writing
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Taming the Dragon – Tips for Dragon Naturally Speaking
I use Grammarly for proofreading because my wrist is broken and sometimes Dragon Naturally Speaking listens as well as a four year-old boy.
Whether you are using Dragon Naturally Speaking out of choice, or due to circumstances, there are a few simple steps you can take to make your experience better.
1. Take time for training. Under audio, you will find a section called, “read text to improve accuracy.” The selections me feel long, but over time the improvement in Dragon’s ability to dictate your words is worth the investment. Take time each day to read one of the selections. When you complete the reading, Dragon will make changes to your profile. This takes some time, but the patient.
The alternative to training could be sentences like this: Where is the mother this little one Russian Mark are they running some kind of Dickerson in here?
I have no idea what I was really trying to say.
2. Create a list of your commonly used command. Learning Dragon is similar to learning another dialect. I want to say, “strike that,” but what I need to say is, “scratch that.” I can’t tell you how many times I saw strike that, strike that, strike that, typed across the page. Here’s a link to common commands.
3. Start with one paragraph at a time. You’re most likely going to end up with a few sentences like my example above. If you wait too long, you won’t have a clue what your original thought was. I know this isn’t the best way to write, but if you take the time now, eventually you’ll be freed, and you’ll be able to go for a page at a time without checking Dragon’s dictation. Be patient, time now will save you from much hair-pulling later.
After a couple of weeks using Dragon Naturally Speaking, I assure you, the program is another valuable tool for writers. It’s just not an instant solution to being one-handed.
Any other suggestions? Are you using Dragon? Have you considered starting?
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Overwhelmed!
OVERWHELMED!
Have you ever felt that way?
It’s not the same as unhappy, angry, tired or even frustrated.
You can be overwhelmed and still be so blessed you’d never trade places with anyone…ever.
My life is busy. It’s busy for most of us. When I had four very little children, I was overwhelmed with all their needs. Nothing made me happier than being their mother, but it’s a lot of work with very little respite.
As the kiddos grow, my role in their lives has changed. I’ve taken on new challenges and life is no less busy. Where once I filled sippy cups and wiped up sticky fingerprints, now I drive to and from classes, cheer through numerous sporting events, arrange activities for the Senior All-night Party, homeschool and help with homework. And then there’s my writing. And my husband. And that cat who keeps vomiting as soon as anyone lets her in the house.
All great things. Well…maybe not the part about the cat.
I’m sure you know that feeling. It creeps up from your toes, squeezing you until you can’t take a deep breath. Finally, you hit the point where standing in the field and screaming while it’s pouring down rain seems like a logical solution.
And while this may help for a moment, once you’re back in the house and dried off you’re still in the same situation.
Years ago a friend gave me some advice that really helped. She suggested writing down my top three priorities.
Okay, that’s not so hard, right?
Here’s the tricky part, the part I seem to let slide.
Never (or very rarely) say yes to anything that doesn’t positively relate to one of those priorities.
That means saying no. It sounds so easy, but when some sweet lady is asking you to do something that seems like a good thing, it’s so very hard to muster those two letters. N.O.
There are many wonderful things we can do with our time, but if we continue to divide our days, the pieces become too small to make a difference.
What do you think?
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Word of the Year – EMBRACE
Last year’s word, REACH, went beyond my expectations. And having spent 365 days reaching, I’m ready to start 2013 with a new word.
This year’s word is EMBRACE.
To me this word means to be present. It means to fully live life, and to love those who we are honored to have a connection with.
We can’t always choose the circumstances in which we live, but we can embrace where we are.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
It also means to do all you can to reach the goals you’ve set. To not complain and whine, but to see the blessings that surround us.
“Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.”
? Albert Einstein -
Donna Moore’s Take on Procrastination
Donna Moore is guest blogging for me today. She actually wrote this for me weeks ago, but I PROCRASTINATED. With Nanowrimo behind me and Christmas still a few weeks away, I’m forcing myself to get a few things done. Okay, I’m avoiding a writing project that has me stumped.
Before I hand my blog over to Donna, I want you to know what a special person she is. About three years ago I was matched up on an online critique group. If that sounds kind of like a blind date, it is. Sometimes the matches work, and sometimes…well, not so much. This group works. Donna is a constant encourager. She has three children and a husband and always shows by example how to love God through loving her family. Donna is always there when I need to talk, vent or when I need someone to pray for me. Her heart is tender and huge. She is one of the unexpected blessings I’ve been granted through my writing career. Thank you, Donna!
