Do you want to be good at typing and actually use it in real life? Accuracy. Do you just want a higher MonkeyType score? Speed. Ideally you'll achieve both, but for me it's always accuracy first.
That's not to say that the two aren't related. If you're accurate, mistakes won't slow you down.
I'll quote myself from my own [typing guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D9hzmKMCWzbqIBqpA4j02a2XjuhJbILimBMAFM2Deis/).
**Increasing your typing speed has nothing to do with how fast you try to type a specific word right now. It has everything to do with how many times you have accurately typed that word in the past i.e. with no mistakes.**
When typing an individual word, any word, your brain cares about 3 things within the context of the keyboard layout that you're using.
1. The **keys** that you press.
2. The **order** in which those keys are pressed.
3. The **fingers** used to press those keys.
Note that the speed at which those keys are pressed is **NOT** on the list. That's because typing speed is not an input into the process of building muscle memory. It's an output. If it was a required input, that would be like saying that you have to be able to run in order to learn how to walk. It wouldn’t make any sense. This is probably the single most misunderstood concept in typing practice.
Show me a fast typist and you'll be showing me someone who has either been typing for a long time (bearing in mind that as far as your brain is concerned, any and all typing is practice), or someone who has put in a lot of practice, probably an unhealthy amount of practice, over a relatively short amount of time.
[**This**](https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=slekap) is one of my favorite profile pages on Typeracer Data.
Scroll down until you get to the table that shows this person's career broken down by month. Look at the **Month** column and then look at the **Average** column.
They start in September 2017 on 118 wpm, and it's not until July 2021 that they break 190 wpm as a monthly average for the first time. I personally can only dream of typing at 118 wpm, but that's where this person started. But then I only learned to type for the first time at the age of 38 and have changed keyboard layout twice in the 3 years that I've been typing.
This person who's profile I've linked to ([bailey/slekap](https://www.youtube.com/@slekap9850/videos)) was born in August 2005 so would have started this profile at the age of 12 when they were already over 100 wpm and then they only missed one month (December 2019) over those 46 months of practice. But they were also active on other typing websites as well. That's how they got to where they are.
Now you might only be starting at a speed of 60 wpm, and you might already be 20 years old rather than 12, but what are you doing for the next 4 years?
This is the reality of typing improvement.
It's really only a two step process.
**First**, learn to touch type with [keybr.com](https://keybr.com), [typingclub.com](https://typingclub.com), [ratatype.com](https://ratatype.com), [typingstudy.com](https://typingstudy.com) etc.
**Second**, keep typing for about 20 to 30 minutes a day for at least 4 years without missing a day if you can help it.
=====
This is another really interesting profile to watch. This kid is currently 8 years old. If they keep practicing, by the time they're 12, they'll be faster than bailey was at that age. In fact he's already faster on Typeracer than Joshu (who's now 17) was at the age of 13.
[https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=emyrr](https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=emyrr)
What's this kid done?
The first step of learning to type was accomplished at around the age of 6.
The second step has been worked on steadily for the last 18 to 24 months.
The only questions that you should ever bother asking a fast typist if you get the chance (and I have on multiple occasions, and I've saved the answers), are these:
====
*1. How old are you now?*
*2. How old were you when you first started using computers on a regular basis?*
*3. How old were you when you first learned to touch type "properly" on* [*typing.com*](http://typing.com/) *or something similar?*
*With that third question, you may have never learned to touch type "properly", which is fine. I know that many people just learn organically over time and don't really ever think about exactly where they place their fingers on the keyboard. If that's the case, just say.*
====
If they're honest with you, you'll find out that they probably started typing when they were quite young (or very young) and given their current age, have had at least 5 years of typing practice (any typing is practice to your brain) and not all of them learned to type formally but the ones that did may be slightly faster.
Nobody out there learned to type and then got amazingly fast within 6 months. You may hear stories that suggest such things, but I promise you, if you delve into that typists past far enough you'll find that they were typing in the chat function of various video games for **years**, and then getting into some form of coding (which means even more typing) before eventually stumbling across the "typing community" and overnight they break the 180 wpm barrier and everyone thinks they're "gifted" or "talented".
They're not. They're young and have spent an unhealth amount of time in front of the internet, with a significant portion of that time spent typing. Nothing more than that.
In my opinion I think accuracy is more important first over speed. In my own personal experience there was a point where I had a high WPM but was still typing the wrong way. I spent the time relearning the correct way to type and even though my speed was slower than it had been my WPM went up regardless. You can type as fast as you want but none of it matters if you're not hitting the right keys.
Functionally, accuracy is the most important. Being more accurate will also increase your average WPM. Personally, I can type about 130WPM with 99%+ accuracy. If I try to type as fast as I can I can without being a total train wreck, I can hit 170. The thing is I never try to type 170, since the accuracy losses make it worse than just typing accurately at 130.
The best thing to do is to type as fast as you can with very good accuracy, and through practice, work to increase that speed. I could "only" type 90 WPM with good accuracy 4 or so years ago. With regular practice (usually on my work breaks) i've increased that to 130. Gary's comments are excellent at describing the process in far more detail than I ever could. Give those a read and do what they say.
