These are my thoughts on week 3 of the Fictator-in-Training Roadmap by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. Actually, it’s more about the third module of the Fictation course she has, since the Roadmap is taking us through her course.
In this third module, she recorded herself dictating her entire novella, from outlining to the end of the rough draft. She fast-forwards through most of it so you’re not literally watching her dictate the entire novella, but she stops sometimes to comment and give tips.
I didn’t find this all that useful, except for a few videos where she’s trying different apps. She even tries dictation on her mother’s old PC computer. I did like how she compared 3 different recording/transcription apps on her phone and showed the differences in accuracy between all three, plus her pros and cons for each.
As I mentioned before, she doesn’t go into services that cost a lot of money such as Dragon Anywhere, but I recently heard about an AI transcription website called turboscribe.ai which is free. You’re limited to three audio file uploads per day, and each audio file has to be 30 minutes or less, but that’s still a lot especially for people just starting out in dictation. You can pay $120/year for more, which is a very reasonable price.
I was also reminded of a free Mac app called MacWhisper, which does both live dictation and audio file transcription.
Both of those options don’t allow you to speak your punctuation (MacWhisper might allow that if you use AI prompts, but you need to upgrade to Pro and also pay for an AI API key) and the programs will automatically punctuate the transcription. If you don’t mind that, these are definitely options for transcribing audio files, especially if you end up recording your dictation on an app on your phone. The files can be sent to your computer and you can upload them to a transcription website quite easily.
However, for me, the auto-punctuation inserted by MacWhisper and Turboscribe isn’t my jam. It might be because I started out years ago with Dragon, or maybe because I’m a control freak and I want control over the punctuation in my sentences. I would have liked MacWhisper or Turboscribe to work for me, but for now, I’ll stick with Storyspeak.ai.
Anyway, the videos in the third module weren’t bad, although not as full of useful information as the previous module. But it shows actual dictation so you can hear how slowly she’s speaking.
In her Roadmap email this week, she suggests trying to dictate in different places to see how you like it. I decided to try dictating at my dining room table, which enables me to drink tea and eat snacks while dictating.
I admit that eating while dictating does slow my dictation down, because I’m taking a break every 20-30 minutes or so, whereas when I’m walking, it’s straight dictation for 60 minutes. Also, I kind of miss the motion of walking.
I tried pacing in my dining room and that worked well. However, I wanted to try dictating for a longer period of time, and my knee ended up bothering me after too long pacing, so I had to sit and dictate.
I noticed that it was a bit harder to dictate while I was sitting, never mind that I was also snacking every few minutes. But I dictated for longer than I usually do when I walk since I wasn’t as tired after 60 minutes, so I consider that a win.
My dictation speed was a bit slower than normal, 1300 words per hour. When I walk and dictate, it’s usually around 2000 words per hour or more.
I’ll continue trying to dictate at my dining room table, and I’ll also try dictating in the backyard.
In this third module, she recorded herself dictating her entire novella, from outlining to the end of the rough draft. She fast-forwards through most of it so you’re not literally watching her dictate the entire novella, but she stops sometimes to comment and give tips.
I didn’t find this all that useful, except for a few videos where she’s trying different apps. She even tries dictation on her mother’s old PC computer. I did like how she compared 3 different recording/transcription apps on her phone and showed the differences in accuracy between all three, plus her pros and cons for each.
As I mentioned before, she doesn’t go into services that cost a lot of money such as Dragon Anywhere, but I recently heard about an AI transcription website called turboscribe.ai which is free. You’re limited to three audio file uploads per day, and each audio file has to be 30 minutes or less, but that’s still a lot especially for people just starting out in dictation. You can pay $120/year for more, which is a very reasonable price.
I was also reminded of a free Mac app called MacWhisper, which does both live dictation and audio file transcription.
Both of those options don’t allow you to speak your punctuation (MacWhisper might allow that if you use AI prompts, but you need to upgrade to Pro and also pay for an AI API key) and the programs will automatically punctuate the transcription. If you don’t mind that, these are definitely options for transcribing audio files, especially if you end up recording your dictation on an app on your phone. The files can be sent to your computer and you can upload them to a transcription website quite easily.
However, for me, the auto-punctuation inserted by MacWhisper and Turboscribe isn’t my jam. It might be because I started out years ago with Dragon, or maybe because I’m a control freak and I want control over the punctuation in my sentences. I would have liked MacWhisper or Turboscribe to work for me, but for now, I’ll stick with Storyspeak.ai.
Anyway, the videos in the third module weren’t bad, although not as full of useful information as the previous module. But it shows actual dictation so you can hear how slowly she’s speaking.
In her Roadmap email this week, she suggests trying to dictate in different places to see how you like it. I decided to try dictating at my dining room table, which enables me to drink tea and eat snacks while dictating.
I admit that eating while dictating does slow my dictation down, because I’m taking a break every 20-30 minutes or so, whereas when I’m walking, it’s straight dictation for 60 minutes. Also, I kind of miss the motion of walking.
I tried pacing in my dining room and that worked well. However, I wanted to try dictating for a longer period of time, and my knee ended up bothering me after too long pacing, so I had to sit and dictate.
I noticed that it was a bit harder to dictate while I was sitting, never mind that I was also snacking every few minutes. But I dictated for longer than I usually do when I walk since I wasn’t as tired after 60 minutes, so I consider that a win.
My dictation speed was a bit slower than normal, 1300 words per hour. When I walk and dictate, it’s usually around 2000 words per hour or more.
I’ll continue trying to dictate at my dining room table, and I’ll also try dictating in the backyard.
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