This year I will be trying out a lot of new things and making major changes in my life such as going natural with my hair and writing a book. I wanted to write a book for two years now and I have finally begun the process. Whenever I start a new project I always like to do research and have the best resources and materials at my disposal to assist me with my new endeavor.
The wonderful man in my life gave me a great Christmas gift, the iMac, which I LOVE! I am pimping out my iMac to help me write my book. First, I had to find a great writing software program to use, and I found it in Scrivener! Scrivener is a writing program that has several different project templates based on the type of writing you want to do. I use the fiction template where my work can be organized by chapter and scene. There is a character sketch folder available, in addition to a place where I can store any research or setting sketches. Basically, this program provides you with everything you need for any type of writing you want to do wether it be nonfiction, script writing or poetry. So if you have a Mac and you like to write GET SCRIVENER! For PC users there is a beta version of scrivener available and the final version should be available soon.
The second great product I want to share is Dragon Dictate which is a speech recognition program for MAC OS X. I had Dragon Dictate for my PC and I loved it, but I barely used it because my PC was slow. I knew once I decided to write a book I would have to get this program for my Mac. I just received it yesterday and I don't know what I will do without it. I purchased the version that comes with a microphone headset, the cord is long enough that I don't have to be directly in front of my computer to use it, but if you are someone who likes to walk around and talk you can purchase the version with the wireless headset. This version definitely picks up better then the one I bought a few years ago for my PC. I'm able to talk at a normal speed and it picks up most of what I'm saying. I also like this program because I can dictate to any program that I have on the Mac including e-mails, Facebook and Twitter statuses, and even my Google search box. ( I'm actually dictating this blog post) I know that this program will help me to write more realistic dialogue in my story since I'm actually going to be able to speak the words my characters are saying. My brain is definitely quicker than my fingers and Dragon Dictate will allow me to express myself quickly and accurately. If you've never used before recognition software before it does take some getting use to and there are common voice commands that you must learn, but once you get past that you will love it!
