Back on Track

Wow - I haven't posted in a long time. But I feel like I'm back on track now. I've decided not to let all the stress I've been feeling lately affect my writing. So I've been writing my morning pages, and making notes and working on the beginning of "What Luck." I feel productive again.
Today, I started to train the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. I'm still not sure if the computer has enough memory for it to work right, but I'm taking my chances. I didn't want to wait any longer. Ian helped me get started. I did a 14-step on-screen tutorial, and I got through it OK. The program is cool, but it's not easy. I can see that it might take awhile for me to get comfortable with using the program, and to "train" it to recognize my voice. I've already learned that I have to be very careful with my diction and pronunciation. I used to be more articulate, when I was in drama and chorus in high school, and when I took radio communications classes years ago in college. But I'm not as used to reading things aloud, as I used to be. Also, my sinuses have gotten worse over the years, so my voice has a nasal quality. So when I read the tutorial sentences aloud, the program didn't type out the text as accurately as I hoped it would. For example, one sentence I had to read was, "Harriet, I hear you got a new job." I thought I read it pretty clearly, but the program "heard" it as "Harry and I hear you got a new job." So it's kind of frustrating. I'll just have to be more careful when reading aloud, and I need to practice working with the program as often as I can. But it's worth it. It's really amazing what this program can do. This is the first time I've used it, and I know that the more I work with it, the more I'll improve. I know it will save a lot of wear and tear on my neck, shoulder, and arm. And hopefully, I'll be more productive. I'll post ongoing reports on my progress. And I'll post more reports on my progress with writing "What Luck." I'll do my best to stay on track from now on.