I love typing on the computer. I watch my typing, not because I need to be sure that I type correctly (rather, I more often need to watch the screen to make sure it’s coming out right), but because I love the way my hands, moving over the keys, look. 

What I first started typing, I would watch my finger placement because I had to make sure they went where they were supposed to go. I could feel the keys, but I was never sure which one was which. To that point I always had to feel them. Now, once I place my hands down on the keyboard in the correct position, I can raise the hammers and pluck the strings with perfect precision. I almost never need to look at the keyboard; usually only when using a strange key or key-combination. So then I could just watch the words racing across the screen, each previous letter boosting the next forward to boost its following key forward. The endless train of English.

However, now I have surpassed both those stages. While I still do look at the screen when typing, as to make sure my words are coming out correctly, when I write for fun (as now, I assure you) I watch my fingers on the keyboard. It’s kind-of beautiful.