Catchy title, eh? Or at least racy. But it's true. As I write this, I am standing fully erect - Just like Ernest Hemingway minus the vest, unfortunately.
I've always written/typed differently. I had trouble learning to type in school and never have grasped the traditional style of typing. I use four or five fingers, some sharing a letter depending on what word I'm typing at the time. I'm still fairly proficient, though I think my accuracy suffers because of my typing style. Spell check is my friend. Hunt and Peck, my friend.
But even then, I don't really like to type - it isn't that I hate writing - I love that - its just frustrating to do it and I tend to get distracted easily or sleepy. My attention wanders and I end up down a tunnel of website links and Cracked.com lists.
One thing that had always intrigued me was the story about Hemingway and how he typed everything standing up. It's not true - he did type standing up (He wrote The Sun Also Rises while standing), but he also did plenty of it sitting, but the idea stuck with me.
It could help focus my work and keep me attentive, maybe even be healthier for me - how could I pass that up? So I'm gonna try it - for the next couple of months, all of my major typing is going to be standing up. So far that consists of a hodge-podge pile of boxes and stands to try and find the right level for typing, but if I like it, I'm gonna go Full-On Papa and make a decent stand for writing erect.
Hemingway wasn't the only writer to do it either, Jefferson, Dickens and countless poor newsmen used to stand at desks - there's even designs for children's convertible writing and sitting desks for school. (They are very cool)
We'll see how I fare. I've only done it a few times, and I'm still fiddling with the height, but I think I like it. If I can build something properly adjustable and sturdy (I'm a little rough on my keyboard) it could be my new way. Stand By.
