From the perspective that I view voice to text (when it comes to writing), I see a great bountiful opportunity of sorts, only waiting to be exploited. After all we can talk about three times faster than we can type, so after all wouldn’t that be a good investment into one’s productivity.
This realization makes me pose the question, have you done voice to text, or well considering doing so?
and if you happen to be one of those individuals to have done VtTx. Please share your experience, that will be dearly appreciated/
I have used voice to text in some writing or just generally just to get my thoughts written down helps well with writers block because you can say what comes to your mind with the need to think about how to type it, VtTx is very useful if spoken clearly and you gotta have some patience cause sometimes what you say won't be written down so you have to go over it and correct it.
I haven’t, because I still have something of a foreign accent and Speech-To-Text doesn’t quite work as well as typing — plus, to be honest, I’m rather too shy to actively recite my work like that.
I do have friends who’ve successfully used Speech-To-Text to write, and it works great for them; it’s all a matter of preference and playing to your strengths.
I used to think that sort of thing would be nice when I was younger, but then I realized I wouldn't want my family hearing the unedited version of my fanfiction.
I'm currently using Speech-to-Text to write so I'll try to go a bit more in-depth for those interested in trying.
I'm an English second language speaker with a heavy accent who learned most of the language from reading so I often don't know how to pronounce words and make my own version up. Also, I am a very fast speaker and have a problem with mumbling. StT still works for me but I need to edit a lot and that takes a long time, often longer than actually writing the chapter.
StT will mix up words that sound the same (flour and flower, for example) or very similar (sort, sword, thought is a common one for me, also laugh and love). Those can be a bitch to spot so I sometimes miss things that Grammarly doesn't detect either.
StT also screws up names if they are similar-ish and/or screws up the capitalization (e.g., I have a character named "Jing He" where "He" will be written "he" since StT thinks it's a pronoun despite the different pronunciation).
Capitalization is also a problem for words where capitalization might change depending on context. E.g., the word "palace" when referring to some building compared to a building with the word "Palace" in its name. StT decided which version it thinks I want and is now consistently using that one (in this specific case the capitalized one).
Commands interfere with dictation: My StT program (an older version of the nuance software) comes with different modes. You can dictate but also use voice commands. I've had the program think I meant to cut something and delete lines or try to close the application.
Save the names of characters, places, etc before you start dictating.
Train your program (if possible) by letting it read your previously written chapters and by correcting in the application using voice commands. If you consistently do this (I'm admittedly too lazy), it will get better at understanding you and choosing the right word to write for you.
Have a good set-up for recording. That means a good microphone (not the one in your notebook or phone, usually). If you use a headset, don't use it with those colored audio-cable thingies but with USB. Bluetooth may work but can also cause more loss in case the connection fails. This will depend on where you dictate.
For pesky capitalization or wrong names issues, use your writing program's search and replace function. E.g. "Palace" is supposed to be "palace" throughout the whole chapter or in 99% of the cases? Switch it out and then correct the remaining ones where it was right by hand!
Make a recording of your dictation. Recordings are especially important if you're also a speaker like me (heavy accent, mumbles, speaks too fast) because sometimes, some sentences will be an unintelligible mess. Other times, you might lose half your chapter (happened to me once or twice) because of commands gone wrong. Recordings help you not have a nervous breakdown after you just dictated several thousand words and realize they didn't appear.
By having recordings, you can just listen back to them and either type it down, dictate again, or - if applicable - load it into your StT program so it will type it down while you go and make yourself a coffee or something. You might not like to hear your voice at first but, believe me, you'll get used to it after a while.
Turn on the "dictate only" mode if possible before you start dictating.
Productivity: Personally, even with factoring in the time used for editing, I'm probably about two times as fast as I was when typing. Results will vary depending on how good your program and your set-up are, how clearly and how fast you speak, and how often you need breaks to think. (These are shit on recordings, btw.)
One word of caution though: Typing speed is not the only thing inhibiting productivity. The mental strain is real. I can absolutely write a 4k or 5k chapter in an hour with StT, I will, however, need a big fucking break afterward because I've just continuously used my brain and my voice and had to focus a lot. Despite StT, I seldom have days where I dictate more than 10k words. Others might be able to do it, but I for sure can't. You'll have to see how it works out for you.
Multi-tasking: If you have some boring tasks to do at home (doing the dishes, folding laundry, anything repetitive, really), you can do that while using StT to "write" at the side. Speed may slow down but it's still time you can use to get ahead a bit.
Health benefits: I originally started using StT because the constant typing put too much strain on my hands causing me pain even with regular daily activities (e.g., cooking, opening anything, holding a fucking toothbrush), while the sitting-while-typing caused back pain. I still type occasionally now and use my hands for edits but they have healed to the degree where I can function normally again. Back pain only persists on/after days with lots of editing (aka more sitting again).
It can be very difficult to get into (dictating is weird, listening back to recordings even more so) and is frustrating when the program is not properly trained.
More editing, usually, on top of any other editing you might have done before.
Difficult/not as useful if you need time to think about what to write. Recordings will also be a pain in the ass to listen to.
Can't do this on-the-go, unless you want to bother other people. (Like, don't pop out your StT program while on the bus or train and bother others, please.)
Also, expensive! I got an older version specifically because of this point. A new software can cost several hundred dollars (if you want a good one, that is). If you have some money to spare, I'd say it's a good investment. If you're broke and this isn't your job ... maybe don't or shop around for the cheapest one of quality you can still get. There's some points to take into consideration on which software would be good but this is already getting too long.
To summarize: I'd recommend it even for people like me who can't speak English that well if you have some money to spare, maybe some health problems to combat, and want to write faster but don't mind also doing more editing. If you're broke, more-or-less satisfied with typing, and are just playing with the thought but would only sit down once a week anyway, I don't think it'll be worth the investment.
If somebody has specific questions, please ask away! I'm happy to answer, just not online on the forums that often anymore so it might take me some time to get back. You can also message me over on the main page though. I react faster there.
