For the Love of the Process ; or, The Case Against Dictation
“Have you ever thought about using dictation?”
I hear that a lot, just as I’m certain every other person with repetitive strain injuries hears it with mind-numbing frequency. It got old close to two decades ago for me. I know people mean well, but it still takes all the self-control I can muster to not explode when I hear it.
Dictation is not the answer for me.
Yes, I use it sometimes, when I’m desperate to get something typed and I know my body requires the break. I used it back when the pain started because I was in college at the time. There didn’t seem to be much of a choice; I had to write my papers somehow! But my dictation experience was hateful. It made everything slower and only increased my frustrations. Yes, I know it takes time to train it. And I don’t deny it’s wonderful for some people out there. But that does not mean dictation is right for everyone, and it definitely isn’t right for me, not to use as my sole writing method.*
Why?
Because writing, for me, isn’t about finding any old way of getting the finished product of having words slapped on a page.
It is about the love of a specific process.
I adore longhand, the careful, meditative act of putting pen to page, of allowing the words to flow through my fingers. I was drawn to writing in the first place because it is a form of communication that is not speech. I love the silence of writing. If I must talk, that kills my experience and I want nothing to do with it. I think and create with my aching hands better than with my stuttering mouth. (Even typing, for which I harbor no great love but accept as a necessary part of the writing process, is still preferable to speech.)
I cannot abandon one activity I love for another I thoroughly loathe.
(I don't typically buy things the second they hit the market, but I couldn't help myself with the "Write, Don't Talk" Leuchtturm1917. It seemed as if it were made just for me! This notebook serves as one of my commonplace books.)
I could go on about how writing and speech are controlled by different parts of the brain and so the quality of the “writing” ends up being completely different, because we do not write the way we speak. I could also mention that it does nothing to help with drawing whatsoever if that happens to cause pain. And, that the act of writing in longhand has so many cognitive benefits. Check out the websites for Leuchtturm1917 or Moleskine if you want to delve into some more longhand enthusiasm.
But… I won’t delve into those things today.
I suppose my last nail in the dictation coffin is that one of my conditions sometimes results in severe throat pain and hoarseness. If I’m required to talk too much, I lose my voice altogether, and, yes, I’ve been through periods when it was extremely painful for me to speak. When at my absolute worst, I once had to go an entire week without talking and had to take off from work to achieve this. So if it hurts me to talk all the livelong day, how could relying heavily on dictation possibly be a solution for me? Dictation cannot erase RSI troubles for someone in my situation. It’s a bit of a catch-22, isn’t it?
However, I do want to be clear that when I say I love writing, it really does literally mean: I LOVE the act of WRITING and I will accept no substitutes. For me, personally, there is no other option. And, with careful discipline, I know I can make it work.
* I do use dictation from time to time for emails—writing that is informal & nonliterary or for which word choice or sentence structure isn’t too earth-shattering. For fiction and essays, straight dictation simply does not cut it. I will use it to transcribe something I’ve already scribbled in longhand if I feel poorly enough, but it still drives me mad because of its inaccuracies and it makes the process so much longer and more annoying.
