The Write Place

If You Can’t Write It – Try Speaking it!

A lot of people are under the false impression that one has to be a “real writer” in order to create content for their websites, blogs, newsletters, etc. That is simply not true. In fact, in some cases being a “writer” can actually be a barrier to creating readable content online.

In reality, as long as you can talk about your subject and then write down the words that you speak, you too can create acceptable content. Seriously.

That really is all that it takes! Presumably, when you are writing something you are either an expert on the subject, or you have researched the topic to the point where you can at least speak about it in general terms. So at that point, all you have to do is imagine yourself sitting across the table from a friend or relative explaining some aspect of your subject, IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

I’m serious here. I’m not just saying this to make you feel good. It’s absolutely true that the writing technique that works best online is a friendly conversational style, very similar to how you would actually speak to a friend or acquaintance about something.

In fact, “writing just like you speak” is now much easier to do than ever before using state of the art voice recognition software (VRS).

While writing my latest book I have been experimenting with widely available voice recognition software that translates my spoken words into text and I have been amazed at how well this works! I simply speak into a standard $15 microphone, and then every word that I say is simultaneously typed automatically onto the page in my word processing program. I can even “speak” my formatting commands!

Early developmental versions of this voice recognition software have been around for a few years now and I have been carefully watching as it has evolved.

Finally, this year I took the plunge and purchased a package and I’m glad that I did. I have to say that I am quite impressed with what they have developed over the years into a highly functional and intelligent voice recognition tool that is fully integrated with standard word processing and e-mail software. (Yes, in case you  are wondering, I can even “speak my e-mails” now as well!).

The voice recognition software package that I chose is called Dragon: Naturally Speaking by Nuance Software, and you can take a look at it here:

http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/

There are a couple of competitors for that software but I don’t know much about them so for this article I will stick with the one that I know. If you want to check out other such voice recognition software I suggest you go to a major SE and enter the search phrase “voice recognition software”.

The one time investment I made to buy this software was well worth the money. Now, whenever I’m not quite in the mood to write, I just enable my VRS program with the click of a mouse and then start prattling away.

Believe me, for anyone who has writer’s block issues this voice recognition software is a true godsend. It will give you a great working draft that all you have to do is edit and revise as you wish. No more having to write something from scratch with a blank page or screen staring you in the face.

So, the fact is that you no longer have to be a “writer” at all to create content! As long as you can talk, you can create written material that is suitable for you to post to your website, blog or newsletter.

Actually, there should be no reason why you can’t use this revolutionary voice recognition software for just about any type of writing that you have to do!

http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/