Why writers dictate
Many writers draft faster out loud: you hear the rhythm of a sentence as you say it, and you don’t stop to fix every word. The hard part is getting a draft you can actually work with afterwards.
Wisper is built for that. The Default style keeps your words — it doesn’t rewrite you — and only removes fillers, applies your spoken corrections and adds punctuation. It works in any writing app on your Mac: Scrivener, Ulysses, iA Writer, Word, Google Docs.
How to do it with Wisper
- Install Wisper from the Mac App Store (macOS 14 Sonoma or later). Allow the microphone, and switch Wisper on under Accessibility so it can paste for you.
- Click into the scene, chapter or article you’re drafting.
- Hold right ⌥ Option (or Fn, or ⌥W — your choice) and talk the way you would to a person.
- Let go. Wisper pastes clean text where your cursor is.
- For a long passage, double-tap the hotkey to go hands-free, talk, and tap to stop.
That’s the whole loop. For longer thoughts, double-tap the hotkey to go hands-free and tap again to stop. To change text you already wrote, select it, hold right ⌥ and say what to change — “shorter”, “friendlier”, “in Spanish”.
The style that fits: Default
Default keeps your wording and voice. It removes “um”s and false starts, applies corrections like “no, wait — Tuesday”, and punctuates.
Want even less touched? Exact words keeps what you said as spoken, with only light cleanup — good for dialogue and voice-driven prose.
“she didn’t answer the phone, uh, not the first time, not the second, and by the third ring, um, by the third ring she already knew who it was”
She didn’t answer the phone — not the first time, not the second. By the third ring, she already knew who it was.
Press a style’s number key while you talk to switch styles before you let go. Free includes 5 style presets; Pro adds unlimited and custom styles.
Tips for writers
Character and place names
Add them to the Dictionary before you start. “Héloïse” stays Héloïse in chapter twenty.
Revise by voice
Select a paragraph and say “tighter” or “more tension”. Or rewrite a note Magic, Slightly or Significantly in the Wisper app.
Keep what you said
Every dictation is saved to your history on your Mac, searchable and taggable, so a good line is never lost.
Questions
Will Wisper change my style?
Not in Default or Exact words. Both keep your wording; Default only removes fillers and adds punctuation. Rewrites happen only when you ask for them.
Does it work in Scrivener and Ulysses?
Yes. Wisper pastes wherever your cursor is on your Mac, in any writing app.
Can I dictate offline?
Not on Mac — Wisper needs a connection there. Offline mode is on Android today.