Sir Vivor
Well-Known Member
Either my forum searches were incompetent, or nobody ever raised the issue of RSI while writing..?
I'll just share a very unpleasant experience I had after I had written a book, many years ago (in this galaxy, btw). I managed to give myself RSI that was so bad I had to stop using the computer for almost an entire year. Not handy if you're supposed to make a living out of writing stuff.
The good news is that RSI can be avoided, or kept under control, by reasonable ergonomic counter-measures. For the past 20 years, I type on a Microsoft Natural (old model, with bulge in middle) keyboard. That gives me the proper wrist angle (namely, there should be no angle: wrists should be an extension of lower arms). Then there's the wretched mice.. during my RSI clicking a mouse was pretty horrible, like receiving an electrical shock each and every time. So the mouse got replaced by graphics tablets. Been using those for 20 years too, now. No more mouse clicks. And - touch wood - RSI symptoms that rarely resurface.
As a grey-haired (wise?) owl, I'll add to the younger folk here: sitting all day long in front of a computer, and doing lots and lots of mental lifting.. is not what the human body was designed to do. It is incredibly unhealthy.. and is often due to being addicted to one's own intellectual travels and general mental fun. I'm sure RSI could be avoided altogether if we just got up and walked a lot more regularly, but I haven't found a way to impose that on myself.. :-(
I'll just share a very unpleasant experience I had after I had written a book, many years ago (in this galaxy, btw). I managed to give myself RSI that was so bad I had to stop using the computer for almost an entire year. Not handy if you're supposed to make a living out of writing stuff.
The good news is that RSI can be avoided, or kept under control, by reasonable ergonomic counter-measures. For the past 20 years, I type on a Microsoft Natural (old model, with bulge in middle) keyboard. That gives me the proper wrist angle (namely, there should be no angle: wrists should be an extension of lower arms). Then there's the wretched mice.. during my RSI clicking a mouse was pretty horrible, like receiving an electrical shock each and every time. So the mouse got replaced by graphics tablets. Been using those for 20 years too, now. No more mouse clicks. And - touch wood - RSI symptoms that rarely resurface.
As a grey-haired (wise?) owl, I'll add to the younger folk here: sitting all day long in front of a computer, and doing lots and lots of mental lifting.. is not what the human body was designed to do. It is incredibly unhealthy.. and is often due to being addicted to one's own intellectual travels and general mental fun. I'm sure RSI could be avoided altogether if we just got up and walked a lot more regularly, but I haven't found a way to impose that on myself.. :-(