Dawn Groves Land

Yesterday I managed to dictate 2000 words of bad dialogue using my voice input software, Dragon.

“Damn you carpal tunnel syndrome. I’ll see you in hell!”

The problem is that I lose the words as I speak them. I have a decent vocabulary but it often rests on the tip of my tongue as I struggle to find it. That is, I used to struggle. Now I simply stop talking and wait for the word to come. It usually takes about five seconds of silence. My family and friends have adjusted to this odd, staccato-like form of speaking. Other people just think I’m a stroke victim.

It’s a big problem when *writing* with Dragon because when I lose the word, I lose the flow. And I then I curse. Unfortunately, words such as damn, sonofabitch, and shit are not part of Dragon’s resident vocabulary so when I say *Oh Shit,* the program types *on pit* or *off sit.* Not at all satisfying.

Now I’m training Dragon to swear. It’s necessary for my novel and, well, it’s fun in a look-up-butt-in-the-dictionary kinda way.

In other news, my word count is still low but I’m picking up speed. WriMo radio gave WriteNow a nice plug yesterday (except the URL was wrong — off sit), as did Mur’s I Should Be Writing podcast and Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s Inkygirl site. It’s great to be valued by other writing-specific productions. Much obliged.

It’s about time for writer’s resistance to rear its ugly head. Fortunately there are a several strategies you can use to manage it. This podcast is one of them.

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I am so bummed.

This big writing push has led me deep into carpal tunnel world: a problem I had a few years ago and a few years before that and before that… Can’t type a sentence w/o pain. Damn. So this weekend I rested my arms and upgraded the Dragon Pro speech recognition software.

I’ve been here before. The last chapter of Stress Reduction for Busy People was dictated for similar reasons. What’s worse, I don’t write well by talking. I divine through my fingertips. When I dictate, I sound like a bad cop show. It’s ugly, man.

Thus my next podcast shall be on dealing with speed bumps. Especially those that resemble giant concrete blocks falling from the sky, mashing both your arms.

My friendly inner critic carries a baseball bat:

Novel: It’s too hard to get a fiction novel published. You’re one in a billion. What makes you think your puny book will rise above the countless good ones that are already vying for shelf space? And btw, have you even bothered to read the drivel you’ve been producing?

Blog: Do you have any idea how little people care about what you’re writing and doing? Your blog is a self-serving piece of crap.

That’s the G rated version.

I’ve been writing a ton but not on my novel — that thing that’ll sell a billion copies, command a 100K advance, bring pleasure to the masses and end world hunger.

I need to catch up and focus. I’ve gotten a little distracted and its time to recommit to my primary November mission: write the book. The blog will languish for a few days. Check back Monday or Tuesday for a new podcast. 

We give our inner critic way too much power and attention. This short podcast will help you reduce its influence on your work.

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