A Note about Voice to Text

18 Dec A Note about Voice to Text

I am positive that there are way too many writer’s blogs out there. So I am just going to concentrate on my observations and maybe some tips along the way.

Looking back over the history of storytelling we see a pattern emerge. Before the written word there was passing down stories by word of mouth, this led to expressions, intonations, different voices, and sound effects.

When the written word emerged the story tellers probably said, how can this be effective? You cannot write the sound of a cat, or different voices. Yet the written word persevered, and verbal storytelling became a means of reciting what they had seen written.

Then came the typewriter. The proponents of the pen and paper said, “how can you sink into your story? How can you feel your characters? How can you feel your writing if you are typing it so much faster.” And yet the typewriter stayed.

Then came the computer. The typist then said. “The print outs are lousy. I cannot read what is written. I have lost my data. And now ebooks, esubmissions, and multiple files, the cloud and the digital world allows us to spread our stories quickly.

And for some inexplicable reason we have circled back to voice to text.

I guess I will now be old fashion. I like typing on the computer, I like slowing down just a little bit so that I can feel my story.

I have been reading more books on putting out greater numbers of words. It seems like all the books that help you increase your word count use voice to text like Dragon software to tell your story.

I have tried Dragon software, and I found it clunkier than actually using your word processor. You have to be hyper aware of grammar and punctuation when you use it. For me, I use the pauses of my punctuation to pause in my thoughts. I use the periods and question marks to hear the voices in my mind. I like the tactile feel of using my computer and putting my typing skills to work.

I have picked up a lot of good advice from those books on increasing your word count. I have started using the pomodoro technique and it has made my life a million times easier and faster I am getting more things done. I put it on the list and off I go.

I would say about voice to text software. If you want to publish 10 novels a year, including big fat epic ones. Then maybe just maybe you might want to use voice to text. Me I want my novels to be a work of art. I want to feel the words slide through my fingers. I want grammar and punctuation to be a natural flow of myself and not something I read into my computer.

I fear that the throw back to voice will probably replace the key board. (Heck I still want a keyboard that is not designed to slow down typing like the qwerty keyboard does.) But for now I would suggest to all writers. Keep the tactile experience of writing your primary craft. I think you will find deeper characters, more complex plots, and mind blowing twists flow more freely from a keyboard than a microphone.