Yay! I Can Fail with the Best of Them!

Progressing Through Practice and Testing

Just over a week ago, I began my next school semester and progressed to the speed-building stage. My next goal is to pass three tests—a jury charge, a testimony, and a literary test — at 60 wpm.

At this point, catching every word and writing it accurately at 60 wpm feels about as likely as me climbing Mt. Everest.

When I hear the words dictated to me, I think - I should be able to do this. It’s not that fast; there are pauses between almost every word. But of course, I can’t do that (yet) because my fingers are not automatically responding and going to the correct place on the steno keyboard for more than half of the words I write. My dictionary needs a ton of building; even some of the most common words aren’t in there yet.

My biggest challenge right now is the time requirement for Realtime Coach. I’m supposed to spend at least 18 hours per week practicing using Realtime Coach material. That doesn’t sound onerous at all; I was accustomed to putting in about 24-28 hours a week while learning theory. However, Realtime Coach only counts my time actively writing a take. It does not count any time that goes into the activities between takes. I can’t just write nonstop: I have to read my notes, decide what to write when I encounter a word I haven’t written before (whether to try to write it phonetically or come up with a brief for it), define previously unwritten words and briefs into the Personal Dictionary, practice new briefs I’ve come up with and words I’ve defined, etc. I only get approximately 20 minutes of Realtime Coach credit for every full hour I spend. So, unless I stop taking time between takes to define and decide what to write and start repeating the takes over and over and over without attempting to do anything but write, I will never be able to make my 18 hours.

Perhaps it’s because of my CAT training background, but a big part of me rebels at this concept. I don’t want to keep writing something that I know for a fact isn’t defined in my dictionary and won’t come up as translated. I must take time to review every take and define steno that can be defined before I do another take because there’s no chance my scores will improve until I do. I need to learn to do the editing/thinking faster. (Or stop thinking altogether, perhaps!)

Another challenge is when and how much to accept dropping. I completely lose my focus when I miswrite a word or phrase, and it becomes virtually impossible to continue writing as soon as I shake myself out of having lost my train of thought when I struggled with a stroke. It drives me insane to fall behind and not be able to remember what words were said while I was writing. In other words, trailing the speaker and keeping up with them seem impossible.

My only comfort at the moment is that virtually every reporter I know has told me that this is absolutely normal, that everyone goes through this stage, and that only by continually writing will I get past it.

At least I have mastered the Realtime Coach testing process, which, according to my instructors, was the most important lesson this week. Additionally, despite the uncertainty of which material is most helpful to practice and the lack of words in my Personal Dictionary, I am putting in as much time as possible outside of my regular work. I’m assured that this will eventually lead to building up speed.

Another major victory: I’ve almost eliminated looking down at my hands when I write. I find myself closing my eyes to concentrate and trusting my fingers to go where they need to go.

Well, wish me luck. Over the next several weeks, I will experience many failures, which are evidently good for me and indicate that I’m on my way to success.