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The BREVITY Woodshedder
Woodshedder on its own: one month for $29.95 or one year for $299. With The Theory: six months or one year. See all options
Does your writing feel like this?
Going faster isn’t a strategy.
It’s just a louder way to lose the plot.
When outlines blur together, practice can turn into guesswork.
Woodshedder helps you slow down, hear the words, see them as you write, and rebuild the passage carefully.
You ever read your notes back and think, “Who wrote this—me, or a raccoon with a deadline?”
Now the plot is doing 220, your notes are on fire, and somehow this is called practice.
Try Woodshedder free
Practice for seven days with a selected 160-WPM drill. See and hear the words as you write, then hide them and read your notes back before the reveal.
A few words at a time.
At a pace you choose.
Paste a passage into the BREVITY Woodshedder and practice in small, overlapping groups. Then write the whole sentence and read back your notes.
Stop practicing for speed and hoping accuracy shows up.
Practice the task you actually need: writing carefully while someone is talking. Many writers instead practice far above the speed at which they can control their writing, then slow down and hope accuracy appears.
No pianist would learn an unfamiliar score by playing it several times faster than possible and then expect precision at a normal tempo. Repeating it that way would train a different task.
Woodshedder lets you practice at a pace you choose, with the words visible and spoken as you write, then hide them so you can read back and compare.
A dependable floor matters more than a promised ceiling.
Certification is meant to establish a floor: a basic level of writing skill, read-back, and professional knowledge. A high ceiling is only useful if that floor is dependable.
Woodshedder is built around that floor—hearing the words, writing them carefully, reading them back, and seeing what needs attention—before anyone talks about how fast they might write.
What no other program we reviewed does
Our review found no other steno practice program that combines all four parts in one loop: overlapping groups, words visible and spoken while you write, whole-sentence writing, and hidden read-back before the reveal.
- Overlapping groups: the same word appears at the end, middle, and beginning of neighboring groups, so you practice it with the words around it.
- See and hear: the words stay visible and are spoken while you write.
- Whole-sentence writing: after the groups, you write the sentence as a complete unit.
- Hidden read-back: the words disappear so you can read your notes before the text is revealed.
That sequence—overlap, see and hear, whole sentence, hidden read-back, reveal and compare—is the Woodshedder practice loop.
Why would I want this?
Because “I need to practice” is not a plan. Students describe practice that is not productive, the same dictation at every speed level, hands that freeze while speech continues, and feeling fried without knowing what to do next. Woodshedder gives you a controlled practice session with a clear next step.
- When practice only gets faster: choose a pace you can control, work in short overlapping groups, then write the complete sentence.
- When you freeze: keep the words visible and spoken while you write. Then hide them and read your notes back.
- When a long take leaves you fried: work with a focused passage, check it immediately, and return to the part that needs attention.
- When practice gives you no next step: flag what did not read back cleanly; Woodshedder keeps it available for further practice.
That is the point: a session that tells you what to write, what to check, and what to practice next.
Keep the words.
Move the focus.
Two words stay as the next word arrives. The same word appears at the end, in the middle and at the beginning of a group, so you practice it with the words around it.
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01 · Set your pace
Write the groups.
Paste your own text or use the included drills. Choose the tempo and see the words on screen. Turn on See and hear for spoken words as you write.
02 · Put it together
Write the sentence.
After the overlapping groups, practice the whole sentence.
03 · Check your notes
Read it back.
The beat stops and the words disappear. Read your steno notes, then reveal the text to compare. Mark what read back and what needs more work; the tool keeps material you flag.
Woodshedder only
Get the Woodshedder
on its own.
Includes the full practice tool, detailed tutorial video and downloadable PDF manual.
One payment. No automatic renewal. Your access begins when payment is completed. The Theory book is available separately in the package below.
Included with BREVITY: The Theory
One package.
Your choice of time.
The digital beginner theory book and the BREVITY Woodshedder are available together for six months at $498 or one year at $748.
One payment. No automatic renewal. The online book, book updates during access and tool are available for the same purchased period.
What a reporter says about the Woodshedder.
“It's everything I wished I had since I started.”
“It doesn't take a great deal of effort to get started. It's so intuitive and practical.”
“Being able to speed things up and slow things down…..clicking ‘trouble here’ and having it instantaneously repeat and create a drill immediately is unbeatable.”
“I haven't experienced any of those ‘I hate this’ moments that come to me when I am on the other practice platforms. It just feels so PRODUCTIVE.”
— R.D., California
Already have access?
Open the BREVITY Woodshedder · Open BREVITY: The Theory
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Before you begin.
Who is the Woodshedder for?
Students and working reporters can use it to work on particular words, outlines and passages. You do not have to write BREVITY to use the tool. It supports loading your own steno dictionary.
Does it check or grade my writing?
The tool cannot see your notes and does not grade your writing. Repeated passage practice is different from taking unfamiliar dictation; it is not a speed test or certification program.
Where is my practice information saved?
Your practice information stays in the browser you use. It does not automatically follow you to another browser or computer, and clearing browser data can remove it.
How does spoken text work?
The tool processes your pasted text and dictionary in your browser. If you choose a voice marked as not being on your computer, the browser sends the text to that voice provider to speak it. Choose a local voice or turn speech off when the material must stay on your computer.