BREVITY:
The Theory
Choose six-month or one-year access. Both include The Theory and the Woodshedder.
Good. Listen to it. Build it. Keep writing.
The witness doesn't know what you've memorized.
A word you've never heard. At full speed. Naturally.
You still have to write it. Before you buy a theory, ask how it prepares you for that moment.
BREVITY starts at your first keys. It teaches familiar forms and how to build unfamiliar words from sound. For every word and phrase the lessons introduce, you get one taught form, the reason for it, and drills with printed steno notes to check your work.
Learn the theory.
Practice what you learn.
BREVITY: The Theory teaches steno from the beginning. Start with keyboard lessons, then work through sound substitutions and vocabulary.
Explanations, drills, keyboard diagrams and printed steno notes help you learn each outline and check your writing. Reviews, endings practice, word families and the appendix support you as you progress.
The included BREVITY Woodshedder gives you a place to practice. Work through overlapping groups and whole-sentence passes at a pace you choose. Hide the words, read your steno notes, then reveal the text to check your work. The Woodshedder does not read or grade your steno.
See the kind of page you will use.
The book is made of teaching pages, examples, drills, printed notes and explanations. Here is a short excerpt from the opening lesson:
Lesson One · Eight words, without moving a finger
When you finish this lesson, you will write eight words that come up in every deposition. And you will not move a finger to do it.
The page then shows the resting position, explains how to check the machine, and gives the words and drills that make the point usable.
You're buying a theory. A few answers should come with it.
Start with these three questions.
What do I write when I haven't memorized the word?
BREVITY teaches you to write the sounds in the order you hear them, using the combinations the lessons have introduced. You can use more than one stroke. A new word doesn't have to be a memorized brief. If you expect to hear it again, look it up afterward.
Which form am I supposed to practice?
Each word or phrase introduced in a BREVITY lesson has one taught form. You practice that form, with the reason for it explained. Optional second forms for existing reporters sit separately at the back.
When I get it wrong, how do I find out why?
Compare your writing with the printed steno notes. Check the lesson's guidance on its new keys, including problems such as a late finger, a split stroke, or a key that doesn't register.
Put those questions to BREVITY. Put them to every theory you're considering. Ask to see the teaching that answers them.
The full table of contents.
Open the contents
Front matter
Title page · Dedication · What this book teaches you · The Rule · Two questions · How to read a page
Stage One
Lesson 1 · Eight words, without moving a finger — Set your hands in the resting position and read back your first eight words immediately.
Lesson 2 · The word that starts more questions — Write the first high-use question words while keeping the unused hand relaxed.
Lesson 3 · Both hands at once — Coordinate both hands in one stroke so fewer words split or arrive late.
Lesson 4 · Do you? I do. — Control ring-finger and thumb movements so common two-finger forms land together.
Lesson 5 · How a deposition changes the subject — Keep right-hand combinations together when a deposition changes direction.
Lesson 6 · The shape that opens the most — Use the left index finger to open larger, high-use word shapes.
Review One · The first exchange — Use the first six lessons in a short exchange and see what holds under real questioning.
Lesson 7 · I don't know — Recognize three-finger timing problems before they turn into repeated errors.
Lesson 8 · Yes, no, and correct — Separate similar sounds and confirm the difference in read-back.
Lesson 9 · Who is speaking — Mark speakers and questions clearly so the record stays easy to follow.
Lesson 10 · One of the ten, on one finger — Write single-key words without splitting them when timing is tight.
Lesson 11 · I don't recall — Use two-stroke checks to steady the lower right index finger and your hand timing.
Lesson 12 · Both speakers — Handle answers and speaker turns without losing your place.
Review Two · A real exchange — Carry the first twelve lessons through a longer exchange and find the next place to improve.
Lesson 13 · Twice as many sentences — Diagnose reach, pressure, and machine settings before they cost you words.
Lesson 14 · The most common word there is — Use four-finger shapes and read-back to catch missing keys in common words.
Lesson 15 · The last keys — Finish the letter keys with a stable hand position and a reliable star.
Lesson 16 · The marks and the numbers — Write punctuation and multi-digit numbers in order when the record demands them.
Endings 1 · One rule, and every word doubles — Add an ending without rebuilding the rest of the word, so one pattern serves more vocabulary.
Endings 1 · The words, on cards — Check every ending stroke against printed examples until the pattern is dependable.
Endings 2 — Handle blocked endings and know what to do when the needed key is occupied.
Endings 2 · The words, on cards — Compare one- and two-stroke ending forms so you can choose and verify them quickly.
Consolidation and the complete keyboard
Consolidation 1 · Everything, once — Bring the material together in one complete pass so the earlier lessons stay available.
Consolidation 2 · The pairs that fight — Separate neighboring word forms that compete for the same finger movement.
Consolidation 3 · Where you actually are — See what the high-frequency vocabulary now covers and choose what to build next.
Sitting 1 · M — Add M without breaking the coordination you already have.
Sitting 2 · D — Add D as a held shape and correct partial presses before they become habits.
Sitting 3 · L, F and B — Use the next left-hand letters to build related word families instead of isolated forms.
Sitting 4 · N, Y, G and J — Catch missing keys early and use printed word sets to make the new letters reliable.
Sitting 5 · The letters at the back — Keep final-position letters and two-hand timing together as words get longer.
Sitting 6 · The last letters — Finish the remaining final letters and test whether you can find them cold.
