Steno Wizard just happened to have this little brief land right in her lap today. Someone was looking for a brief for the word kidnap. KEUP is what is in the book Brief Encounters, and SW thinks this is one of those woo-hoo, why didn't I think of that?!
So kidnap KEUP
kidnapping KEUPG
kidnapper KEURP
kidnapped KEUPD
Now we're ready!
Your blog is soooo awesome!!! Who are you?
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the blog. I'm a long-time court reporter who has worked on realtime skill development and made the journey to broadcast captioner. I'm sharing my experiences with others who are making the same journey.
ReplyDeleteDear StenoWizard. Congratulations on your captioning career. Wonderful blog. I, too, am transitioning. Long-time court reporter as well. Loves steno. Loves working on conflict-free writing. I've been practicing about seven months now. Getting better, but not perfect. My guess is, it's the confluence of the speed of television along with the importation of many new briefs. In your opinion, is it taking way too long for me?
ReplyDeleteI got lucky when I was hired by Vitac. I was in their training program and pretty much practiced 40 hours a week on television. It's baby steps all the way, and I agree that it seems overwhelming at first. If you're working right now, it may take longer. I don't think seven months is a long time. I practiced a lot before I did my interview simulation (about 3 months). Then I was hired and practiced another 3 to 4 months, doing simulations and dictionary building, before they put me on the air. I was in no way ready to caption anything and everything. You can do this. Keep pushing! By the way, Vitac is hiring realtime reporters to train into captioners. Just sayin'
ReplyDeleteDear StenoWizard, thank you so much for writing back!
ReplyDeleteIn full disclosure, I am not working. I have just decided to take the plunge full time to devote to captioning. I get up early, sometimes 3:30, 4:30, 5:00 a.m. (trying to train my fingers to write well after a deep sleep!) and start writing. All day.
I have always taken pride in my well-though-out writing style, and I've never been one for briefing, but I'm finding now that it is extremely helpful. I've always had accurate fingers, so that's what I'm counting on. So, I'm simultaneously working on building speed and revamping my writing style.
I write things like "Brandon," "Vanessa," and "cancer" in one stroke. Unheard of! I do practice a European channel for accents. I try to add descriptive brackets - even when it's not really called for - just to get my brain and muscles used to doing it, I'll just throw one in :). I practice "The Star Spangled Banner."
In 2013, I attended Vitac's boot camp in Ohio. It was great; I enjoyed it tremendously. The idea of working a weekend day didn't bother me at all. The floating schedule, either. My trepidation was in learning a new software. See, I'm on Eclipse. A good handful of the reporters there were on Eclipse, as well. I guess I shouldn't let the idea of learning a new program be a stumbling block. We learned Vitac uses Case because it's a stable platform, which I can understand. I've often wondered how many participants at that boot camp ultimately made the switch to broadcast with Vitac.
Again, thank you for your kind response. It's clear you really love the profession and extremely dedicated.
I will give some thought to your last sentence!
-sdnyc
I still own my Eclipse software. I did have to switch to CaseCatalyst for the job. Vitac is a good place to learn the ropes of captioning. It may not be a perfect fit for everyone. I went to the first Vitac boot camp in 2002. It took me a while to get the nerve to caption. I never thought I was good enough. Now that I've been on the air two years this March, I realize I was good enough a long time ago. We can do this!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, StenoWizard. Best regards. Thank you for the encouragement.
ReplyDelete-sabrina d.
Thank you, StenoWizard, for the encouragement. And you have a wonderful website that shows you really care. (And I absolutely love KAUB! I have been two-stroking that FOREVER!)
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
-sabrina nyc