Well, friends, it has happened. I have had to start with voice recognition software to write once again.
Recently, I decided to start dictating again for speed. I've heard of people dictating ten times more than me. I'm not looking for a novel a day or anything, but a few thousand extra words a day would be great.
Because I am a slow, slow writer.
In 2003, I had a carpal tunnel syndrome scare. Turns out it was just severe tendonitis. Back then, ergonomics weren't really a thing, so I had no idea how to sit properly, nor did I realize that yes, typing for hours on end might lead to hand and wrist issues. Say it with me: Duh.
Anyway, I bought Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is the best dictation software out there. It cost me $60.00. And I started dictating. I had a bit of trouble with the RAM — Dragon needs a ton of RAM and my computer needed to be upgraded to Windows XP. Damn, that was a long time! I found it to be very awkward because I am used to typing, and speaking everything, including punctuation, was just weird. I even went so far as to pretend to be typing to trick my brain. As time went on, I got better at it, and my wrists got better, too. However, I went back to typing at my first opportunity. But I've had to drastically cut down how much I type per day.
Over the years, I had several more tendonitis flares, requiring me to drag out the software once again and relearn how to speak my novel. Each time I went back to typing. See a pattern here? My last flare was in 2008, where I dictated my entire novel for National Novel Writing Month, a writing challenge that takes place every November. I "wrote" 57,000 words, 7,000 more than the goal of 50,000. But I had a serious problem. The headset that comes with the program gave me migraines.
Since then, I've done two things. I've been keeping the software up to date so I always have the most current version. It has gotten better over time. And now you don't even have to train it anymore! It's like 90-some odd percent accurate upon installation. And I can verify that this is true.
I have also been looking for an alternative to the headset. For awhile, I used the Dragon Dictation app on my iPhone, and it worked beautifully. And then they stopped updating it to be compatible with the iPhone, which totally sucked. Strangely enough, the version for Android still works.
I also looked into a Bluetooth headset, but that was a major problem because they're so expensive but so flimsy.
So I was basically screwed.
Showing posts with label Urban Fantasy Fiends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban Fantasy Fiends. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Music, Magic, and Mayhem
Hi! My name is Erin Zarro, and I write fiction in the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. I started writing when I was a kid. I've always wanted to be a published author. My parents, ever practical, suggested that I have another job so I could pay my bills while I was trying to find a publisher. This was back in the days before self-publishing.
I went to college, majoring in journalism and unofficially minoring in photography. As it turns out, journalism and photography are both in my blood. My grandmother, who passed away when I was eleven, was a gossip columnist for the city paper, which is still operating today! My goal back then was to work there. I even have her old Smith Corona typewriter that she used to type her columns. It is almost a hundred years old, and it's in my office. I feel closer to her having it with me.
My grandfather was a photographer and had his own darkroom. I've seen his pictures.They were a lot like mine, amazingly. I have my own darkroom as well because I love black and white photography so much! Back when I was in school, you could still get black and white film developed for a hefty price. Problem was, they used a standard development process and sometimes the pictures don't look good. By doing everything myself, I can control how my negatives and prints look. My favorite kinds of pictures are self-portraits, black and white infrared, and other experimental processes. I haven't been in my darkroom in a long time due to health issues, but one of my goals for next year is to get back in there. I miss it terribly.
I started self-publishing in 2012 as an experiment. I had been revising one novel over and over again, trying to make it perfect for submission to literary agents. Please note that I had no idea what exactly the "perfect novel" was. I ended up causing myself horrible anxiety every time I opened the file. Some writer friends suggested I take time away from it for some much-needed perspective. It was initially supposed to be six months, but it ended up being ten years. Oops! I started writing a book in 2011 on Halloween that became my debut self-published novel, Fey Touched. I had started it for fun as a rewrite of a novel I'd written for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a yearly writing challenge I always participate in."The Sacrifice" was my first finished novel. After Fey Touched, I went on to write two more books in the series, Grave Touched and Ever Touched. They are published through Turtleduck Press, a small independent press I co-founded. We aim to publish books that don't fit into genre boxes—the different, the experimental, the great books that aren't commercial enough for traditional publishing.
I went to college, majoring in journalism and unofficially minoring in photography. As it turns out, journalism and photography are both in my blood. My grandmother, who passed away when I was eleven, was a gossip columnist for the city paper, which is still operating today! My goal back then was to work there. I even have her old Smith Corona typewriter that she used to type her columns. It is almost a hundred years old, and it's in my office. I feel closer to her having it with me.
My grandfather was a photographer and had his own darkroom. I've seen his pictures.They were a lot like mine, amazingly. I have my own darkroom as well because I love black and white photography so much! Back when I was in school, you could still get black and white film developed for a hefty price. Problem was, they used a standard development process and sometimes the pictures don't look good. By doing everything myself, I can control how my negatives and prints look. My favorite kinds of pictures are self-portraits, black and white infrared, and other experimental processes. I haven't been in my darkroom in a long time due to health issues, but one of my goals for next year is to get back in there. I miss it terribly.
I started self-publishing in 2012 as an experiment. I had been revising one novel over and over again, trying to make it perfect for submission to literary agents. Please note that I had no idea what exactly the "perfect novel" was. I ended up causing myself horrible anxiety every time I opened the file. Some writer friends suggested I take time away from it for some much-needed perspective. It was initially supposed to be six months, but it ended up being ten years. Oops! I started writing a book in 2011 on Halloween that became my debut self-published novel, Fey Touched. I had started it for fun as a rewrite of a novel I'd written for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a yearly writing challenge I always participate in."The Sacrifice" was my first finished novel. After Fey Touched, I went on to write two more books in the series, Grave Touched and Ever Touched. They are published through Turtleduck Press, a small independent press I co-founded. We aim to publish books that don't fit into genre boxes—the different, the experimental, the great books that aren't commercial enough for traditional publishing.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Welcome to the Urban Fantasy Fiend Bloggers
Once upon a time, a group of urban fantasy authors (who also write paranormal romance/paranormal mystery/fantasy/science fiction/ and all sorts of things) came together to mutually support one another. We've evolved into a group of 36 authors, all either fully indie or hybrid authors, and we've been together since 2015. We have a Facebook group, but with the algorithms and vagaries of FB, we decided we wanted a site outside of the FB where we could blog, talk about our lives and books, and still support one another. So welcome to the UFF Blog. Subscribe if you want notifications when we have new posts, and please, feel free to comment! We have few rules here: Play nice, no dissing other authors, no self-promotion from any authors who aren't in our group, and no R/X-rated comments/posts/pictures. Otherwise, jump aboard for the ride!
~Yasmine Galenorn
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