I was recently able to use a SMARTPEN that our Publisher Jim Williams bought for us and not only did it make my job easier it added an extra fun element to the story that it wouldn’t have otherwise had.

The Smartpen writes on special paper and enables you to copy your notes onto the computer and translate them into text - Time Saver. It is also capable of recording audio as you write and saving that on the computer as well.  

It was wonderful to be able to record audio while writing and be able to go back and make sure you got it right and  verify/ pick up anything you missed.

Also, unlike my handheld voice recorder, recording on the Smartpen was better because it loads directly on the computer and is easier to navigate and the speakers play in both ears and not just one as the voice recorder does.

The writing translator on the Smartpen is very good, especially since my handwriting wasn’t the best. Again – it was nice to have your notes in a text format and not have to go over them twice – doing double work.

The Smartpen also enabled us to get some great audio we wouldn’t have otherwise had. The story I used it with happened to be perfect for this experiment. Check it out here.

The Smartpen enabled me to walk around and write like I normally do, but use technology and make my job easier and story better at the same time. WIN!

The Smartpen was a good alternative to the Netbook because you can’t stand and follow people while typing on a Netbook like you can with a pen and paper.