Question: I sometimes need to write the whole alphabet `abcd…z` and I hate typing it letter by letter in Vim's insert mode. Does there exist any method to do this more efficiently?

I know about the `ga` command which gives me the ascii code of the character where the cursor is … but don't know anything about how to mix it with my standard solution to type numbers from 1 to (for example) 5000: `a1ESCqqyyp^Aq4998@q` …

Answer: 
Using `set nrformats+=alpha`:

```
ia<Esc>qqylp<C-a>q24@q

```

Step by step:

```
ia<Esc>      " Start with 'a'
qqylp<C-a>q  " @q will duplicate the last character and increment it
24@q         " Append c..z

```
I have found a shorter solution (you don't need to change nrformats beforehand) while solving <http://www.vimgolf.com/challenges/5ebe8a63d8085e000c2f5bd5>

```
iabcdefghijklm<Esc>yiwg??P

```

which means:

* `iabcdefghijklm<Esc>` insert first half of the alphabet
* `yiw` copy it
* `g??` ROT13 encode (shift by 13 letters) to get the second half
* `P` paste the first half