Capture Those Ideas

My grandfather was a private investigator who investigated workers compensation claims. When I was growing up, I would hear him sit in his office and dictate his reports into a tape recorder and then send the tapes to his secretary to be typed.

I often get ideas that come to me about my characters, plot solutions or an idea about how I want to phrase a sentence at odd times when it’s not always possible or convenient to write them down. It might be at night when I am trying to fall asleep, or when I am out for a walk. The next morning, or later in the day after my walk, I’ll remember that I had an idea but can’t recall the details.

With today’s technology, dictation seems like an old fashioned idea, but recently I realized how convenient it would be to have a dictation app when I get an idea for one of my stories. A few months ago I finally upgraded my flip phone to an iPhone. I have to admit, I am not a big app user, I use the standard ones, the calendar and the alarm clock. But the dictation app from Dragon is one I find incredibly useful and recommend to all authors.

The first time I got an idea while I was trying to fall asleep, I opened the app on my phone and dictated the thoughts. It was quite accurate in capturing my words and after I finished dictating I was able to send it to my email. Much faster than typing out an email on the phone. Having the email waiting the next time I went to the computer was a perfect reminder.

Sometimes I want to capture impressions from new experience to use later in my writing. The Dragon Dictation App is the perfect way to note those sensory experiences so I can refer back to them later. You might think you will recall all the nuances of an experience when you visit a new place or try a new hobby. But the truth is, our brains often pick up the highlights and drop the small details.

So when you can’t have a notebook handy, or you just want to get that idea captured before it fades, give the free Dragon Dictation App a try.