I have learned that my friends on Facebook have nothing to say. Not that what they say isn’t intelligent and important. That isn’t it at all. I have amazing friends. I mean, they simply weren’t updating as often as I was checking. Shouldn’t someone have something to post every two seconds?
This week I struggled with Blank-Page Syndrome. It is a painful experience for any writer. I was creative this week in my avoidance of the blank page and taunting cursor. I often tell my teenage son not to procrastinate, but when it comes to writing when I am up against a wall of little to no ideas, often I find myself doing just this. It’s another case of do as I say and not as I do.
It’s not that I’m not productive during my procrastination sessions. Things get done that I would normally put off for another. Yes, procrastination at times rules my life. In honor of my procrastination techniques I wrote a poem which also served as another way to avoid dealing with my manuscript.
If you give a writer a blank screen some will take off and write an amazing adventure, but others will clean their house and vacuum the living room twice just to see if the canister will fill up again.
If you give a writer a blank screen you might find yourself wrapped in the arms of a dashing hero as he woos his lady love, but others will take their puppy on a walk and pretend it was the dog’s idea.
If you give a writer a blank screen they might have you flying into outer space on in a hot air balloon, but others might check their Facebook just to see if anything has happened in their friend lives within the last two seconds.
If you give a writer a blank screen you could find yourself sailing the seas with a rogue pirate or coaching a football game of misfits, but others will organize the pantry alphabetically.
If you give a writer a blank screen they might write about a widower finding his second love or they could go scrub the bathrooms paying special attention to the area around the toilet.
If you give a writer a blank screen they might pull you right into the middle of a world surrounded with elves and dwarfs, but then others will go and mow the yard instead.
If you give a writer a blank screen they could take you to exotic locations, but then others will go to the grocery store for the fourth time that week just to walk up and down the aisles.
If you give a writer a blank screen those who sit down and write have the potential to do amazing things while others, well they will do lots of other things.
I joke about how much effort I put into avoiding writing this week when I find such joy in actually writing. The advice I have heard the most is “Put your butt in the seat and write every day.” It’s true. You can’t grow as a writer by avoiding writing anymore that you can grow as an athlete by avoiding practicing your sport. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to run 26.2 miles anymore than you can wake up and write an amazing story in one day. You have to work at it daily with diligence and perseverance. You have to train even on the days when it doesn’t come easily and everything you write you know will be cut. There are things that you can do to help get yourself in the seat daily. I feel I should reveal that this is an area I struggle with on the days and weeks when writing is hard but then you probably guessed that about me.
First, set up your area with little distractions. If you are like me, and seeing a messy house distracts you, find a space where you can’t see the shoes all over the living room or the laundry folded but not put away on the couch. I love to write on my swing on the back porch. I can’t see the clutter in the house and if I leave phones inside no one can find me. Salesmen can ring the doorbell all day long, but I simply can’t hear it out back.
Next, set a time. I am also going to add, and this is a hard one for me, if you sit down at the same time everyday you will become conditioned to know that this is your writing time. I would also add, you need to guard this time as the jewel it is. Don’t allow others to intrude. Don’t make appointments or set up meetings during your appointed writing time. Avoid self-imposed distractions. Turn off the internet to your computer while you write. Email, Facebook and other social media outlets will act as distractions. Trust me when I say, the email will wait and no matter how wonderful your friends are, they don’t update enough to check every two minutes. And really do you need to know that Janet is going to take a nap or Fred is on his second cup of joe? Setting a time will help you be more accountable. It is easy for writers to move that writing time around each day and if you are a disciplined person, which I am not, that may work well. For those who struggle with time management, put it on your calendar and set a date with your manuscript. Your characters deserve to have their story told and they need the time with you to do it.
Lastly, what has worked well with my critique group is to hold each other accountable. Set a word count goal or a page goal and don’t get up until you have fulfilled it. Those are the days I feel best because I know I am one more step closer to my dream. Write to that goal even if what you write isn’t what you had in mind before you plunked yourself down. You might be surprised at what you get, of course you could end up cutting a large chunk, but buried in there might be a ruby of an idea.
Now stop procrastinating and go forth and write.
