Learning New Tricks

In a previous post, I had commented on how I wanted to continue writing here while reducing screentime. In the post, I mentioned that I moved to writing on an e-paper tablet, but did not mention the product. Today, I learned of a feature, so I must name the product to describe how much time is removed from my writing process.

It is the first version of the Kindle Scribe. My writing process consists of two notebooks on the tablet in the same folder. One notebook contains a list of ideas to write about on a basic checklist template. The other notebook is where I handwrite the post, taking the idea and shaping it into its final version. Once the final version of the post is completed, I would then set the Kindle upright on my desk, transposing the handwritten text on the tablet into a text editor, which would eventually be posted to the site.

The task of reading the post on the Kindle and rewriting it is not a difficult task, nor is it a time-consuming task at face value. However, being the type of person I am, I would critique most words and phrases, such that the task takes much longer than desired. While clicking around on the Kindle notebook, I saw a feature titled "Convert to text". When I attempted to convert the entire notebook to text, I received an error. This error was likely due to the drawings I have in the notebook for another post. I then tried to select just the pages containing the final draft of the post and convert those. Within 30 seconds, my inbox had a link to an S3 bucket containing a PDF of the handwritten notebook pages and a link to a text file of the content. After reading through the text file and performing a little cleanup, mostly formatting and spelling mistakes, the post was ready to publish.

This feature will knock off hours of writing production time! I am excited for the future savings and other features the Kindle Scribe team comes up with to interface with other tools.