Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS
Today we’re digging into a subject that always generates discussion, both pro and con, when it’s mentioned on the show. That subject is dictation. Using dictation to write either part or all of your books.
Today’s guest, Scott Baker is the author of The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon: Using Speech Recognition Software to Dictate Your Book and Supercharge Your Writing Workflow. He’s also written dozens of other books under various pen names and spent most of the last decade working as a freelance writer for different publications in the UK. He first began dabbling with Dragon voice recognition software in the late 1990s and now uses it on a daily basis, taking advantage of the tricks and techniques used by professionals within the speech recognition industry to write thousands of words per hour.
In this 61 minute episode, we’ll dig deep into the whys and hows of using Dragon Dictation as an author, including Scott’s recommendations for software and hardware.
Show Notes
- Scott Baker
- https://scottbakerbooks.com/
- authored dozens of books under various pen names
- operating as a freelance writer for various UK publications for the last ten years
- has been using Dragon voice recognition software since the 1990’s
- used by pros in speech recognition industry
- S.J. Pajonas (Stephanie Pajonas)
- turned to Dragon when she started having health problems
- S.J. Pajonas (Stephanie Pajonas)
- writes thousands of words per hour
- used by pros in speech recognition industry
- member of the Facebook group, “Dragon Riders – Authors Dictating”
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1648134245442422/
- S.J. Pajonas is also a member
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1648134245442422/
- Why use dictation?
- relieves physical strain
- saves time, gets work out quicker
- can increase word count
- “It’s another weapon in your arsenal – it gives you options.”
- How dictation works
- Fiction (most difficult)
- dialogue
- punctuation has to be orated by name
- Nonfiction
- easier (no dialogue)
- still have to dictate punctuation
- Fiction (most difficult)
- Training your brain to work with Dragon
- Scott has a book coming out, Training Your Brain to Write with Dragon
- The process takes some getting used to, but you do get used to it
- “Writing is not typing…writing is a mindset.”
- Talking, dictating, can make you a better writer
- While dictating dialogue, Scott found himself in-character, saying the dialogue as the character in the story
- Once you make the adjustment, if you have high accuracy, it can be life-changing for a writer’s workflow
- Don’t look at the screen
- this helps you keep your flow, and keeps you from editing
- Training Dragon
- You have to train the software to recognize:
- your voice
- what you write
- nuances of subject matter
- you can set up different profiles for genre
- once you do this, it gets 98-99% accuracy
- nuances of subject matter
- Scott’s eBook, Quick Cheats for Writing with Dragon, free on Amazon
- https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Cheats-Writing-Dragon-Recognition-ebook/dp/B01DR5TPNW
- Method:
- set up a profile
- train Dragon with documents you’ve already written
- 2,000 words from a story you’ve already written
- it’s recognizing your voice, and learning the type of writing you’re doing
- you’re also training yourself on doing this
- do this two or three times to properly train the program
- 2,000 words from a story you’ve already written
- if any mistakes, say “Correct [this]”
- Dragon will give you a list of alternatives, and you choose the correct one
- this offers further training; the program further adjusts in this process
- you can also say, “Spell [that]”
- Always correct the mistakes through dictation, not the keyboard
- this is how the program gets better
- error correction varies between the Mac and PC versions of the software
- Mac is a little less elegant
- Dragon will give you a list of alternatives, and you choose the correct one
- Don’t:
- read the built-in Dragon texts, they were written by someone else
- dictate emails
- too complex (spelling errors, replies, different authors)
- You have to train the software to recognize:
- Dragon Details
- works best on a computer with an i5 processor, SSD, and 8 GB of RAM
- Parallels ($50 – $60) or VMware Fusion
- Windows license
- Windows 10 upgrade is free for Microsoft if you’re using an assistive technology – Dragon qualifies as such
- If you have a previous Windows license, you can input the ISO key and upgrade it
- Dragon is stored on the computer’s hard drive, including all the tweaks it make (the profile) – this makes it susceptible to computer crashes
- can be stored in cloud storage for backup
- can set up a backup within the program
- You have to invest in the equipment to use with Dragon to get all the benefits from it
- if you take shortcuts on the equipment, your accuracy will go down
- a microphone is included in the box for Dragon, but it is not a good one. Get your own. Spend the money.