Sitting 7 · The left-hand letters — Recognize left-hand families so familiar blocks stay visible in new words.
Sitting 8 · The right-hand letters — Carry the same family logic into right-hand words and compounds.
Sitting 9 · The vowels you have been writing — Use the long-vowel group with steadier thumb timing.
Sitting 10 · Long E — Distinguish long E from nearby vowel shapes before they blur in read-back.
Sitting 11 · Long U — Place the right thumb for long U without hesitating between similar sounds.
Sitting 12 · oy — Write oy and its neighbors without losing thumb position.
Sitting 13 · aw — Read back aw words accurately and catch when a missing key changes the word.
Sitting 14 · The last vowel — Keep long I distinct from the other major vowel patterns.
Sitting 15 · The A you barely say — Hear and write the reduced initial A without letting it run into the next word.
Contractions · Four words, one shape — Write four common words with one shape while keeping the letters together.
Review Three · The whole board — Review the complete keyboard and return directly to the sittings that still need work.
Layer Three and reference
Layer Three 1 · Said out loud — Practice a full question-and-answer passage so the taught forms begin working in deposition language.
Layer Three 2 · Every deposition talks about itself — Handle objections, documents, and references to the proceeding without losing the thread.
Layer Three 3 · When they are not sure — Keep up when a witness repeats, clarifies, or changes an answer.
Layer Three 4 · The third voice — Follow a longer exchange when a third speaker enters the record.
Layer Three 5 · Good evening — Move through common deposition transitions with less conscious assembly.
Layer Three 6 · The calendar — Write dates, days, and months consistently when the calendar comes up.
Layer Three 7 · The figures — Keep figures and number words in one dependable system.
Closing · There is no word you cannot write — Write an unfamiliar word from its sounds instead of waiting for a memorized brief.
The families — Find related forms quickly so practice can target a pattern rather than a single word.
The Appendix — Look up the complete word and phrase reference when you need to check or extend your writing.
About the author · Also by Tom Fernicola · Rights and notices.
Questions students ask.
How many briefs do I have to memorize?
Only the ones the lessons give you, a lesson at a time, each one drilled on the page where it first appears. There is no list to learn up front. The appendix collects them so you can look one up. Any word the lessons don't give you, you build from its sounds.
Can I read my notes back?
Every drill prints its tape. You can compare what you wrote with the text the drill presents.
Does it work without a teacher in the room?
The book is written for use without a teacher in the room. The keyboard appears on every page and the drills provide their own check.
What do I learn first, and why?
The keyboard arrives in an order chosen by what each group of keys makes available in combination. The vocabulary order comes from a count of 4,517,187 words across 200 lawsuits and 111 matters, cleaned from one reporter's deposition work.
What does it not do?
The book does not make every word a brief, remove every translation conflict, or remove the need to practice.
I already write another way.
What should I keep?
Please don't try to replace too much at once. You don't have to replace it all. Keep what's already automatic for now. Old outlines come first because they were there first, and that's fine. Stretch, don't break.
Why I built BREVITY this way.
I kept returning to one question: can you write what you hear without stopping to make a decision first? Shortness is useful when it removes movement without adding a decision.
The keyboard sequence is chosen by what each group of keys makes available in combination. A key is introduced for the vocabulary and turns it unlocks with the keys already learned. The most common words do not automatically come first; the sequence gives each new group a usable runway.
The theory teaches sound-based construction as well as familiar forms. Where a rule is needed, the rule is shown with the forms that would otherwise look like exceptions, so the reader can inspect the reason on the page.
I accept some translation conflicts. That can mean more editing and an occasional wrong word in a rough draft, but it reduces the choices the writer must make during speech. Comparisons and arguments about which theory is “better” stay outside the beginner lessons.
Get a student fluent on the largest share of what they'll actually hear, and strong at writing out the rest. That's about the best anyone's going to do. This is a theory that says so in print.
What you need to begin.
- A steno machine, as recent as you can reasonably afford.
- Student software. Eclipse and Case CAT are supported; Eclipse is the preferred choice for this book.
Choose your access period.
The same book and tool, for the time you choose. Access begins after payment is captured. Six-month access lasts six calendar months; one-year access lasts one calendar year. If your access ends before you finish, you can purchase another period at the same price and pick up where you stopped.
Best value: one year works out to about $62 a month. Six months works out to about $83 a month.
One payment. No automatic renewal. Includes signed-in online book access, book updates made during your access period, and the BREVITY Woodshedder for the same purchased period. The book is read online, not delivered as a download.
What a reader says about the theory.
“I needed something logical and purposeful that would actually impact my writing, not just more practicing to a checklist.”
“For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I am working on the why behind my struggles.”
“For years, changing any outline to make it easier felt so taboo.”
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From a working reporter.
Tom Fernicola is an active New York City realtime reporter with 37 years of reporting experience, including extensive complex litigation. He created BREVITY: The Theory for people starting steno from the beginning.
It is separate from BREVITY: Write Simply, his book for existing writers.
A few things to know.
How do access and updates work?
Access begins after payment is captured and runs for the period selected. Updates made during that period are included.
What is the refund policy?
Refunds are available on request within 14 days after access begins. Later requests are considered individually. Any refund attributable to an access purchase ends that purchase's remaining access.
Can I ask Tom before choosing?
Yes. Send Tom a question.