Another tool useful for writers that I’ve talked about this one in writers’ meetings before is Otter.AI.
It transcribes your dictation. You just talk, and it converts it into text, with any smartphone. And it’s free.
I use it in the car while driving. I just talk to myself, and it takes notes. Unlike other transcription apps, it doesn’t stop when you take a long pause. Instead, it waits for you to keep going, so you don’t have to keep pressing the stupid record button all the time.
This also means that it can run in the background. For example, on long road trips, I can have the Maps up on the screen, and Otter transcribing my thoughts about my novel in the background. Handy!
Of course, I don’t take long trips anymore. LOL! I mean, sigh!
But you can still dictate your novel when you’re on your treadmill, or walking on a (secluded!) path near your house, or doing housework, or lying in bed, in the dark, if you can’t sleep.
Otter normally gives you 10 free hours of dictation a month on the free plan. But today, the company just announced that its basic premium product, Teams, is now free for two months for everyone. That gives you 600 hours a month.
I like dictation apps instead of using a recording app because I don’t have to listen to the recording afterward. I hate the sounds of my own voice, and, also, it takes up too much time. With the Otter dictation — which I can pull up on my phone or in a browser window — I can cut-and-paste the notes right into a document, search them, edit them — whatever I need to do. Handy!
For some reason, I get all my best thoughts about the book when I’m away from my keyboard. This way, I don’t have to lose them.
I haven’t tried Otter.AI in the shower yet, but it does do a very good job of filtering out driving noises. Maybe it will work for water sounds as well. If anyone tries, let me know!
