I just saw a video about a piece of software that may be perfect for my needs. I do a lot of writing. And I’m not referring to the typing I do for blogs and paid blogs. Those are just the tip of the iceberg. No, my primary source of income comes from writing SEO content for three different clients. The one client frequently gives me large projects that require 2000 - 4000 words apiece. Currently, I have six 4000 word projects waiting for me. I had nine, but I knocked out three of them over the weekend.
Needless to say, doing all that typing is quite tedious, and after a while painful. I do get headaches, I do get blurred vision from eye strain (wearing contacts and dealing with an astigmatism doesn’t make things easier), and I definitely get aching and cramping fingers, hands and wrists.
So, when I saw Dragon Naturally Speaking in action tonight, I got quite interested. As I’m sure you know, a lot of software recognition programs aren’t that decent. But Dragon Naturally Speaking really seemed to work well, picking up all of the words, commas, periods and new paragraph comments given by the speakers.
The current release of the software is Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Preferred, and it’s definitely reasonably priced. It includes a headset, and there is Bluetooth support (perfect for my new laptop!). For those on a budget, there is the cheaper Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard.
For more information, check out the NY Times Review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and view the following video:
One Response to “Dragon Naturally Speaking”
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brettbum
October 6th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I have been using Dragon Naturally Speaking (first 9 and now 10) for this type of work for over a year now.
I ‘write’ while I’m doing research in kind of a mix between brainstorming and research.
At 150 words per minute, 1500 words can be knocked out in 10 minutes. That said, the words tend to flow in batches.
It depends on how much content flows from my brainstorm while I’m reviewing a concept, or research article or what have you.
More often than not I’ll have 2-4 segments of 500 words, and usually a big section (the main idea I come up with) of 3,000 to 5,000 words.
I then edit it together, format it, and do a little keyword review, density checking, title work and sub title work and those big projects become very very very easy!