I am dictating this in Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  Although I'm a pretty good typist, with a better than average speed, it is really great to be able to type with my tongue, so to speak.

One thing I have learned about this program is that the more you use it, the better it works.  I use it at work (legal work), and use it for personal notes. For example, if I want to take notes out of a book, instead of highlighting (my old method), and writing notes, I'll just open a page, create a file called "Notes on Whatever" and begin by saying: "Number 1 period." The program types "1." and I begin reading from the book, or I will summarize a note. Now and then I have to stop and train the program how to say a particular word. But, the good thing is that I won't have to do that again for that word. It is possible to add new words to the internal dictionary.

All in all, whether one is a writer of novels, writing western fiction, mysteries, sci-fi, an entire book, or even a legal brief, Dragon Naturally Speaking is a great tool.