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Transcript

Save Loads of Time with Dictation · The Daily Writer

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you build the habits for writing success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of the worst and the best things ever invented was the smartphone.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: The smartphone can be the worst thing because of all the distractions lurking on your phone.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The notifications, games, email, and social media all beckon to you every single second, it seems like.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: If smartphones were designed to be addictive, they're doing a really great job because they are.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yet smartphones are also one of the best things ever invented because of the convenience.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is especially true when it comes to options for getting your writing done faster.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you've never tried dictating your content on a smartphone, I think you're missing out on a fun and easy way to be a lot more productive in your writing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I often dictate material for this podcast as well as for my books, blog, and other things.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it works like this.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I have a rough outline of what I want to say, and then I go for a walk and I just dictate.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And when you use the speech to text button on your phone, it magically creates text out of whatever you're speaking.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you take a little bit of time to learn the commands like new line or new paragraph or some basic punctuation commands, it's even more effective.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now the app that you use on your phone for dictation doesn't really matter that much.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I usually use the Scrivener app because it syncs perfectly with the desktop version of the Scrivener app, but you can also use the Notes app, an email app, Evernote, or really any other app where you can input text.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Dictation usually requires you to clean it up later because when you're dictating, you're not going to dictate it as perfectly written English.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: So the editing can take a little bit longer on the back end if you dictate it on the front end.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I consider the editing to be really kind of like a second pass on the material, which of course improves it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than writing a first draft and typing it out, I would almost prefer to dictate a first draft and then clean it up on the second draft when I'm going through the dictation part of it.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Another added benefit though of dictation is that if you dictate while you're walking, your brain is going to be more energetic because you're moving while you're thinking and you're talking as opposed to just sitting there and typing.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So there's all kinds of really cool benefits to dictating your content.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you've never done it before, I really highly recommend it because you can get writing done faster and there are some creative elements baked into that, such as walking, that are only going to make your writing that much better.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I encourage you to give this a shot if you've never done it before, because I think you're going to enjoy it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different way to create material and it's also going to save you time and help you to be more productive.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your daily question How could dictation help you save time and improve your writing?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.