Why I Fell in Love With the Written Word

I have always loved words.

Long before I worked in transcription, I was an avid reader and fascinated by the way language could change the meaning of an argument, alter the tone of a conversation or make an idea stay with you long after you had finished reading it.

That interest was one of the reasons I chose to study law. I went to law school in Birmingham to complete my Bachelor of Laws, thinking that a legal career would give me an opportunity to turn my love of reading, writing and language into something I could do every day.

In many ways, it did.

I graduated with a first class degree, and looking back, I think my understanding of language contributed enormously to that result. I was interested not only in what the law said, but in why particular words had been chosen, how judgments had developed through interpretation and how apparently small differences in wording could have significant consequences.

Law is, after all, built on words. Legislation, contracts, witness evidence, correspondence and judgments all depend upon language being recorded and understood accurately.

That appreciation has stayed with me ever since.

Finding the right career for me

Studying law taught me a huge amount, but as I came closer to deciding what I wanted my working life to look like, I began to realise that the traditional legal career path was not quite the right fit for me.

I wanted a working environment where I could move quickly, take responsibility, develop ideas and be closely involved in the day-to-day delivery of a service. I was drawn towards work where communication mattered and where paying attention to the small details could make a noticeable difference to the final result.

There was also the occasional reminder during my degree that perhaps language itself was one of my stronger suits.

Land law was the module I found hardest. I still remember receiving feedback on an exam in which the marker had, in essence, described my answer as some of the most beautifully written bad legal advice they had ever read.

I was not particularly amused at the time.

Looking back, however, it makes me smile. Even when my understanding of the finer points of land law was apparently less than perfect, I was still obsessing over how to communicate an argument clearly.

Eventually I realised that perhaps the most important clue had been there all along. What fascinated me most was not a particular area of law. It was language.

That realisation ultimately led me into transcription and to my role as Transcription Manager at The Typing Works.

Why transcription is about much more than typing

Working in professional transcription has given me an entirely different appreciation of the written word.

A good transcript is not simply a record of sounds converted into text. It needs to represent a conversation accurately enough for somebody who was not present to understand what was actually said and, where relevant, how it was said.

That distinction matters.

We work with interviews, research discussions, meetings, professional recordings and many other types of spoken material where the detail can be important. A particular choice of words may carry meaning. Specialist terminology needs to be recognised correctly. Names, places and technical references need checking rather than guessing.

For researchers, these details can be especially important. A transcript may later be coded, analysed, quoted in a thesis or used as part of published research. If the original discussion has not been captured accurately, something valuable can be lost before the analysis has even begun.

The same principle applies to legal and professional transcription. When a transcript forms part of a piece of evidence, a consultation, an interview, a meeting or another important record, accuracy matters.

It is one of the reasons I remain such a strong believer in professional human transcription.

Respecting the words we are trusted with

One of the most important parts of my role as Transcription Manager is making sure that the people working on our clients’ recordings understand the importance of the material they are handling.

Our transcribers are not simply producing text as quickly as possible.

The recording in front of them may represent months of academic research, an important business discussion, a legal interview or somebody explaining an experience that is deeply personal to them.

Those words deserve care.

That means listening properly rather than guessing. It means knowing when something needs to be checked. It means understanding context and terminology and recognising that apparently small details can sometimes alter the meaning of an entire passage.

My legal background still influences the way I approach this. Spending years studying how much can depend on the interpretation of a particular word or phrase gives you a healthy respect for accuracy.

Fortunately, that is a useful quality to bring to transcription.

What good transcription should achieve

It is easy to think of transcription as a simple conversion process. Audio goes in and text comes out.

In reality, there is a great deal that determines whether the finished transcript is genuinely useful.

At The Typing Works, I want our clients to receive a document they can rely on and work with. That means accurate transcription, careful formatting and close attention to the individual requirements of each project.

Different clients need different things. An academic researcher may have very different requirements from a solicitor, business, public sector organisation or market research agency.

Our job is to understand those requirements and deliver accordingly.

That is also why quality control matters so much to me. A transcript should faithfully reflect the recording while being presented clearly and consistently. Our clients should not have to spend their time correcting avoidable mistakes after they receive it.

When somebody sends us a recording, they are trusting us with their words. I take that responsibility seriously.

From reading other people’s words to writing my own

Outside work, my relationship with the written word has not changed very much since the days before law school.

I am still a huge reader and own more books than I can sensibly count. There is something slightly dangerous about putting me anywhere near a bookshop.

I am also working on a novel of my own, which I hope will eventually earn its place somewhere on those shelves.

Writing it has probably made me appreciate careful transcription and proofreading even more. Once you have spent far too long deciding whether one particular word belongs in one particular sentence, it becomes very easy to understand why somebody else might care deeply about the precise wording contained in an interview, discussion or recording.

And when the novel is eventually finished and it is time for somebody to give it one final, meticulous proofread?

There is only one place I will be sending it.

The Typing Works.

Looking for professional human transcription?

If you are looking for a UK transcription company that understands the importance of accuracy, context and attention to detail, we would be delighted to help.

The Typing Works provides professional human transcription services for academic research, legal and professional recordings, interviews, meetings and a wide range of business projects. We work carefully to individual client requirements and understand that the words contained in your recordings often matter far beyond the recording itself.

If you have an upcoming transcription project, contact The Typing Works to discuss your recordings, turnaround times and requirements. We would be very happy to help.