Let's face it, not all of us can think of outstanding Acros that can win in a room full of good players.  So, the alternative is to try to earn speed points.  However, there is a right way and a wrong way of doing this.  In the name of good sportsmanship, let me offer the following suggestions on how to earn speed points.

THE WRONG WAY:  Buy a $100 keyboard in the Dvorak layout, which is scientifically proven to increase your typing speed.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Replace your $12 keyboard that has the sticky "S" key and the broken space bar spring with another $12 keyboard.

THE WRONG WAY:  Take typing lessons from Mavis Beacon.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Type "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs" as quickly as you can.  There, now you know where all the letters are on your keyboard.

THE WRONG WAY:  Prior to playing Acro, warm up your hand muscles by flexing each muscle in each of your fingers individually.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Prior to playing Acro, warm up your hand muscles by lifting a can of your favorite beverage to your lips (I recommend Dr Pepper, but any beverage will do).

THE WRONG WAY:  Challenge everyone in the room to try to write the best Acro they can -- this way you can earn all the speed points.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Challenge everyone in the room to try to write the best acro they can -- then try to do the same.

THE WRONG WAY:  If, by some miracle, you happen to win a round, pick General Acrophobia (GA), so you can type anything in fast without thinking too much.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Never pick GA unless the other topics suck.

THE WRONG WAY:  Go off-topic.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Stay on-topic.

THE WRONG WAY:  Have a second computer running (at least 300 MHz will do), so as soon as the first two letters appear, you can immediately cross-reference that combination on a fully functional database and bring up a very short Acro that you can start typing as soon as the Acrobot says "begin".

THE RIGHT WAY:  Try to use as many two- to four-letter words as possible -- but make sure they make sense.

THE WRONG WAY:  Aa Bb Cc.  Anyone who does this should do so by typing in blue.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Use real words.  'Nuff ced.

THE WRONG WAY:  Screw it if you've got a typo, you were first!

THE RIGHT WAY:  Screw the speed points if you've got a typo, fix it!  (You're forgiven if it's an honest spelling mistake, though.)

THE WRONG WAY:  If you know that you're first, you may announce your time to the room and say "Yahoo!" or some other interjection.

THE RIGHT WAY:  If you don't quite know if you're first, you may announce your time to the room and ask, "anyone beat me?"

THE WRONG WAY:  Berate someone when they beat your speed.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Congratulate someone when they beat your speed.

THE WRONG WAY:  Write acros that are so bad that the only points you will score are speed points.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Write acros that are not so bad, so that you just might earn a point or two occasionally -- or even win a round.  (This point will hopefully become moot in the new version, where you must earn at least one vote to collect speed points.)

THE WRONG WAY:  If you missed speed points, write anything as fast as you can anyway.  Why waste time, when you can go straight to chat?

THE RIGHT WAY:  If you missed speed points, use a bit more time to try to come up with a better acro.  You just might surprise yourself.

THE WRONG WAY:  If you already have more than 26 points, go for speed anyway.  You have a legacy to uphold.

THE RIGHT WAY:  If you already have more than 26 points, take a little more time to write a good acro.  You only need a few more to get to the face-off.

THE WRONG WAY:  If you make it to the faceoff, there's no speed points, so take a little more time writing the acro.  You have to try to earn votes.

THE RIGHT WAY:  Hold on there, you don't have a lot of time in the faceoff!  Try not to waste it by thinking for too long.  Get an acro in as quickly as possible, and if any time is left over, use the rest of the time to try to improve it.

THE WRONG WAY:  "Hey, Wrapper, I heard you're a speed demon.  Wanna race?"

THE RIGHT WAY:  "Hey Wrapper, I heard you're a speed demon.  Here's $50 to teach me everything you know."

Above all, if you do everything THE RIGHT WAY, and write a very fast acro that is on-topic, has no typos, and is the fastest you have ever done, let me hear about it!  If you can do things THE RIGHT WAY and beat 2.5 seconds on an acro, I will induct you into the "FT Fiercest Flying Fingers" (4-F) Club!

So far, the 4-F Club has two members:  Wrapper2 (2.1 seconds for a Dr Pepper-inspired GA acro "I go pee") and Cryptik (a very impressive 1.8 seconds for a very impressive GA acro "I am God").  Good luck in trying to join this
exclusive company, but remember to do things THE RIGHT WAY!