BAIPA

Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

Member Login
  • Home
  • Members
    • Member List
    • BAIPA Bookshop.org
    • Books Published by BAIPA Members
    • Member Login/Logout
    • View & Edit Profile
    • Membership Account
    • Membership Cards
    • Get the Most Out of Your BAIPA Membership
    • Volunteer with BAIPA
    • BAIPA Book Awards
      • 2018 BAIPA Book Awards Contest
      • 2016 BAIPA Book Award Winners
      • 2015 BAIPA Book Award Winners
  • Join
    • Member Benefits
    • More About BAIPA
    • BAIPA Board
    • Submit Testimonial
  • Events
    • Meeting Format
    • Morning Only Meeting Format
    • Meeting Location & Directions
    • Want to Present at a BAIPA Monthly Meeting?
  • Blog
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Author Interviews
  • Member Portal
    • Member Only Resources
  • Contact
You are here: Home / self-publishing / Writing by Voice

Writing by Voice

December 28, 2013 by Jeffrey Samorano

By Joseph T. Sinclair

About ten years ago I investigated voice recognition software, which I found to be surprisingly accurate but not accurate enough to be useful for writing a book by voice (dictating). Nonetheless, I wrote a short book by voice as I was hiking in Colorado (eBay Inventory the Smart Way, published by Amacom). It took about five long hikes (about 25 hours) to complete. And because I hike almost daily for exercise, this was a way to make productive use of my hiking time.

Writing by voice worked out well for me. It was superior to typing and cut my original writing time, as well as my rewrites, in half. Instead of using the software, however, I hired a transcriber; the cost of transcription is high even when the transcriber is very efficient.

After an eight-year hiatus from writing, I recently decided to again pursue a writing and publishing career. Dragon (Nuance) had a sale on their latest software (Ver. 12.5) in April 2013. I thought, why not? So I bought it, and this time I found it to be accurate and indeed very useful for writing.

I had  dictated about 35,000 words by summer and have done much more since, with great success.  In fact, I have so much writing to do now that I’m running out of hiking time and may need to dictate directly into my computer while I’m sitting at my desk.

The software is about $200 (Dragon Naturally Speaking). But the equipment is now inexpensive. I use a highly rated $45 digital recorder (Phillips DVT1000) and a cell-phone headset with a mini-boom mic featuring a windshield (Plantronics MX500i, original price $70,  available for about $20 online).

A $20 cell-phone headset ( JBuds J6M) works almost as well. Of course if you’re at your computer, you don’t need the recorder, just a better-than-average mic. However, if you have professional equipment, you can certainly use it.

In lieu of using a separate recorder, use your smart phone. I’ve used my Samsung Galaxy 3 with both the Smart Voice Recorder app and the Easy Voice Recorder app. They work well. I use a separate recorder only because it’s easier to see the controls in sunlight.

Having experimented considerably with equipment, I can vouch for the items I’ve cited. There are many choices. The point is, you no longer need expensive or professional equipment to record adequate-quality sound for accurate transcription via software.

Go to the Nuance website (http://nuance.com), the Speech Recognition Solutions website (http://www.speechrecsolutions.com), or the Speech Technology website (http://www.speechtechnology.com) for more information on proper equipment.

To make it easy to use the Dragon voice recognition software, I use only simple punctuation commands (comma, period, new paragraph, etc.). Dragon features a multitude of voice commands that I hope to learn someday, to control the equipment and the software. In the meantime, I find that the simple punctuation commands work just fine.

Writing by voice isn’t for everyone or for every book. But it’s worth a try. You may find, as I did, that writing by voice makes getting your writing down on paper, so to speak, quicker, smoother, and more coherently than if you use a word processor.

 

©2013 Joseph T. Sinclair. All rights reserved.

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

Filed Under: self-publishing Tagged With: BAIPA, Joseph T. Sinclair, Writing by Voice

← Lee Foster Speaks at Bay Area Travel and Adventure Show on January 25
Independent Bookstores →
Becky Parker Geist of Pro Audio Voices

Welcome to BAIPA

With COVID-19 teaching us all how to function remotely, BAIPA will meet via ZOOM ONLY until it is safe to resume in-person meetings. (Even when we decide to resume in-person events, we will continue the Zoom option.) We are implementing all the recommended precautionary measures to keep our meetings private and safe for all participants. All members and visitors who register in advance will receive a link to attend via Zoom video conferencing. On the Friday evening before the meeting, we will send the link and password out to members and to non-members … More

Current BAIPA members do not need to register for our monthly meetings. The night before the meetings, they will receive the Zoom info. However, members must log in to get a discounted ticket for workshops. 

Upcoming Events

  • CrowdFunding Success for Authors and Writers
    Crowdfunding | Karolina Grabowska Pexels
    • Dr. Judith Briles on how to use CrowdFunding to raise money to create your book
      July 9, 2022
      9:00 am - 12:15 pm
  • Email Marketing Success
    Email Marketing Success | Pexels
    • Pauline Wiles on Email Marketing Success for Authors
      August 6, 2022
      9:00 am - 12:15 pm
  • The Three Step Formula for Building an Author Platform
    • Fauzia Burke shares the Three Step Formula for Building an Author Platform
      November 5, 2022
      9:00 am - 12:15 pm

BAIPA Monthly Meetings

IMPORTANT
BAIPA is now meeting on the first Saturday of every month via Zoom only for now. In general, if the first Saturday falls on a holiday or holiday weekend, we will meet on the second Saturday.

We are also having workshops on the third Saturday of every month (also via Zoom only for now. In general, if the regular monthly meeting moves to the second Saturday, then the workshop will be two weeks later.

Future Events

  • July 9th: CrowdFunding Success for Authors and Writers with Dr. Judith Briles
  • July 23rd: Workshop: How to Creat a Million Dollar Speech with Dr.Judith Briles
  • August 6th: Email Marketing Success with Pauline Wiles
  • August 20th: Workshop: IngramSpark Best Practices & Tips with Ruth Schwartz
  • October events TBD
  • November 5th: Building an Author Platform with Fauzia Burke
  • December 3rd: Annual Cover Design Event

More exciting speakers and topics coming in the rest of 2022!

Keep up to date with BAIPA

Member Search

Search Members

  

Looking for Something?

Copyright © 2022. Bay Area Independent Publishers Association. All Rights Reserved. Website created by MakeChico.com and managed by WPinOneClick.com.

Copyright © 2022 · BAIPA Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in