I Speak Dragon to Improve my Creativity
Susie H. -
I have used Dragon to write a historical novel. It's called The Lost Wisdom of the Magi and the Zealot Code. This has involved a large amount of research as well as writing, but I have RSI and need to limit my typing at the keyboard, so Dragon is a big help. I do a lot of my research and creative writing in bed at night, and in the morning record my handwritten notes using Dragon. I have notes on every book I've read in the past 10 years.
Gordon H. -
I work in a University in the U.K. A colleague of mine, who suffers from a severe repetitive strain injury which had prevented him from working for over a year, was able to return to a full-time productive job largely due to using Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS). After chatting with him about the benefits of using DNS, we started working together on a project to make computing facilities and resources more accessible to our students who had various disabilities, using DNS as a "front-end" speech recognition system. Although this work is still at a relatively early stage, some of our students - including one with severe RSI and another with cerebal palsy - have already obtained some benefits, contributing to making computer use during the latter stages of their university degree studies more straightforward than before.
Sylvia R. -
I am well into my 'yesterdays' children status, and have for years loved to write short stories. As age and physical ability took its toll, I could not type for long without pain. I purchased Via voice, but after repeated upgrading, I finally conceded defeat. I appened to see Dragon being demonstrated, and although somewhat reluctantly, bought it. Only one word. Brilliant! Not only has it enhanced my life, enough to join creative writing courses, it has opened up a whole new experience for my 24yr old multi handicapped son. Because Dragon, (I have version 8) is so sensitive, unlike Via voice, my son has been able to train the computer with his own voice file. He can't read or write, but like me loves to tell stories. We have even done some about a Dragon who becomes a Hero. (he would love that puppet) Not only is he able to write, he hears what he has written, and now sends and receives e.mails. Thank you for this wonderful programme. It might seem expensive to buy, but it is priceless to me.
John C. -
I'm a freelance writer, working in London, UK, and I've been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 8 for over a year now. I've just acquired a new, faster laptop and upgraded to DNS Version 9.5 with Vista. Enough techy stuff, already! I write magazine articles - always using DNS - typically 3000 words or more. My touch typing is poor, and I don't want to suffer RSI. So I find Dragon NaturallySpeaking of enormous benefit. But a lot of my other stuff is topical satire -- sketches and songs -- for stage shows in London and Brighton. I compose sketches on the fly, and always speak them (a) so I can quickly get the words onto the page; but most importantly (b) because voicing the dialogue is the only way to see whether it will work on the stage. The only snag with all this is that when I'm doing a character, say, George W. Bush, I’ll find myself inevitably speaking in a caricature of Dubya's voice. Not only is it a rubbish impression, of course, but Dragon NaturallySpeaking is totally thrown by my sudden change of accent and my error rate then soars alarmingly! But once I'm back speaking all the lines in my own voice, the words fly onto the page once more. So, happily, I'm getting double benefit from DNS -- more efficient transcription, along with a chance for a live and risk-free rehearsal when there's only a computer listening!
Simon L. -
I used the text of one of the very first letters i dictated with dragon version 5 (read aloud by the built-in text reader, and then passed through a number of digital sound effects) as the "vocal" part in a piece of music - which you can hear, if you want to, on this webpage -http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.legg4/Psimswebpage.htm - you will need to click on the title of the piece (it's at the bottom of a short list of titles underneath the word "audio", and it's called "some unlock, a beneficiary" - which was a very young dragon's first attempt to say my name & title, which was actually "simon legg, welfare benefits worker") Needless to say, all names except my own have been completely removed from the letter, and mine was wrong anyway!. Dragon 8 is a lot better, and i hope to try version 9 one day.
Lyn R. -
I was typing a table giving staff working hours and had to speak to Dragon saying "p forward slash t" and Dragon typed hee/hee. It lightened up an otherwise dull morning, and it made us all say "hee hee".
Mary J. -
In 1989, I was diagnosed with a condition called Myasthenia Gravis. It is termed a muscle weakness. The more I use my muscles the weaker I become. At times, it is very similar to muscle fatigue. It became very evident early on that I would not be able to work in a normal 9-5 job. Mainly because my arms and hands would not function properly for 8 hours. Also, if I use the telephone for any length of time my ability to speak would diminish. After almost 15 years, getting permission to return to work part-time from home, going to school and becoming a Medical Transcriptionist with the help of the Department of Economic Security I was able to begin work on my novel once again. While I was in school learning how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to do my Medical Transcription I began working on my novel to help me get use to using Dragon. In my spare time I now work on my novel. Thank you Dragon NaturallySpeaking for giving me some enjoyment back in my life.
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