LiveScribe Echo

I have always written long hand. I got my first computer when I was already old enough to drink, so by that time my writing habits were pretty set. The problem is I hate transcribing. I'm a crappy typist at best. I have taken numerous touch typing courses and I still can't get the hang of it. I spend alot of my time looking at where my fingers are and because of it I'm  not the fastest typist. This gets really hard when you add a third thing, a piece of paper I have to look at.

But writing entirely on my computer creates a different problem all together. There are too many distractions and many of my friends keep in touch with me online. So when I am working on my writing, I have Facebook open in a browser. I tend to try working on multiple projects at once, getting nothing accomplished. There has to be some middle ground, right?

Well yesterday I think I found it. I purchased the LiveScribe pen and so far it's a Godsend. I was able to write 719 words while watching television. But that's just another distraction you say? ah, but it's not a distraction when watching television is what you set out to do and you just happen to write while you're at it. Imagine what I can do with my full mind concentration!

So how's work? There's special notebooks full of special dot paper that the pen recognizes. You write normally. When you're done, you hook the pen up to your computer where it opens in the LiveScribe desktop. To convert your handwriting to typed text, you have to download an app through Livescribe called MyScript. Apps are not cheap, but $30 with the 15% off coupon it comes with isn't unbearable. It would have been nice to know this BEFORE I bought the pen. There was a lot of frustration getting the two to cooperate,  and I honestly don't know how I fixed it, but in the end it worked and that's all I care about. do I recommend this system to other writers? Maybe. IF you prefer to write longhand AND you have some money to play with AND you have patience to copy and paste the text into Word, then yes, this is a good way to do it. If you possess self discipline and can make yourself turn off the social networking and hoe the ground in front of you, save your money. But if you like me, need to completely disconnect to write at times, this could be the solution you've been waiting for.

Wanna know more about LiveScribe? Click here to check out there site, or click the link above to go straight to the pen I bought. Please don't just get it cause I said so. Do your homework and make sure it's the right choice for you....