This month I am sharing the same struggle I faced last month: typing all my stories that I’ve written longhand. Last month I realized my short story critiques were too difficult to manage while keeping up with typing the stories. I was too ambitious in thinking that I could manage three critique groups each month and have time to compile a complete typed manuscript!
I’ve shifted once again.
Not only did I cancel one critique group for April, but I’ve decided to cancel two of the three for May. I’m also taking a break from the critique groups until the fall. This means after my one critique group in May, I will be able to focus solely on revisions of my own work.
I’ve shared with friends my struggle to find time to type the stories. They had a few suggestions:
- TaskRabbit or similar service. TaskRabbit is a service that allows you to name a task and a price and someone else can accept it. You might need your groceries picked up or furniture assembled, and the service helps you find someone ready to handle those tasks. Friends recommended that I use a service like this and find someone who will type my handwritten stories. I’m not keen on this idea because I would need to part with the only copy of the stories–my journal!
- Dictation – Some friends suggested that I read the work aloud to my computer or an app and use speech recognition software to type the stories. I don’t feel this is the right option for me because I don’t want the possibility that I’ll need to stop frequently and make corrections if the software has trouble correctly recognizing the words.
- Transcription – Similar to the first option above, friends thought I should hire someone to scan and save my handwritten copies. If my journals were scanned, then I would have a greater peace of mind knowing there is another record of my work. However, I’m not interested in this option because I don’t want to part with my journal.
I’m not opting for any of the suggestions, but thought that you might find these interesting if you find yourself similarly overwhelmed. Fortunately, I am making progress. It’s just not at the speed I expected. Just 2 1/2 stories left to type!
