Voice Apps Catch Story Ideas Before They Fade Away
We’re writers, yes indeed. But sometimes ideas come when we’re driving, changing diapers or tossing and turning.
GENIUS STRIKES
Gad, that’s a lot of ings.
The point: sometimes it’s faster to talk out ideas than scribble them down. And what tool do you have in your pocket, in your purse, on your nightstand or tucked in your bra?
I’m talking about your iPhone.
Here are some apps you might find useful:
VOICE MEMOS
Comes on the iPhone. Record, then email or send in a text message. There ya go. No bells nor whistles. This is helpful for a sentence or two pertaining to something you’re working on right now.
Record long, rambling reveries–up to 90 minutes. Label the files, which look like retro-cassettes. Then email as mp3s. Excellent for stream-of-consciousness meetings with your characters, setting description. You might use this app to record interviews of background sources or even ambient sounds.
SUPER NOTE: VOICE RECORDER AND NOTES
This app allows you to type in a lengthy description of what the recording is about if it’s not self-explanatory, but your computer will need QuickTime to play the file.
Oh, baby, here’s the magic. Dragon Dictation TRANSCRIBES YOUR ORAL SPEECH FOR YOU. You talk and this app writes it down. Speak deliberately and succinctly, don’t let others use your app. The more you use it, evidently the more the little dragon gets used to your accent quirks. I swear, that’s what they say. When you’re done you can check for accuracy and touch up any mistakes, either by re-recording the individual words or correcting them by keyboard.
Send your missives to email, text or clipboard, where you can paste them to any other app, like Evernote, Pages or Meernotes.
If you want your notes to be print-worthy, it’s possible to drop in punctuation and formatting as you speak.
Dragon Dictation will insert periods where you normally end sentences, but if you want to make sure, you can say “PERIOD”. You can also insert “COMMA” “QUESTION MARK” “EXCLAMATION POINT” “OPEN QUOTE”, etc.
Say “CAP” before the word you want capitalized, if you want caplock, say “ALL CAPS ON” speak the words you want capitalized, then say, “ALL CAPS OFF”.
“NEW LINE” starts a new line and “NEW PARAGRAPH” starts…
well, you get it.
lisha cauthen
WRITER OF 21 POSTS | WEBSITE
I use this when I’m driving and figure out plot points! So convenient.
Hubby uses Dragon all the time. My only problem is all my great ideas come in the shower. iPhone + water = all the bad things.
Talking. I can still do it faster than typing.
I totally use my iPhone when I’m driving. Sometimes I use the camera record feature to actually capture facial expression as the ideas come out. Sounds crazy, but I find it helpful! Wow, Dragon sounds too good to be true. I’m going to check it out. Like Sarah, many of my best ideas come while I’m immersed in water (usually the bath or swimming laps). So, I just have to rely on that poor ole rusty memory!