Ever since I was in my early teens, I’ve been plagued with bouts of pain in my wrist, elbow, and shoulder because of ‘chronic overuse.’ For many writers this is the bane of their existence. Some also call this pain Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

I’ve been relatively pain free for the past few years, thanks to enforced rest due to chronic illness. Now that I’m getting back into the swing of writing on a regular basis, the pain is returning.

For a few weeks now I have been trying to improve the ergonomics of my work space but it hasn’t been enough, so I’ve had to think creatively.

A week ago I activated the voice recognition software on my computer to see if would make a difference. I’ve known about voice-to-text software for a while now but never had the inclination to set it up. Now, thanks to circumstances, I’ve been forced to do so.

I won’t lie, it does take a lot of getting used to. It takes a lot of patience to teach the computer my voice patterns, strange word choices, and Australian accent. However, it is worth it to reduce the pain.

I’ll be interested to see if this change in writing method also changes my writing voice. Instead of thumping away at my keyboard, structuring sentences as the words flow from my fingers, I now have to form my thoughts into coherent and clear sentences before any words can appear on the page. It may not seem like that big a difference on the surface, but for me it is a completely different working arrangement that is curbing some of my spontaneity as I try to retrain my brain.

I didn’t realise how natural typing had become to me. The words seemed to materialise, from an abstract thought in my mind to solid sentences on the page, all with very little effort on my part. Now my mouth needs to form each tiny the word and every individual punctuation mark.

I’m sure that soon this new way of doing things will feel more natural. It might even turn into me talking to my computer is if it were a child hearing a bedtime story. The possibilities are intriguing. It may even open up a whole raft of new story ideas.

In the meantime though, my writing may be a little stilted until I get the hang of this.

Have you ever try voice recognition software for writing? Do you have any suggestions or questions?