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Welcome to the Steno Wizard's Realtime Journey!






Remember when life was simple and all you had to do was make a selection on what your steno really meant? Those days are long gone.





Reporters must get themselves into top realtime form to compete in today's job market. This is my contribution toward ALL of us reaching the realtime goal.



My Steno Wizardry concept is based on the idea that writing realtime actually doesn't require magic -- just hard work, determination, and a little bit of FUN imagination.



My hope is my sharing of the ideas I've incorporated into my realtime journey will assist you in yours.



Tuesday, February 24, 2026

🎉 The Magic of -SHIP = OEUP 🚢

 

Today we’re unlocking a beautifully simple briefing strategy that is going to make you feel like a steno genius.

The Pattern:

If a word ends in –ship, your fingers say:

👉 OEUP

That’s it. That’s the magic.

Your brain hears “ship”…

Your fingers sail right to OEUP. 🚢

🌊 Let’s See It in Action

💡 Examples:

  • friendship → TPROEUP
  • leadership → HROEU P
  • championship → KHOEU P
  • citizenship → STKOEU P
  • membership → PHOEU P
  • ownership → OEU P
  • partnership → POEU P
  • relationship → ROEU P

Do you see it? 👀

Every single one ends the same way.

No reinventing the wheel.

No writing out S-H-I-P separately.

Just OEUP and you’re done.

🧠 Why This Strategy Works

Students sometimes think briefing is complicated.

But this one is actually:

  • Predictable
  • Repeatable
  • High-frequency
  • Realtime-friendly

Court, captioning, CART — these words show up constantly.

When you train your fingers to automatically attach OEUP to anything ending in –ship, you:

✅ Reduce strokes

✅ Increase speed

✅ Build confidence

✅ Look brilliant in realtime

🚀 Your Mission

This week, notice every –ship word you hear in your practice routine:

  • scholarship
  • dealership
  • township
  • partnership
  • proprietorship

And smile to yourself because your fingers already know what to do.

OEUP = ship.

Simple. Powerful. Elegant.   How many MORE -ship words can you think of and how would you write them?   



Wednesday, February 18, 2026

✨ The Magic of the Asterisk: Turning Words into -LY Words


If you’ve ever wished you had a “turbo button” on your steno machine…

you do.

It’s the * asterisk.

We can use the asterisk as your adverb-maker. It’s the tiny key that quietly says:

“Hey — make this word end in -LY.”




🧠 Think of It This Way

You already know the base word:

  • normal
  • legal
  • careful
  • usual

Now you want to turn it into an adverb:

  • normally
  • legally
  • carefully
  • usually

Instead of writing a whole new outline…

👉 You add the asterisk.

That’s it.




🔑 The Pattern You’re Seeing

Looking at this list, the pattern is beautifully consistent:

   Base Word

Add *

Result

    normal

TPHO*RL

normally

   legal

HR*EL

legally

   usual

AO*URBL

usually

   careful

KA*EUFL

carefully

   gradual

TKPWRA*UL

gradually

  The base stays recognizable.

The asterisk signals to add -LY.”



🎯 Why This Works (And Why It’s Smart)

  1. It protects your fingers.
  2. There’s only so much speed in your hands. Writing full endings every time wastes motion.
  3. It protects your brain.
  4. You don’t memorize two completely separate outlines (normal / normally).
  5. You memorize one — then modify it.
  6. It builds pattern recognition.
  7. Your brain starts thinking in families:
  • legal → legally
  • final → finally
  • critical → critically
  • practical → practically

One structure. One adjustment.

  1. It increases speed automatically.
  2. Shorter stroke = less movement = more control at higher WPM.



🪄 The Secret to Making It Stick

When practicing, don’t just drill the -ly words randomly.

Practice them in pairs:

  • normal / normally
  • careful / carefully
  • political / politically
  • usual / usually

Your brain loves contrast. It locks the pattern in faster.




⚠️ Important Mindset Shift

The asterisk is not “extra.”

It is not decoration.

It is not random.



🌟 SKILL-BUILDING BONUS!

The more you recognize patterns like this,

the less you feel buried by vocabulary.

You don’t have 500 new words.

You have:

  • a base word
  • a pattern
  • and one smart key that transforms it

That’s not memorization.

That’s system mastery.

And mastery is what builds skill.

 


 

Monday, February 9, 2026

Tiny Endings that Pack a Punch!

 

The -LS Word Family

(a.k.a. tiny endings that pack a punch)

These words all like to end the same way, which means our fingers want to treat them like cousins. If we’re consistent, they become automatic.

Meet the Family

You already know:

unlessN-LS

The exception word
“Everything’s fine unless…”

Let’s expand upon the concept:

regardlessRARLS

I’m doing it anyway
“I’m going regardless of the weather.”

worthlessWORLS

No value
“That receipt is worthless.”

more or lessMORLS

Approximately
“It’s done, more or less.”

nonethelessNONLS

Still true
“It was hard; nonetheless, we finished.”

neverthelessNEFRLS

Formal cousin of nonetheless
“It was risky; nevertheless, she agreed.”


Pattern Spotting 👀

Notice the magic trick here:

  • -LS stays steady
  • The front of the word does the work
  • Your fingers only have to make one small decision

Same ending → smoother writing → fewer hesitations.


Pro Tip

When words sound alike at the end, teach your fingers to trust the pattern. Consistency now = speed later.

Your dictionary loves families.
Your fingers do too. 💛

 

Punch fist Images - Free Download on Freepik 

 

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

🎯 One Root, Lots of Power: A High-Frequency Word Hack

Here’s a high-frequency word strategy that plays really nicely with our theory. Learn the root, then let it do the heavy lifting.


🔑 The KWR- family (Idea → Ideology)


Once you’ve got Idea = KWR-D, the rest falls into place:

  • Idea → KWR-D
  • Ideas → KWR-DZ
  • Ideal → KWR-L
  • Ideally → KWR*L
  • Ideals → KWR-LZ
  • Idealistic → KWR-FBG
  • Ideology → KWR-LG


Same base. Small tweaks. Big payoff.


🔎 The OEUF- family (Identify → Identifiable)

Lock in the root Identify = OEUF, and you’ve basically unlocked the whole group:

  • Identify → OEUF
  • Identical → OEUFL
  • Identically → O*EUFL
  • Identification → OEUFBGS
  • Identity → OEUT
  • Identities → OEUTS
  • Identifier → OEUFR
  • Identifiable → OEUFBL


💡 Why this works:

Instead of memorizing a bunch of random outlines, you’re building families. Your brain loves patterns — and realtime loves consistency.

Learn the root. Trust the theory.