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App to help with long narratives....

April 22, 2015 06:39PM
Is there such an app for Android and/or Windows phone out there?

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April 22, 2015 06:55PM
What would you expect the app to do? Like fill in words for you? lol.

You know what would be pretty cool... Imagine app where I could speak like caveman and app fill in words to make sentences complete. This save lots of time.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
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April 22, 2015 09:27PM
LOL! Alley Oops (with the oops scratched out and replaced with Oop) would be a cute logo for that.

I love the idea of voice technology to record your brief notes or larger thoughts so that you can do your narrative in stages and complete the work later. It might be useful in one-party states where you cannot record someone else.

Here's one for people who-- how shall I say-- might have gone to school and worked decades and decades ago.
How about shorthand notes? Does anyone here remember shorthand, and do you ever use it for your written notes?

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
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April 22, 2015 10:55PM
Well you can use the voice memo app that comes on your phone, or get the Dragon voice program- the free one is pretty good, and dictate your narrative. I found there's a bit of a learning curve to be able to dictate your thoughts, and voice the punctuation commands, in a smooth stream.

If you're looking for ways to help in writing (typing) a long narrative, copy the shop form as text only into a 'word' program, change the questions to statements and add the details. This way you have an outline to start and you'll cover all the clients questions in your narrative.
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April 23, 2015 12:31AM
@eveb wrote:

If you're looking for ways to help in writing (typing) a long narrative, copy the shop form as text only into a 'word' program, change the questions to statements and add the details. This way you have an outline to start and you'll cover all the clients questions in your narrative.

Every time I've tried to do that the text comes out so garbled I'd waste more time formatting it than I would just typing onto the form. What am I doing wrong?

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
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April 23, 2015 01:06AM
@KathyG wrote:

@eveb wrote:

If you're looking for ways to help in writing (typing) a long narrative, copy the shop form as text only into a 'word' program, change the questions to statements and add the details. This way you have an outline to start and you'll cover all the clients questions in your narrative.

Every time I've tried to do that the text comes out so garbled I'd waste more time formatting it than I would just typing onto the form. What am I doing wrong?

Well, I admit that some shop forms work better than others. I use it for the long narrative at the end summarizing the whole report and when the Client wants all the questions directly addressed.
I copy the text into a word document, then I start at the top of the page (ahead of the text I just pasted in) and start with the first question (or sections of questions), when I've typed the information that a question(s) asks for I delete that question (or section). I'm already familiar with the questions because I have completed the form so I have an idea of my narrative and as I write sections of narrative I delete the corresponding section of questions. At the end I have my narrative and none of the shop form questions. This helps to address every question. I do re-order the narrative to flow as the shop did and group like observations together. Plus I've found this method is really helpful for the 'no' questions and by restating the question, using their verbiage, it provides a full, detailed narrative.
I hope that makes sense... and helps.
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April 23, 2015 02:31AM
If you use Dragon voice you need to train it. It works pretty well but I've given up on it after using it 4 times. It probably could be great. It's probably even better if you plug in a mic.

Edit: I was referring to Dragon Voice for PC.

I really didn't care for Dragon on my iPhone/iPad. actually seems like more work to use it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 02:46PM by quiettime.
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April 23, 2015 03:28AM
I have the app on my iPad and didn't have to train it. I think I need to be trained though, LoL. I have no problem thinking and typing, complete with punctuation, but can't dictate and include the punctuation in a smooth flow. I have to hesitate to think of the punctuation commands and loose my train of thought, and then it times out. And dictating without punctuation, having to go back and add it, seems like it would take more time than just sitting down to the keyboard and banging it out as they say.
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April 23, 2015 10:13PM
Its been so long I forgot I knew how to take shorthand. Great idea though. Still, I would probably be outed just for taking notes. Bet no one but me could read them though.
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April 23, 2015 10:57PM
@Judyp wrote:

Its been so long I forgot I knew how to take shorthand. Great idea though. Still, I would probably be outed just for taking notes. Bet no one but me could read them though.

Me too. Took it in high school and used it to take all my notes in school. Drove the teacher crazy when he used to look at students notes to see where he left off the day before. LoL
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