The assumption is that you are already a typist. The author is not a typing instructor and would be doing a disservice by advising beginners. The methods used to develop the program, what helped and what hindered, are strictly from my own observations and are not scientifically proven. Nevertheless, I believe many people who are of a like temperament may benefit from them.

With that said and done, and without further ado:

1. Retrieve your old typing book or buy one at a garage sale.

2. Borrow a metronome from a musician. If you don't know any musicians, then get to know one or two. They are altogether good folks and may even play something for you. You could also buy one at a garage sale (a metronome, not a musician . . a musician would be free).

3. Procure a computer keyboard (just the keyboard part). Garage sale, maybe?

4. Turn to page 1 in your typing book . . .

Find some rather long, straight-copy passages -- the kind from which you learned the alphabet on the old keyboard. If your typing book is one that opens from top to bottom, set it up so that the back cover stands on something rubber for traction (I used an unplugged power cable) and the front is propped against the back of the keyboard unit.

Here are the relative positions of the letters for both layouts.

First the qwerty:

Q W E R T Y U I O P [

A S D F G H J K L ; '

Z X C V B N M , . /

Now the same relative positions for Dvorak:

' , . P Y F G C R L /

A O E U I D H T N S -

; Q J K X B M W V Z

Change the letters on the keyboard to Dvorak if you can. On most computer keyboards you can remove the tiles and replace them to the Dvorak positions. If you would rather not change the letter tiles, then place a diagram of the layout close to the keyboard where you can refer to it easily.

Use straight-copy exercises. Never mind the numbers row, ignore exercises using shift key, numbers, infrequent punctuation -- skip stuff you already know. The "A" and "M" are a gift. Same positions on both the new and the old keyboard.

Day 1 -- A O E U I M H

Memorize the vowels and M and H. Put about 40/45 minutes worth of straight copy in front of you. Type very slowly keying each letter that you have memorized. Type the spaces using the spacebar (duh!). Do not type the letters you haven't memorized yet, but think them. Do not use the metronome yet, but keep a slow rhythm going in your head. Some folks benefit by saying the letters out loud, but this could be a bit much for your onlookers. For the sake of brevity our examples will be short, but remember, the ones you choose from your typing book should be 40/45 minutes long:

• Although the right sort of analytic work is the main key to finding the cause of any malady, firm financial aid is also vital if the work is to solve the problem. To make special checks of potential causes of the malady may take plenty of money, and it is usual to have to make many of those checks before the final and crucial one is begun.

In this short example you would end up typing this:

• A``hou`h `he `i`h` `o`` o` a`a```i` `o`` i` `he mai` `e` `o `i``i`` `he `au`e o` a`` ma`a``` `i`m `i`a``ia` ai` i` a``o `i`a` i` `he `o`` i` `o `o``e `he ``o``em` `o ma`e ``e`ia` `he``` o` `o`e``ia` `au`e` o` `he ma`a`` ma` `a`e ``e``` o` mo`e`` a`` i` i` u`ua` `o ha`e `o ma`e ma`` o` `ho`e `he``` `e`o`e `he `i`a` a`` ``u`ia` o`e i` `e`u``

The slash (`) denotes letters you will leave out. Do not type the slash. Type only the letters you have memorized. As for the letters you haven't memorized yet, Think the letter and also leave the time for it.

Get it? It looks complicated but its quite easy. You simply type the letters you know and think the ones you don't -- in a slow, even rhythm.

For those who like charts, here are some that may be helpful:

would be played out as:

If you were typing this on paper it would look something like this:

• Ahouh he ih o o aai o i he mai e o ii he aue o a maa im iaia ai i ao ia i he o i o oe he oem o mae eia he o oeia aue o he maa ma ae e o moe a i i uua o hae o mae ma o hoe he eoe he ia a uia oe i eu

But, of course, you will be using only the keyboard part of a computer and will have no hard copy at all, except in your mind and in your fingers.

*Examples from Day 1 to Day 10 are cited from: FASTER TYPING, Third Edition, by permission of the publisher, THE H.M. ROWE COMPANY, Baltimore, Maryland.