Posted on 02/15/2009 3:51:24 PM PST by StAntKnee
I've written several books using Dragon NaturallySpeaking software and have pitched to my agent a book on how to write a novel using the software.
It'd be useful to hear how others have fared. Any experiences with the software that would contradict my very good experience?
You may fire when ready, Gridley.
Fuiction?
Or Fiction.
Gotta proof the headline, too?
Sorry.
Our dragons never say anything. Maybe we should teach them to type; they like to sit on keyboards already.
You might want to ask the moderator to fix the title. I'm sure the folks at Dragon NaturallySpeaking wish you would.;-)
The only issue I have (DNS 9) is that it keeps demanding that I go through “training” every time I switch microphones. Sometimes I prefer a mic. on a stand, other times a mic. on headphones, and it gets annoying after awhile
Ok, not the biggest thing, but a pet peeve with me.
Proofread very carefully! I am a translator, and I use Dragon. I’d say I can do about twice as much work as I could if I just typed everything. However, it does make some very peculiar recognition errors, and I’ve had some real howlers turn up in my translations.
You have to let the text rest for at least a few hours and then go back and look at it. Otherwise, if you review it immediately, you’ll see what you meant to say and not what Dragon thought you were saying. Unfortunately, your readers will only see the latter...
When it comes to Dragon (and even more so it’s parent company, Nuance), the thread title speaks volumes!
When I'm in writing (typing) mode, I can hammer out 1K words of completely formatted, perfectly flowing text in about 45 minutes. I don't even see the words on the page, as the upcoming sentences are forming in my mind as I'm typing the current ones.
I could never use a program like this. With three kids in a busy house, it would be creating text such as, "Mom! Anthony hit me!" in the middle of a paragraph.
Then again, you are talking to someone who wrote their first manuscript on a circa 1940 manual typewriter. There is an atmosphere that surrounds me during the writing process, a mental place I go where everything around me fades away. I simply could not achieve that when I'm speaking.
Wish you best of luck with it, though.
I am having a heck of a time getting Dragon to work
One of the great mysteries of computing is why nobody has ever combined a fine product like Naturally Speaking with artificial intelligence and a speech synthesizer.
Of course, they would have to significantly improve navigation, both around the computer and on the Internet, and they would need a top of the line AI, but there are lots of small, quality speech synthesizers out there that could be modified and improved to give human quality speech.
But the end result would be a computer you could talk to that would talk back. To improve on that, there are now drag and drop document designers that would allow a user to just tell their computer how to assemble a complex presentation by voice alone.
Since most of what a particular user does is repetitive, the software could adjust to their comfort.
I use Dragon in conjunction with my Olympus DS40 voice recorder. I can dictate notes all day on the DS40 then plug into my computer and Dragon will convert the notes to text at a very high accuracy level. No need to sit at the computer to record....I can do it anywhere.
I have a good friend who had brain cancer leaving him unable to direct his fingers to the right key. He used Dragon to email me and over time the letters got better and better. As the upgrades improved the quality and his skills got better his letters were error free and as he told me, he had to do almost no editing. Seems like a good tool to use.
As a transcriptionist, I hope they never perfect voice recognition software.
I do transcription for a court repoter, I love Dragon, it’s very handy to have as my hands have given out on typing.
In what sense? Software? Voice adaption?
One of the things I’ve found in using DNS almost since its release is that my speaking voice has improved because I had to consciously work on my diction. And dictating for hours at a time has strengthened my voice, too.
Thanks for chipping in.
Interesting comments, and I do appreciate them.
I remember in J-School (don’t flame me, people), I had to compose at the keyboard rather than write it longhand and convert to text. The jump was not easy. Then I found the leap to dictating text to be a near equivalent jump out of the old comfort zone. The book is to be an attempt at capturing the techniques to achieve that zone you’re talking about.
I’d never have gone there without a terminal case of carpal tunnel (repetitive motion injury?). Forced me into dictation mode even before Dragon was invented. And I was ready for voice-to-text when it arrived.
My first novel was typed on an Underwood.
I have a great deal of respect for your position. If I felt the way you do, I would not change, either.
Still, I think there’s a world of opportunity out there for those who have not arrived at your spot, and I want to talk to them, so to speak.
Been there. And I’ve published more than a few goofy homonym and other mistakes, too.
One thing I’d suggest trying is to have the machine read text back to you (not “play that back” but “read that”). The syntho-voice set at a fast rate will read the howlers to you, although the homonyms will still escape detection.
Thank you for the tips on proofing.
Does Dragon do spell checking?
Actually, no. It never mispells. You see, its dictionary has only correctly spelled words.
It will put homonyms in. Two for to or too.
And it will misinterpret poor diction.
I’m thinking a view FOR I’m thinking of you.
Say both phrases aloud, and you’ll see the issue.
As to fuiction is a typo by me. Fared is correct.
Thx for the input.
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