Old Librarians Can Learn New Tricks
During a morning walk in early July, I listened to an episode of The First Draft Club podcast, “How I Am Using Dictation to Write My Next Novel.” Mary Adkins, an author and writing coach, was singing the praises of dictation. Later that day, on another walk, I decided to give it a try.
Walking has always brought out my creativity. In the pre-cell phone era, I jotted down my thoughts as soon as I returned home. Once digital technology advanced, I typed ideas into my Notes application, and clicked the microphone icon when that became available. I did this countless times for articles, essays, and poems, recording quick blurbs that would spark my memory later on.
One of my goals this summer was to edit a novel that I wrote years ago. I knew I needed to add additional scenes to develop the story. As I began my afternoon walk that July day, I took my phone out, opened the Notes app, clicked the microphone, and started speaking. Once I began, words flowed out of my mouth effortlessly; it was as if I were telling a story to a friend. The fictional world I was creating spanned the length of my phone screen and continued to get longer. I walked and talked, walked and talked. Later, I copied and pasted the note into my Google Doc. There it was: over 1,000 words and a brand new scene. All I had to do was edit the prose.
Bringing it Back to School
As the summer passed, I continued to use dictation at least twice a week, adding 10,000 words to my novel. It struck me that this method would be a great way to motivate reluctant teenagers to write their academic papers and creative narratives. Though I’ve worked with Special Education classes whose students use assistive technology on their Chromebooks, I haven’t yet seen it implemented widely among students without documented disabilities. The majority of my high schoolers complain about starting papers. After using dictation for my own writing, I’m hopeful that it can ease students’ stress and enable them to write with more confidence. Dictation has the potential to improve their writing and help them grow as creators.
Movers & Writers
While some students might be able to dictate from a stationary position, they’re more likely to get the most out of it if they do it on the move. According to a Sports Medicine—Open article, “physical activity has a positive impact on creative ideation” (Rominger et. al. 2022, 1). For me, walking brings out ideas that don’t always surface if I’m sitting still in a room. Motion seems to quiet the excess noise in my brain.
However students choose to dictate, the activity is likely to maintain the natural flow of language. Speaking their thoughts may also prevent adolescents from using large words that are not part of their speech patterns. Too often, I’ve seen students do this in the hopes of seeming more intellectual. Concise writing is best; being able to express oneself clearly is an art. When students are talking, they are less intimidated, especially if they know there are low stakes. Of course, there will be issues with grammar and spelling, which will need to be addressed in future drafts. For many students, though, getting words down is the biggest obstacle to overcome.
Another advantage of dictation is that it minimizes the desire to over edit. Anyone who writes on a computer knows that it is commonplace to keep deleting words. As writers, we are continually editing ourselves. As we see in everyday life, people are less likely to edit themselves when speaking. This lack of censor will allow students to express multitudes; organizing their words can wait until editing time. Dictation is an excellent way to produce a substantial first draft.
Talk it Out
When introducing dictation to students, teachers and librarians can tailor the tool to their needs. If Social Studies teachers, for example, want to suggest it for writing history papers, they may tell their students to research topics for a day or two. Then they could assign a homework dictation about what they’ve learned. Some students may want to try dictating a loosely formatted paper. Others may do best talking without any boundaries. Not only will dictation help them understand how much they know about their topics, but it also may enlighten them about which parts of the topics excite them the most.
For creative writing teachers dictation has endless possibilities. If students are writing personal narratives, they can begin to speak about experiences they remember from their pasts. Talking about these without hesitation will guide them in remembering the details. Later, they can go back and take out the most compelling parts, drawing upon them to build their pieces. The process can be similar with any subject, whether it’s math, art, science, or physical education. Even if students don’t have specific papers assigned, they can use dictation to discuss and reflect on their learning.
Dictation may not be for all students. Some may have difficulty speaking or disabilities that prevent them from using their voices at all. But for those students who are able to, it’s a worthy addition to writing on the computer or by hand. For me, the proof is in the pudding: After drawing a blank while sitting at my computer, I went outside and wrote the first draft of this article while walking around my backyard speaking into my phone.
References
Adkins, Mary. “How I Am Using Dictation to Write My Next Novel.” Produced by Mary Adkins. The First Draft Club. June 25, 2025. Podcast, MP3. 16:00. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-first-draft-club/id1520318017?i=1000714480049.
Rominger C, Schneider M, Fink A, Tran US, Perchtold-Stefan CM, Schwerdtfeger AR. Acute and Chronic Physical Activity Increases Creative Ideation Performance: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-analysis. Sports Med Open. 2022 May 6;8(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s40798-022-00444-9. PMID: 35523914; PMCID: PMC9076802.
Recent Comments