I write very differently than I speak. This is why I've always hesitated to dictate in the past, and writing this book using dictation is such a big experiment for me.
I wonder if the book will come across as too familiar, but I also wonder if that's a better way of writing for me. If I'm making you feel like we have more of a connection and making this feel more like a person-to-person conversation, then dictation is a superior way of writing.
It's an experiment that I'm willing to engage in with you. Transcription technology has arrived, and I no longer live in fear of strange and indecipherable transcription errors. When I tried twenty years ago, the software was not ready for primetime. Back in high school, I could expect anywhere from forty to sixty percent of the words to be wrong.
Even if you hate working with software, you can hire someone to transcribe your words for less than a dollar a minute. So it's not cripplingly expensive.
The faster you talk, the cheaper it gets. Using a human transcriptionist comes down to the length of the project. If you are going to record remotely, any book under twenty thousand words is perfect for software. If you are doing something longer, then it's worth getting a human in the process.
I have experimented with using software to transcribe and then hiring a human to clean up the result, but that didn't go well. She quit. If you can afford it, hire a person.
Find the right solution for each part of your writing process. Just as your writing blocks and strategies will be unique, so too will your implementation of dictation. As you experiment with new technology, you'll discover some parts are easier for you, and some parts are harder. If you have a very strong accent, you will have to modify your dictation strategy to overcome your unique hurdle. Some people have accents that software isn't ready to deal with. On the other hand, you may speak so fast that a transcriptionist struggles while software glides right through. The only way to find out is through experimentation.
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Phone Apps
The good news is that you don't have to spend a boatload of money discovering if transcription will work for you. Attempting to use the basic dictation inside of your smartphone will not work very well. There are a lot of free dictation apps, and I have a link to a couple of different ones on the 20K page.
A lot of dictation and note-taking apps will do the entire process for you for free. You can record a block of audio, and it will record you and then email a transcription or store it inside the app. You get a recording and a transcription in just minutes.
When using these apps, I recommend recording in blocks of ten minutes or less; that's pretty close to what I'm doing for this book.
Chopping up your book into smaller pieces ensures that you don't try to record something too big. There is nothing worse than watching your app crash and lose a full hour-long recording. The longer your sessions, the greater the likelihood of a crash and the more work you will lose. Losing ten minutes stinks, but losing an hour is a real kick in the teeth.
I prefer apps that record audio and also generate a transcription. I like having both versions for dual backups. If there is a problem with a transcript, I can always use the audio file with another program.
The Dragon Dictate phone app is free, and I have used it in the past very effectively. Before you buy the desktop version of Dragon Dictate, you can test their software with this app to see if it can handle the way you speak. Better to find out now if your accent is a problem before you spend a few hundred bucks.
There are loads of great dictation apps for iPhones and Androids. I'll post some links on my website because it’s easier for me to update them as the best apps and software options change. I don't want to put links in this book because many dictation apps that were great a year ago are gone now. Much easier for me to update my website every time an app disappears, or a better app comes out. I always try to find the best free dictation apps for you.
Many of my coaching clients have had great success using apps on their phones. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money on software right now; start out experimenting with the free solutions first.
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Experimentation
There are other dictation companies, but Dragon has been around the longest. They must be doing something right. I bought my first version over twenty years ago, and it's not brand loyalty that keeps me coming back. If there were a better option, I would jump ship in a heartbeat.
Most competitors only last a few years before their product fades away into the annals of history. If you look at a list of the top dictation apps from just one to two years ago, half of them are out of business. But the company that makes Dragon has been around since I was in high school and they can afford to invest a lot of money into research and development.
The best transcription tool is the one that most accurately reflects your words with the least mistakes. I would recommend trying a couple of different free apps and see which one works the best for you. Start with short recording blocks until you find the perfect tool. Invest a little time in experimentation.
As you try everything out, you will see apps that allow you to dictate directly to a text file. I'm not a big fan of this type of dictation, where you only get the text file, but not the audio. I like to have both. I like to have a backup of everything I work on. It makes me feel a little bit more secure. But when you're experimenting, you can certainly try these solutions as well. You should try each type of dictation tool to get a feel for everything.
Playing around with apps is an excellent way to dabble with dictation. Your time is valuable, so don't spend too long playing.
Once you find a solution that works for you, it’s time to lock it in. Master that tool and integrate it into your workflow. As much as I love technology, I don’t want to spend weeks trying out different tools.
