As long-time readers of my blog know, I’m all for any tool that makes my life as a writer easier. Nothing made that clearer for me than when, a few years ago, I suffered from very very bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome. My hands were swollen like balloons, and for months this touch typist reduced having to hunt and peck. I have owned Dragon NaturallySpeaking since version 2, but used it more as a curiosity than a something that would be a useful tool to me. Mostly this is due to its accuracy. During that period, though, Dragon came to my rescue. I was able to write most of a novella using only Dragon software.
I have been reading a lot over the past several months about how Dragon speech recognition has improved in the last version are so. So I decided to give it another try. I ordered up a copy of the newest version, version 10 (at 50% off), and loaded it into my desktop computer. Now understand, this computer has more processing power and more memory than any computer I’ve had before. Even so, there is no doubt that NaturallySpeaking version 10 is a much more useful tool than any previous version has been for me. Plus, it’s reasonably accurate — in fact, this blog is being written entirely using NaturallySpeaking without going back to edit. As you can see, it’s not perfect, but then again when considering typos, neither am I.
So how does the sum is writer? After all, aren’t my hands more or less healed? That’s true. But there are certain aspects of writing that I find go better if I’m just kind of running off at the mouth — specifically when I’m developing a story. You see I like to ramble on and on… and on, and I hate having to have my fingers try to keep up with me. It just doesn’t happen. But, if I use NaturallySpeaking and to speak at my normal rates and in a reasonably normal volume, I can have my notes typed up for me with fewer errors, overall. (Science fiction proper names notwithstanding. :-) I think that this entry shows the sort of results that I get when I’m taking my own notes using the software. In fact, I get better results because we don’t have two kids riding outside my window with go carts in the middle of the night, when I’m usually writing.
So as long as you have a powerful enough computer, enough memory, and a noise canceling headset, I can recommend to you without reservation Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 10 preferred. It is outstanding software, and a great tool for any writer… except, maybe those that aren’t able to speak. Highly recommended.