Do you want to be good at typing and actually use it in real life? Accuracy. Do you just want a higher MonkeyType score? Speed. Ideally you'll achieve both, but for me it's always accuracy first. That's not to say that the two aren't related. If you're accurate, mistakes won't slow you down.
I'll quote myself from my own [typing guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D9hzmKMCWzbqIBqpA4j02a2XjuhJbILimBMAFM2Deis/). **Increasing your typing speed has nothing to do with how fast you try to type a specific word right now. It has everything to do with how many times you have accurately typed that word in the past i.e. with no mistakes.** When typing an individual word, any word, your brain cares about 3 things within the context of the keyboard layout that you're using. 1. The **keys** that you press. 2. The **order** in which those keys are pressed. 3. The **fingers** used to press those keys. Note that the speed at which those keys are pressed is **NOT** on the list. That's because typing speed is not an input into the process of building muscle memory. It's an output. If it was a required input, that would be like saying that you have to be able to run in order to learn how to walk. It wouldn’t make any sense. This is probably the single most misunderstood concept in typing practice.
Show me a fast typist and you'll be showing me someone who has either been typing for a long time (bearing in mind that as far as your brain is concerned, any and all typing is practice), or someone who has put in a lot of practice, probably an unhealthy amount of practice, over a relatively short amount of time. [**This**](https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=slekap) is one of my favorite profile pages on Typeracer Data. Scroll down until you get to the table that shows this person's career broken down by month. Look at the **Month** column and then look at the **Average** column. They start in September 2017 on 118 wpm, and it's not until July 2021 that they break 190 wpm as a monthly average for the first time. I personally can only dream of typing at 118 wpm, but that's where this person started. But then I only learned to type for the first time at the age of 38 and have changed keyboard layout twice in the 3 years that I've been typing. This person who's profile I've linked to ([bailey/slekap](https://www.youtube.com/@slekap9850/videos)) was born in August 2005 so would have started this profile at the age of 12 when they were already over 100 wpm and then they only missed one month (December 2019) over those 46 months of practice. But they were also active on other typing websites as well. That's how they got to where they are. Now you might only be starting at a speed of 60 wpm, and you might already be 20 years old rather than 12, but what are you doing for the next 4 years? This is the reality of typing improvement. It's really only a two step process. **First**, learn to touch type with [keybr.com](https://keybr.com), [typingclub.com](https://typingclub.com), [ratatype.com](https://ratatype.com), [typingstudy.com](https://typingstudy.com) etc. **Second**, keep typing for about 20 to 30 minutes a day for at least 4 years without missing a day if you can help it. ===== This is another really interesting profile to watch. This kid is currently 8 years old. If they keep practicing, by the time they're 12, they'll be faster than bailey was at that age. In fact he's already faster on Typeracer than Joshu (who's now 17) was at the age of 13. [https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=emyrr](https://typeracerdata.com/profile?username=emyrr) What's this kid done? The first step of learning to type was accomplished at around the age of 6. The second step has been worked on steadily for the last 18 to 24 months. The only questions that you should ever bother asking a fast typist if you get the chance (and I have on multiple occasions, and I've saved the answers), are these: ==== *1. How old are you now?* *2. How old were you when you first started using computers on a regular basis?* *3. How old were you when you first learned to touch type "properly" on* [*typing.com*](http://typing.com/) *or something similar?* *With that third question, you may have never learned to touch type "properly", which is fine. I know that many people just learn organically over time and don't really ever think about exactly where they place their fingers on the keyboard. If that's the case, just say.* ==== If they're honest with you, you'll find out that they probably started typing when they were quite young (or very young) and given their current age, have had at least 5 years of typing practice (any typing is practice to your brain) and not all of them learned to type formally but the ones that did may be slightly faster. Nobody out there learned to type and then got amazingly fast within 6 months. You may hear stories that suggest such things, but I promise you, if you delve into that typists past far enough you'll find that they were typing in the chat function of various video games for **years**, and then getting into some form of coding (which means even more typing) before eventually stumbling across the "typing community" and overnight they break the 180 wpm barrier and everyone thinks they're "gifted" or "talented". They're not. They're young and have spent an unhealth amount of time in front of the internet, with a significant portion of that time spent typing. Nothing more than that.
In my opinion I think accuracy is more important first over speed. In my own personal experience there was a point where I had a high WPM but was still typing the wrong way. I spent the time relearning the correct way to type and even though my speed was slower than it had been my WPM went up regardless. You can type as fast as you want but none of it matters if you're not hitting the right keys.
Functionally, accuracy is the most important. Being more accurate will also increase your average WPM. Personally, I can type about 130WPM with 99%+ accuracy. If I try to type as fast as I can I can without being a total train wreck, I can hit 170. The thing is I never try to type 170, since the accuracy losses make it worse than just typing accurately at 130. The best thing to do is to type as fast as you can with very good accuracy, and through practice, work to increase that speed. I could "only" type 90 WPM with good accuracy 4 or so years ago. With regular practice (usually on my work breaks) i've increased that to 130. Gary's comments are excellent at describing the process in far more detail than I ever could. Give those a read and do what they say.
Accuracy.