Alec Peche's Blog - Posts Tagged "dragon-dictation"
Edit, Edit, Edit
I just finished my third book, A Break Death and I am amazed at how I can continue to miss typos or poor grammar. It is also proof of what Word misses. There are sections of my books that I use Dragon dictation to speed up my keyboard efforts. I can speak so much faster than I can type. Despite the hours I have spent at the keyboard I have never developed confidence in my typing such that I can look away from the keyboard as I type.
The trouble with dictation software is that no matter how sophisticated it is, it just doesn't always pick up the right words. To be fair the words are similar sounding - "while vs well", "we're vs were". The words are spelled correctly so Word's spell checker correctly judges the spelling.
When you read your own writing you see the words that you expect to be in the sentence rather than the words that may actually be on the page. I correct paragraphs often shortly after I have typed them. I also print the entire draft and make corrections to paper. Then I read on-line two additional times. Then the book goes to my first reader who sadly discovers additional errors. I guess that is par for the course when each book has been over 80,000 words.
Perhaps is also connected to being a severe pantser. With each book in my series so far, I have started with a murder in a location in the world and that is it. I build the story one paragraph at a time, not even knowing myself what is going to happen along the way. I wonder if it is easier to avoid typos and grammar problems if you're a writer who completely outlines your story? Can you concentrate more on typing and less on what is going to happen in the next fifteen minutes of the story?
Alas, I'll never know. I have tried to reform my writing behavior. With each book at the beginning I try to plot out chapters and sadly sit there with complete writer's block.
Aaarrggghhh!
The trouble with dictation software is that no matter how sophisticated it is, it just doesn't always pick up the right words. To be fair the words are similar sounding - "while vs well", "we're vs were". The words are spelled correctly so Word's spell checker correctly judges the spelling.
When you read your own writing you see the words that you expect to be in the sentence rather than the words that may actually be on the page. I correct paragraphs often shortly after I have typed them. I also print the entire draft and make corrections to paper. Then I read on-line two additional times. Then the book goes to my first reader who sadly discovers additional errors. I guess that is par for the course when each book has been over 80,000 words.
Perhaps is also connected to being a severe pantser. With each book in my series so far, I have started with a murder in a location in the world and that is it. I build the story one paragraph at a time, not even knowing myself what is going to happen along the way. I wonder if it is easier to avoid typos and grammar problems if you're a writer who completely outlines your story? Can you concentrate more on typing and less on what is going to happen in the next fifteen minutes of the story?
Alas, I'll never know. I have tried to reform my writing behavior. With each book at the beginning I try to plot out chapters and sadly sit there with complete writer's block.
Aaarrggghhh!