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The 20K Setup
The way I record everything is very simple. I record into my iPhone using a lapel microphone. This little gem of a microphone costs less than seventy bucks on Amazon. I have some pictures of my setup and links to everything on the 20K page so that you can easily replicate my workflow if you so desire.
This microphone is specifically designed to work with your smartphone. It comes with a free app that lets you customize the recording settings. If your voice is deeper or higher, you'll want to have different settings. Just playing with the settings for about fifteen minutes will allow you to get the perfect sound for your voice. It's not a massive process, but it's nice compared to a lot of other setups that don't let you play around with those settings.
I will include screenshots of the settings that I use to give you a starting point. You can replicate my settings and then save them as your default, and you will probably sound good enough.
Test each batch of settings by recording thirty seconds of audio. When I began using this mic, I recorded nearly a dozen different setting combinations before I found the right one for me. Experiment until you get a nice, crystal clear audio with minimal background noise.
Once I complete a recording, I immediately upload an MP3 version to my Dropbox account. I start moving these files while I’m walking back to the house from my little dock. Even if I fall into the pool on the way home and destroy my phone, I already have a backup transmitted to the cloud. I can send the files through Wi-Fi; I don’t even have to connect my phone to my computer anymore.
When I get back to my house at the end of each session, all of my files are waiting for me on my computer, each little chapter with the name of the chapter in MP3 format. I then drop all of the files for the day into Dragon Dictate, click “transcribe,” and leave the room. I know that when I come back, I'll have all my audio files and a Word document of each chapter waiting for me. It's a very smooth and streamlined process that works very well for me.
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The Good with the Bad
I love the software, but I'm not a big fan of their customer support. The customer experience with Dragon Dictate is p
retty terrible. Their entire support and sales infrastructure are dirty dog awful. You'll see exactly what I mean if you ever have to call them on the phone.
It's so terrible that if there were an alternative that was better, I would recommend it to you. I do not like dealing with them on the phone at all. When I wanted to upgrade the last version to the new version, it was a total nightmare. I called in, and they said, “You can't upgrade at this number; you have to go to another number."
I said, “Look, I just want to upgrade on my computer. You sent me a link that disappeared. Please just resend me the link you already showed me once before.”
They had this little pop-up that said, “Do you want to upgrade?”
The only time it appeared on my screen, I was in the middle of doing another software update, so I didn't click it. And then the next time they showed me a link, the price was twice as high. I knew they were running a promotion, and they were sending out links because my friend who is another big Dragon user, and who recommended it to me the first place, saw the half price link and bought it directly online.
But they wouldn't tell me the link over the phone.
They were trying to force me to make a credit card purchase over the phone, which I'm not interested in doing. I don't like to make credit card purchases over the phone when I can hear that someone is in a cubicle farm. I could hear tons of voices in the background. I used to work in a call center, so I know exactly how sketchy those places can be.
I can tell they sell lots of products for lots of different companies, so I don't have a lot of faith in that type of setup. I said, “Look, just give me the link. Let me buy online.”
And they kept refusing and claiming that the link was top secret. After banging my head against a wall, speaking to three different reps, and finally having a manager hang up on me, I was ready to admit defeat. By the end, they claimed that the entire promotion was a figment of my imagination.
Needless to say, I found the link on a blog post a week later and bought it online. Dealing with their horrible phone team is just a nightmare.
All of the reviews of the company are always dreadful, pointing out that the staff seems not to care. I think it’s because they spend all of their money on their scientists and no money on their support or sales team. It's a weird setup. And I'd rather tell you up front that it's a nightmare experience.
You’ll also discover that they sell different versions of the same software on different websites. They have different editions in different places. I try to always have a link to the most updated version of the software on Amazon because it's the easiest place to buy it.
But sometimes the version on Amazon is one generation behind. You could buy version five from Amazon only to discover that you could have purchased version six directly from their website. Good luck getting them to upgrade you for free!
I try to always keep my links updated to make it easy for people to find the right version of the software, but the company is always playing little shell games, and it's a complete hassle. They make it hard when it doesn't need to be. But that’s just the way these clowns like to run their business. If you click on the link on my 20K page, it should be the latest version, but I can't swear that it will be.
It's still the best dictation software despite all of that nightmare. Even with the headache of their staff, no other software for transcription comes even close. Your other alternative is to pay a person every time you write anything. Over time, that costs far more than using a software solution.
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Action Steps
Try a few of the free dictation apps to get a feel.
Find a recording location where you can control the noise and find inspiration.
