OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
There are a number of ways you can now have a book without writing it.
Some people think best out loud so talk your book, and then edit afterwards. Here are some options:
- Record it yourself. Buy an audio recording device that creates digital files (under $100) and talk into it. Create mp3 files. Put an ad on www.Elance.com and get bids for someone to transcribe it for you. Then get an editor to craft it into a finished product. If possible, do the proofreading yourself and it’s done. I use a basic recorder for interviews which I get transcribed professionally and returned to me over the internet. It's cheap and fast.
- Record over the internet. Use a service like www.IDictate.com where you can do the recording direct over the internet. They then return a typed file for you to edit.
- Speech to text software. Use software like Dragons Naturally Speaking http://www.nuance.com where the software recognizes your voice and writes it on the screen for you. Edit from there.
All of these will give you a written file that you then have to edit and shape into a book, but the bulk of writing is done in a different way.
“I outlined the book first, based on what I thought I was going to write about. That was the first thing. And I didn’t worry too much about titles at that point in time.
The second thing I did was I realized that—I’m a very fast typist, however, I think faster than I type and so—typing would have been too slow. So I actually did some research and found some software by a company called Dragon. It’s a speech-to-text software. It converts your speech to text. It types for you. That’s how I got the big pieces of the book done.”
You can read (PDF) or listen to (mp3) the whole interview with Ron Nash here.
View Comments (6)
Hmm, interesting. I've tried Dragon and have found it very lacking. Bottom line is that it makes loads of mistakes and it's much faster for me to type 40WPM than use Dragon and then have to go back and fix everything. In theory, you can "tune" Dragon to recognize your specific voice. In practice I did not find the tuning to work very well.
I suppose if I was the kind of writer who could "think" 4000 words an hour, who was a really bad typist, and for whom the act of typing interfered with the act of coming up with the words, it might be worth using.
I do know there are writers who fit that description. I'd just encourage people not to assume it's going to be faster if you're a decent typist, and to expect loads of editing.
What a great resource and easy read, particularly for those of us that are still overwhelmed with all there is to do on/with the internet.
Thanks
Dr. Velonda
http://drvelonda.blogspot.com
I was thinking about purchasing the product Dragon software because I wrote 3 books they are all in two tablets front and back page I have tried to type but I'm a very slow typer I'm getting frustrated so do you think Dragon is a good idea, cause I feel like if I keep typing my books will NEVER get publishe!!!!!!!
Hi Joanna
I’m finally getting my new branding sorted out and below is what I went with.
Since getting more organised I’ve gotten two new commissions for work I now I have some audio to transcribe. Do you still use elance? Or is there someone else you’d recommend??
I’m finally getting my new branding sorted out and below is what I went with.
Since getting more organised I’ve gotten two new commissions for work I now I have some audio to transcribe. Do you still use elance? Or is there someone else you’d recommend??
I actually found an ebook that outlines the process of writing by voice in detail. I have always struggled with procrastination and writer's block and it was quite a refreshing alternative. Writing by voice or dictation still requires some work and, of course, getting to know Dragon Naturally Speaking software. But once you've cracked it, it's not so bad after all. Truthfully, it might not be for everyone, but I guess I'm one of those 'outliers' as Malcolm Gladwell puts it.
http://www.amazon.com/Write-Book-Without-Typing-Steps-ebook/dp/B00AS93JH4