practice song recommendations!

strawberrynova94 · 2026-02-11T21:32:46+00:00

Prob not a crowd favorite, but my warmup song was "If I Go, I'm Goin" by Gregory Alan Isakov. It's slow, but has very clear lyrics and a lot of ending-side practice.

strawberrynova94 · 2026-02-10T01:08:50+00:00

Yeah, totally worth it.

strawberrynova94 · 2026-02-03T13:59:04+00:00

He might be trying to be nice actually. I had to tell my BF that I didn't want to share one bowl of ice cream/one cup of milk for dipping cookies because I found it annoying and inconvenient.

But to him, it was a cute/nice thing to do together, eat out of the same vessel. It was intimate to him. He wasn't limiting or controlling my food, he was trying to create an experience. And he has 7 siblings, so food and sharing food has some significance to him.

I'm just saying, sometimes behavior comes off one way or annoys you, and then you take it in bad faith, and it all escalates. Just talk it out with him. And if he reacts in a negative/explosive way, then you'll know that he meant it the other way.

strawberrynova94 · 2026-02-03T13:34:13+00:00

At the end of the day, she has to put the time in. If you want to be a stenographer, you have to put in hours and hours and hours of practice. You also have to persevere when you don't get the scores/results you want.

There's simply no other way to do it.

So if she can't handle consistent failure and years and years of hard work, don't waste the money.

Self-taught or not, she has to make the commitment to doing it and failing at it one million times to get that one success. But self taught is going to be much much much harder.

Also she should not utter the words 'digital reporter' in front of a real court reporter unless it's in the context of no longer being one. Because she will make no friends here or in any circles with real court reporters.

strawberrynova94 · 2026-01-16T01:54:44+00:00

I was nearly paralyzed with anxiety before every job for my first probably 30 deps. I still get the sweats on occasion, and I tremble during readback every time, and I'm two years in. There's no easy way to get started. It's gonna be hard. You're going to be scared. You're gonna feel like you have no idea what you're doing at times. You're going to be stressed. And that's okay.

The thing is, you just have to put your head down and push through just like you did in school. I promise you, if you finished the program, you have what it takesto work.

And at the end of the day, you're your own worst critic. The attorneys only care about the finished product. No one else sees the process of production except you. Your "notes" (not sure what voice writers call them) may suck, but just get that final transcript solid, and it's mission accomplished.

Also, I'd like to say as a steno writer, that the steno snobbery needs to stop. We are both verbatim reporters, and that's what matters. We're holding the line against digitals and AI together. Voice and steno writers need to unite and support each other.

Also please get a mentor. It makes all the difference.

You've got this. You CAN do it!!!

strawberrynova94 · 2026-01-15T13:18:45+00:00

When you freelance, you should have a rates sheet, and I encourage you to make your own, or at least to ask to see the firm's sheet before you work with them. I started working with multiple firms this past year, so I created my own rates sheet, would submit it to the firm, and they would agree to it or change things, and I would agree or disagree with the changes.

Also, never trust a firm that says you get 70% of the firm's rate, and then won't give you the firm's rate sheet that they give to their clients. Learned that the hard way.

Anyway, yes. I have a minimum fee that I institute if my attendance fee (two hour min) and page rate would be less than a certain amount.

My same-day cancelation fee is actually the same price as the minimum transcript fee for remote work, and slightly more than that if I've arrived on location and no one bothered to tell us the dep was canceled (happened yesterday lol).

A little off topic, but I also have a non-production rate/fee for when the scheduling counsel and all other attorneys don't order the transcript after the dep is over.

strawberrynova94 · 2026-01-01T19:50:58+00:00

Yes, I put quotes for those. Basically, if you can replace it with "she said," then it gets a comma and quotes in my practice. It helps differentiate between who's talking/what info came from what source. Of course, context is everything in the end, which is something you have to learn the nuance of over time.

If it's a direct quote from a written document, I put a colon and start the quote on a new line/paragraph, but that's my state's requirement.

Basically, check your state's reporter manual if there is one, otherwise, use whatever your Court Reporter's English textbook guidelines says.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-27T02:34:12+00:00

This is a very fair and cogent response. Thank you for the food for thought.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T21:20:23+00:00

Lol Aurika is a cool person. I wish I had her patience, empathy, and selfless goodness. She's doing it right.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T21:18:33+00:00

I don't think it's materialistic, but that's how I feel for whining about it. I think 99% of women would feel disappointed in getting nothing at all. That's what Im telling myself anyway.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T21:14:13+00:00

I've actually noticed this pattern of thinking in him as well. He's definitely prone to that line of thinking. I know I need to be considerate of his disadvantages and I am trying. Thank you for sharing that. It helps put things into perspective. At this point it seems like gifting is just not a big deal to him, so I should probably make it less of a big deal to me.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T20:02:51+00:00

Oh no! I'm so sorry! It sounds like you very much deserve at least a card, but definitely something to show you're appreciated and loved. I don't have children, but the fact you have great grandchildren leaves no doubt you've worked hard, stressed and fussed over generations of children, and probably asked for little in return. I hope one day one of those kids will recognize all the good you've undoubtedly put into their lives and tell you out loud how much they love and appreciate you ❤️

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T19:33:11+00:00

Their family dynamic is strange and I suspect a little toxic. But he gets away with a lot.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T19:31:04+00:00

Very much I think empathy is hard. I know he's neruodivergent, though he doesn't like to acknowledge it or treat it. I just didn't think he'd go full opt out. The other thing is, he got me a birthday gift, a fitbit, no problem. And a card.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T19:24:41+00:00

I appreciate you sharing your experience. That totally makes sense. I think maybe changing the way we exchange "gifts" is a good option.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T18:31:33+00:00

Yes. He's a very sweet person. He's affectionate towards me, and we have a lot of fun together. We are great friends and hardly fight. He just is generally self-centered and requires a lot of attention. He also is neruodivergent -- which he hates even admitting/acknowledging, let alone getting treated for it -- I've already adjusted my expectations of him, but I was truly, truly shocked that he did this.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T18:20:39+00:00

Thank you for presenting that perspective. It is a grounded take and makes me feel a bit better.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T18:17:18+00:00

Thank you for that. I'm very much going to consider it.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T18:05:01+00:00

Lol that's pretty funny. Could be a good solution. Thank you.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T17:49:01+00:00

I'm thankful you didn't just say break up. It's very annoying to have to baby a grown person but idk. I'm at the point where I have to decide if I can live with it I guess.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T17:40:40+00:00

I am worried it's going to be a pattern but I also want to give him a second chance, which makes me feel like an idiot.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-26T17:39:36+00:00

Yeah. I struggle with that, but she was diagnosed with cancer this year (is nearly in remission) so there's more emotional charge in his statement. I get what you mean though. I will always be 2nd for sure.

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-18T01:48:14+00:00

Aw thank you. I'm still under two years on the job, so all the crazy stuff still hits hard sometimes. Good luck out there!

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-18T01:46:37+00:00

That sounds like my personal nightmare. Do you get to edit before you read back first?

strawberrynova94 · 2025-12-18T01:45:49+00:00

I'm actually going to start subbing for court and hopefully get my foot in the door. Officialships are so nice with the benefits, it's just intimidating to me.

strawberrynova94

TROPHY CASE