Speech recognition software has come a long way since its beginnings. In its initial stages, its errors would result in a good laugh, but now with major technological advances, writers can now start to rely on voice recognition programs out there to increase their productivity, overcome procrastination and truly facilitate human creativity.
Writers have benefited tremendously from the advances made in speech recognition programs. Dragon Professional is one program that is invariably mentioned, whenever writers share their experiences of working with speech recognition software.
There are a variety of benefits associated with speech recognition for writers. The increase in productivity is claimed by many, with some saying that the increase has been threefold. For writers with physical impediments (such as rheumatoid arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome), these programs have been a godsend.
Writers have also shared a number of ways in which the software facilitates the creative process.
Here are 6 ways voice writing equipment has helped writers.
1. Dialogues
One writer said that he used Dragon for writing dialogue as it helped him “move back and forth” amongst the people having a conversation.
2. Transcribing
Some writers talked about how they preferred to write using a pen and paper and then later transcribe using Dragon. The software has been able to capture a variety of accents ranging from Irish to Indian. They also mentioned how they use the software for their daily writing practice.
3. The Speed of Thought
The speed of a person’s thoughts usually exceeds their typing speed. Writers would often have to slow down their thinking to allow for their fingers to keep up. Apart from that, the effort put into typing itself takes up mental space. The switch to speech recognition allowed for many writers to speak their thoughts as they occurred to them, without any need to slow down. As a result writers were able to focus on what they wanted to say rather than ensuring they were typing it down.
4. Writing in Your Voice
Writers working on social media and blogs have claimed that speech recognition voice writing software helped them capture their “speaking voice”. This is an obvious advantage, given that the tone of blogs and other social media posts is conversational.
5. Moving & Writing
Writers and coaches mentioned how being able to freely move around while speaking, lends a whole new level of creativity to their work. For writers, this has led to an “incredible sense of freedom”. Writers who like to gesticulate or pace around the room, while speaking about something that interests them, have found that it significantly facilitates the flow of material.
6. No More Procrastinating
The experience with speech recognition has made writing far easier and enjoyable. Writers speak about how procrastination often got in the way of their writing and how speech recognition makes them want to write even more frequently.