How Dictation Increased My Productivity

By Kit Tunstall

When I first started dictating in 2015, I wasn’t chasing efficiency. I just needed pain relief. My hands, worn from years of typing, couldn’t keep up with my brain anymore without a lot of pain, so I picked up an Olympus 821 recorder, bought Dragon 13 Premium, and crossed my fingers. I went from typing about 3,000 words a day to dictating 6,000 words in ONE HOUR! That kind of jump made the editing hassles (of which there are many) worth it.

Back then, I didn’t use a full outline. I was still a pantser at heart, maybe jotting down a loose synopsis, but most of it happened on the fly. I’d walk around, talk into the recorder, feed the audio to Dragon, and spend about two hours wrangling the transcript into something usable. Dragon misheard me often enough that I couldn’t just trust the file. I had to listen, relisten, and cross-check. If I waited too long between dictating and editing, the errors multiplied, and I had no idea what I’d originally meant.

Now, the process looks a little different, but the speed hasn’t changed, and the quality has improved. I always start with a detailed outline. No screen means no reminders, and memory is a fickle thing when you’re halfway through a scene with no idea what happens next. I visualize the scene with my eyes closed, watching it play out while also imagining the words appearing on the screen. It’s like a mental split screen. I speak punctuation out loud, which took a little practice to feel natural, but now it’s second nature. I’ve even spoken it in daily life accidentally. Example, when I left a voice message for my doctor and said “comma” while leaving the message. *facepalm*

I also have what I call a Dragon slayer. She’s someone who compares the audio to the Dragon transcript, just to catch anything the software mangles, and she has saved me from some truly bizarre line edits.
Even with the added time for editing, dictation has absolutely doubled my productivity. I still aim for 6,000-12,000 words a day, and I still measure progress by scenes, not word count. It’s about creating a system that allows consistent writing without burnout, and dictation gave me that.

If you’re struggling to hit your word count, dealing with physical limitations, or just want to shake up your routine, dictation might be worth trying. It’s weird at first. You’ll second-guess yourself. You’ll hear your voice on playback and cringe a little (especially when dictating a sex scene if you’re a romance writer), but once you get used to it? You’ll never go back!

USA Today bestselling author Kit Tunstall writes primarily as Aurelia Skye and Kit Kyndall. She also co-owns an author services business with her husband.