- Suggested equipment: (three dictation sources, max)
- decent desktop microphone
- decent USB headset ($40 – $50)
- wired is better than wireless
- Andrea Electronics or Plantronics recommended
- transcription device (Steve bought this one)
- if you take shortcuts on the equipment, your accuracy will go down
- works best on a computer with an i5 processor, SSD, and 8 GB of RAM
- Different versions of Dragon
- PC
- the most current consumer version is Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, v13 (~$70)
- came out several years ago, still current
- allows transcription anytime, anywhere
- this is the “killer feature” of Dragon
- the home version (Home 13) is cheaper, but it doesn’t let you do transcription
- the most current version Dragon Professional Individual v15 (~$300)
- the differences are negligible
- the most current consumer version is Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, v13 (~$70)
- Mac (not as good as PC versions)
- every Mac version has had issues
- Dragon for Mac 5.0.5 offers no more updates, it could get knocked out by an OS update
- Current version is Dragon Professional Individual v6
- “It is riddled with problems…the most unstable version of the software they’ve ever released”
- completely unusable a couple months after release
- not worth $300 for something so flaky
- every Mac version has had issues
- PC
- Q&A from The Author Biz Facebook group (starts at 42:43)
Links:
Purchase The Writers Guide to Training Your Dragon at Amazon
Scott’s Website: www.trainingyourdragon.com
Purchase Dragon Naturally Speaking 13.0 Premium for PC
Purchase Dragon Naturally Speaking for Mac
Join us inside the Author Biz Facebook Group
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining us again this week.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the left of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for The Author Biz Podcast on iTunes!
Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and mean a great deal to me. They matter in the rankings of the show, and I read every one of them. If you’re not sure how to leave an iTunes review, you can follow the step-by-step instructions here.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes or Stitcher to get automatic updates.
Please note: Amazon links in this post are affiliate links. You’ll pay no more for buying through these links but the show will earn a small commission.
Creative Commons Image by Highline
Before getting into the business of writing I spent twenty-five years in the technology business as a financial guy, and then as a serial entrepreneur. I know what it takes to start and run a successful business.
I saw the title of this podcast and started laughing out loud. Two weeks ago, I started dictating into Scrivener using my MacBook Pro’s built-in dictation system and I love it. With this tool, I’ve been able to “write” much faster with about 95% accuracy. I’m also excited because I think my first editing pass will be more fun to do since I did’t hammer out hte first pass.
Keep up the good work!
Awesome! You’re so right about the fun of a first editing pass after dictating the first draft. I’m loving it. Thanks for chiming in.
When you asked if there was any trial feature with Dragon, the answer is, of course, no. But, for anyone with a smartphone, you can dictate into it. For the iPhone, you only get about 30 seconds, but you can still practice it.
HUGE CAVEAT: the accuracy with my iPhone is nowhere near the accuracy of Dragon. I write westerns and historical mysteries and I rarely have to spell anything out for Dragon. But the point is: dictating to your smartphone is at least a test.
And I’m wholly with Scott Baker: buy whatever version of Dragon that brings transcription with it. That feature is wonderful. But I almost always use Dragon at home with my standing desk.
Thanks for the testing info, Scott, and for your endorsement of the transcription feature. It’s not something I’ve gotten into yet, but I can’t wait to try it. I’ve heard from people who do amazing things, dictating while walking. As for the accuracy of Dragon – It’s amazing. Right out of the box, I was probably getting 98% accuracy. Now, with a little bit of training, especially with character names, it’s even better.
Thanks for a great interview, Stephen! I had a blast.
It was a great pleasure speaking with and learning from you.
