The Learning Curve

By Kevin and Mary Daniel

As we began to change our writing for realtime, we did it in stages. First we started to write for cleaner translation on the computer and at the same time to make it easier on our scopists. Later, as realtime became a reality, we were able to take our writing to the next level in much quicker fashion. The two-second feedback loop that realtime offered was an instant tutor and an excellent reinforcement mechanism. Nothing accelerated our improvement as rapidly as writing realtime every day.

The final stage was writing for captioning. If you consider writing realtime for attorneys to be running naked through a courtroom, then writing captions for television is like running naked through a coliseum. More people see you, but it is not quite as personal as in the smaller setting. And if the pain of a blooper is excruciating in the courtroom or deposition setting, rest assured it doesn't begin to compare to the face flush and sledgehammer blow to our self-esteem that accompanies your first embarrassing broadcast blooper.

If you're just beginning to adapt your writing, it will comfort you to know that the first change is the most difficult. The more you change, the easier it becomes. There's a point of diminishing returns, of course, if you try to change too much at once, but for the most part you will find it comfortable to work on several outlines at a time.

The question frequently comes up, "How do I know what I should be working on now?" or "Where do I start? I have so many conflicts." The answer is right under your nose: Review your translated files. As you review your file for errors, jot down the conflicts or areas that create the most work for you in the editing stage. There's no better road map than your own rough file. If you have a scopist with whom you work, ask the scopist where he or she thinks your writing could use some improvement. Chances are good that your scopist will have several immediate suggestions, based on having worked with your files for some time.

Once you've identified the three or four most troublesome areas, write them down on Post-its and paste them to the top of your machine to remind you every day what you are working on. Look for opportunities to work on your conflicts. We found that there were times when a particular case offered us a chance to work on a problem area that we had planned to get to later. For instance, you might have a conflict between the words "break" and "brake." If you encounter a personal injury case involving faulty brakes, you might want to use that case to work on your BREAK/BRAKE conflict resolution sooner than you originally anticipated.

Putting the words on Post-its and sticking them to your machine is a good reminder of what you're working on. But sometimes a word is so ingrained in your writing that you have a difficult time recognizing the word when you encounter it. What you need are some practice sentences so you can drill yourself on your new way of writing. Once again, your transcript files provide the solution. At the end of a day of writing testimony, do a text search for the word you are working on. Cut and paste the sentences into a separate file which you can then print. You can use the printout to drill yourself, or you can record the sentences on a cassette and play them back for a drill. In part, the exercise of collecting, printing and dictating also causes you to become more aware of the word you are trying to change. The most difficult writing changes can be solved in a few weeks by using this method.



About the Authors

Kevin W. Daniel, RDR, CRR, and Mary Cox Daniel, RDR, CRR, from Henderson, Nev., are the authors of Writing Naked: Principles of Writing for Realtime and Captioning. This article is an excerpt from the book, which is available through NCRA by calling 800-272-6272 or visiting the NCRA Store.