This is my new best friend. It’s the Echo smart pen. Thanks to the literary grant I won last November, I was able to purchase this marvel and the accessories that go with it.

Let me give you a short history of my writings. I write all my books and short stories by hand. I am more creative this way then sitting in front of my computer. The times I have tried to do it via computer from the get go proved futile with nothing being written. As someone who has fibromyalgia where repetitive motion or action activates a fibro attack, this can wreak havoc on one’s body and one’s writings. I was introduced to the Dragon program. This little nifty item allows one to speak into a microphone as the computer types out what you are saying.

AWESOME!

Well it would be awesome if it worked for me. Getting the program, I was so excited to give it a try to save my arms, shoulders and neck from the pain. It didn’t work. Either I spoke to fast or my accent was getting in the way. It didn’t help that my husband and son gave it a whirl and they had no problem being understood. Lovely.

It was not until recent that I came across smart pens as I prepped the proposal and proper forms as I applied for a literary grant in 2013. According to the reviews and information gathered online this was the way to go for me. For you see in theory you would use the pen to write your stories, notes or what have you on paper designed for this pen. The software program that one uses for the pen would translate it into text for you. Which would eliminate me having to type up my stories. It also had a recording function to where you could speak into the microphone and again the software would translate it into text. I was weary of this but used some of the grant money to purchase the pen.

Trying it out for the first time this week, I’m happy to report it works amazingly well. In fact it works better than the Dragon program. It understood every word I wrote or spoke and translate it with ease.

AWESOME!

This is a wonderful piece of equipment that will save me time and pain as I translate my manuscripts into text. If you are in the same situation that I was you might want to check this out. My new best friend is named Jake and may he and I have lots and lots of fun together.