Living in a digital world: Tech tools break storytelling mould

BY ELISE VOLKMAN

"Oh, I’m not a writer.”

Despite the oversaturation of books in the world, this is a common refrain. The idea of hunching over a computer keyboard and typing till your fingers bleed is not the average person’s idea of fun. For some, even the thought of writing a two to five page article surfaces flashbacks of teachers with lofty expectations and vindictive red pens.

This reaction is more than writer’s block. It’s an aversion to a particular craft and skill. Not everyone has the privilege of being comfortable with writing, let alone enjoying it. Some people struggle with language just as others struggle with math—they may have had a difficult teacher or a learning disability, or been confronted with a learning style that didn’t suit their needs.

Get those same people in a room full of their peers, co-workers or fellow professionals, and they may wow the crowd with the power of their spoken words. Or maybe they’re terrified of public speaking, but can carry a compelling one-on-one conversation for hours. Should the blank page be eternally out of reach for them, just because they aren’t comfortable wielding a pen or keyboard?

Val Rossi, founder of boutique copywriting and editing company Writer’s Block Solutions, says some of her clients lack confidence communicating in writing, and others just don’t have time to get the words onto the page—but they’re willing to explain their thoughts in an interview or informal conversation.

She has been consistently fascinated by people throughout her career. While producing a series of Q&A-style interviews in 2015, she discovered transcription software. This got her away from manually transcribing interviews, giving her more time for formatting, revising, and editing them for posting across multiple platforms.

“If you’re relying on shorthand notes from a conversation or interview, it’s difficult to capture the personality behind the person’s words,” Rossi says. “I’m old school—I still use a handheld recorder and digitally transcribe the audio to ensure I catch their unique voice for Q&As. I’ve also used audio recordings from subject matter experts to draft blogs and reports.”

In this increasingly digital age, audio has quickly risen as a hot commodity. Audiobook sales have spiked and podcasts have flooded the soundwaves, opening up the world of storytelling to new narrators and audiences. While some people still see audiobooks as a shortcut or “cheat,” this seems to be the result of an ableist mentality. Assistive technology is about accessibility, not about cutting corners. Transcription and dictation software certainly save time by replacing the millenia-old practice of transcribing oral storytelling by hand. But their greater power lies in the previously untold stories that can now come to life.

The reason YouTube videos and Instagram reels can include automatic closed-captioning—a great benefit for hard-of-hearing communities—is largely due to automated transcription. Dictation software allows someone who struggles with hand mobility to put their thoughts onto a page without a human intermediary. These technologies lend a voice to those who would otherwise go unheard, opening up a new world of options for communication and learning.

Elise Volkman writes fantasy for fun, reads fantasy for research, and occasionally fantasizes about how many friends she’d have if she left the house. Her more responsible alter ego works for Writer’s Block Solutions, juggling web design, social media management, and the dark arts of SEO and Dr. Google. In 2021, she self-published Roots of Blood, the first novel in her fantasy trilogy, The Nymph Keepers.