Here, There Be Dragons

Actually, that should be dragon, singular and there is one here. It still has a mind of its own.

Some months ago, there was a thread going on about the pros and cons of using a speech program to get some writing done. I already had the tenth edition but hadn't made sufficient use of it to be able to judge how well it worked. Then one day I put it aside and forgot about it... until recently.

Sometimes I wondered  why I upgraded it to Version 11. Granted, there was a special offer and I told myself I should put it to work. Of course, I didn't listen to me. I seldom do.

Earlier this week I brought it out again, determined to get the hang of the program and make good use of it. The hype says your word productivity will increase, and that it has. What I got done, so far, in a couple hours, is what usually takes me all afternoon to accomplish. I still have plenty of time to work on another file.

While I'm dictating to the little critter I find words popping onto the screen that have nothing whatsoever to do with the story and sound nothing like what I said. (try not to breathe into the mic. it may very well show up on the screen as a string of "him"s.) A fun lesson is teaching the dragon to clean up after itself. Unwanted words can be a mess. Then there's the "Please say that again" that appears on the screen in a little box. It makes me wonder if the little beast is hard of hearing because when it asks that, I haven't said anything.  Maybe it hasn't yet learned patience.

And maybe it's a matter of both of us needing to be trained to work together. You know how that goes... The ad may say you can train it to recognize your voice, but like a real pet, it has a mind of its  own. It's going to insist on doing its own thing and get you to follow. That's okay. I've always imagined having a pet dragon.

Break time has been more than sufficient for a snack and drink so I should get back to teaching little Drago a new trick. And, by the way... if you should just happen to see any scorch marks, you'll know the lesson hasn't gone very well.