Stephen – I’ve been considering it for a while, but you sold me on dictation and Dragon software. Since I produce and host my weekly podcast, I already have the quality microphone, headset and transcription device (Roland R-05). Plus, I’m comfortable forming my thoughts and words as I speak and I use a PC. Too cool! I’ll let you know how I make out, but I’m optimistic that this is ideal for me and my writing. Thank you for the push.
Thanks, Jerri. I hope it works as well for you as it’s worked for me so far. I thought I had a transcription device, but it went missing so I had to buy one. (Olympus – roughly the same thing I had before.) I want to be one of those people who can write while they’re walking. That would be a time saver. Can’t wait to compare notes.
One problem with Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the PC seems to be getting it to load onto your computer. I just started loading version 13, and the drive is spinning madly, and after five minutes finally got to the “do you want to load this” (if you don’t have admin priviledges), and now it’s installing InstallShield.
This Amazon review details one man’s trials getting it to load, which involved hours on the phone with Nuance, deleting a couple of Windows updates, installing the software, and putting his computer back to rights. (I’ll try to get back and update what’s happening in my office …)
And of course I forgot the link to the Amazon review:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2GB8K7O9WC3J9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00LX4BYV6#R2GB8K7O9WC3J9
I saw that review as well, Bill and it gave me pause. It didn’t install as quickly as I expected, but nothing like what you’re seeing. Maybe because I was installing on a clean version of Windows. I do think there was an InstallShield install as a part of mine, which I found surprising.
Yes, Nuance installs InstallShield and a software update program that I find very annoying.
So here’s my experience:
1. It failed to load the first time on my Win 7 computer. I tried again, right-clicking on setup.exe and choosing “run as administrator.” The opening screens loaded within a few minutes, but it still took over an hour for the process to finish.
2. The program also loads a software update program from Flexnet that’s incredibly annoying. You have to go to the company to download the uninstall program. I also went into the administrative settings at Dragon and unchecked the “check for updates at startup” box. I’m hoping this will get rid of this nuisance.
Thanks to a long thread at Nuance, I found this link:
http://support.installshield.com/kb/files/Q112918/SoftwareManagerUninstall.exe
(Full disclosure: I just uninstalled this, but I haven’t rebooted the computer. I hope it’ll go away for good, but I haven’t seen this for myself.)
3. Although Nuance gives you a headset with two plugs, and a connection that combines the two into one, I found that it worked if I just plugged the microphone into the microphone outlet and not use the two-into-one connection. (It took a bit of thinking to realize that I was only going to use this for dictation and not, say, podcast interviews or trashtalk gaming).
I’ve only done a little dictation, but Dragon caught it near perfectly, without going through the training. Despite all this, I’m still looking forward to testing its capabilities.
Thanks for the updated info, Bill!
Terrific episode! I’ve been using Dragon for six years and love it. Happy writing, everyone!
Thanks, Honoree – You must have been seriously cutting edge doing this six years ago. Are you also using it for the fiction you’re starting this year?
Glad you enjoyed it, Honoree. Loved your “Prosperity for Writers” book, by the way.
This is helpful and practical information. I’m already a fan of Scott Baker and often recommend “Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon” to new freelance writers. Following Scott’s advice, last year I was able to become proficient very quickly.
After a writing hiatus, I’m ready to rock with Dragon again, so this was a great refresher and inspirational boost.
Thanks, Scott for the freebie! I’m looking forward to your next book on the topic.
Debra – Thanks for tuning into the episode! I’ve gotten a ton from Scott’s book as well.
Thanks for the kind words, Debra. Good luck and stick with it!
Steve – I bit the bullet and bought Dragon, Parallels and Windows 10 (and used your link 😉 You mentioned in the Author Biz group that it took a bit to get the software working properly – Anything I should keep in mind when I set this up?
The section in this podcast where there’s an example of exactly what to say when you dictate is pure gold. You made it sound so easy and so logical that I came right home and bought the software tonight. Thanks SO much!
Tracey, that’s awesome! Best of luck with the wonderful world of dictation!