Look at hardware as well as software. Using a lapel microphone is way better than using the microphone built into your phone.
Set up systems to back up your audio files and transcriptions. You can never have too many backups.
Head over the ServeNoMaster.com/20K to see my setup and find links to the latest transcription tools.
Part XXIV
Transitioning into Dictation
There is nothing so stable as change.
- Bob Dylan
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Baby Steps
Trying to transition from writing to dictation all at once is a big mistake. Don’t make massive changes to your workflow overnight. It’s better to dabble and get a feel for it before you flip the switch forever. Although I've been dabbling with dictation for over six months, this is the first time I've jumped fully into a project with both feet. In addition to these recording sessions, I’m still writing several thousand words every day by hand. Just this morning, I was updating my blog about the experience of writing this book, and I cranked out over a thousand words.
It's six thirty AM, and I've already written a thousand words before coming outside to work on this book. Trying to be a pure dictation person is hard. My friend is a dictation machine, and he has transitioned to a hands-free existence. He does all of his work via dictation now, but it took him almost a year to transition. He didn’t try to quit his keyboard cold turkey.
If your workflow right now is writing by hand and you’re in the middle of a book, don't suddenly try and shift everything to dictation. What you can do is shift some of your side work first or start dictating your emails.
Part of the learning process is training the software to recognize your unique language. There are loads of little words and phrases that I use in a way most other people don’t. During the transition period, you will train the software to recognize your personal vocabulary. You will create a unique dictionary that matches your language style.
The software also has to train you. There are certain commands which generate punctuation. You need to know these or you will go insane hitting the period key all the time.
There is a learning curve period, and it takes four to six weeks to get used to dictating directly into your computer. Moving entirely to dictation and completely changing your workflow is not something you want to do in the middle of a project. If you're in the middle of your book, don't change the way you do everything.
Switching to dictation could very well change the tone of your whole book, and it could cause a problem. People will always be able to tell the exact moment you switched formats.
I decided before the very first word of this book to dictate the entire thing so that the tone would be consistent. I sound a little bit different when I write than when I talk.
If you take things slowly and ease yourself into the process, adding dictation to your life will be a breeze. Just spend thirty to sixty minutes dictating each day. You can still use your keyboard the rest of the day. Over time, increase your dictation usage until you find that perfect balance.
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Change is for the Weak
I am a man of routine. I have a very strict structure to how I work and run my business; I don't like changing things. It rubs me the wrong way when people offer unsolicited advice. I'm in my thirties, but I've already become set in my ways. Even though I could probably start formatting all of my books using Scrivener, I will never do it. I use Vellum to format my books for Kindle. I could probably remove it from my workflow and still get pretty good results, but it’s never going to happen. Once I find a system that works for me, I don’t change it unless it will boost my productivity.
I am just as particular when it comes to editing audio. To edit a single podcast episode, I use several different pieces of software when just one could do the whole job on its own. When I record a training video, I record the video and the audio using two different programs. Rather than spending twenty minutes going down this rabbit hole, let’s just say that I have a complicated workflow, but I have no plans to change it anytime soon; it works.
I like consistency, and as you build your rhythm as a writer, you will feel the same way. You don’t want to make massive changes too quickly. The stress of disturbing your routine can outwe
igh the benefits of the change to your workflow.
Even though I've learned how to dictate directly into my computer, I do it quite sparingly. Living in the tropics, I work with a fan blasting all day long. The wind shoots straight into the mic; I turn off the fan when I want to record. And that is when the sweating begins.
If I leave the fan on, the computer struggles to understand anything I say. There is too much background noise.
I also like to work with music blaring. I need to hear that bassline thumping into my bones. If dictation means I have to turn off my sweet beats, then I’ll be sticking with my trusty keyboard for now. [Editor’s Note: I am listening to loud music while editing this section. I predicted my future.]
Even though my new computer has removed the time-delay problem with Dragon, I still struggle with getting into the zone while dictating. It's faster than writing but it feels slower. If I speak too fast, I will lose the computer. As much as I don't want to edit while I'm writing, if the computer makes an egregious error, I might not be able to figure out what I meant later on. Some of the mistakes Dragon makes are simply confounding.
Additionally, trying to remember all the special Dragon commands drives me batty. I just don’t like speaking punctuation out loud. It makes me feel like I’m reading a telegraph in the 1800s.
I am experimenting with transcribing into the computer, but so far I'm still just dabbling.
20K a Day: How to Launch More Books and Make More Money Page 25