I’ve been reading my manuscript aloud to myself (cringe) to line edit. I’ve realized that I’m a terrible narrator; my voice either always sounds flat and bored, sarcastic, or melodramatic. So if when I’m published, I will not be narrating my own audio books (if I have any.)
But, it does help me see (hear?) the manuscript in a new way, rather than wasting paper and killing trees to print out over 350 pages just so I can see it on paper. (Plus, I’ve done that before, and I always hate typing in my edits after I’ve already done them on paper.)
Do any of you read your stuff aloud to yourself?
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I ordered my book from LuLu just for editing purposes. I took a pen and read it aloud to my family. It was amazing how much more I saw that way.
I constantly read aloud. The problem is, I feel like I'm developing subconscious tricks to gloss over sentences that are jumbly, lol. I sometimes go back and am like, huh? How the heck did I read through that and not notice it's COMPLETELY WRONG? :p
Oh, I totally do. I heard about doing that from another writer's blog and I thought she was mental… but then I tried it and it really helps me with word flow. I'm also a bad narrator. My characters either sound like a high-pitched version of myself or Sean Connery.
I just started doing that on my last revision. I never print while revising (to save the trees). I still miss things like missing words b/c I typed too fast, but if I read it aloud, I catch it right away. Also, I'll know right away if the dialogue sounds iffy. I hate doing it cuz I sound ridiculous, but it's become necessary. Totally came to the same conclusion you did ~ I will NOT being reading my own audiobooks:)
I didn't used to, but I started for my last revision and it does make a difference. It also makes me hate how freaking long my book is, because my throat starts to hurt. Next time I'm writing a novella.
Only if no one else is home!! But YES. It does help. Plus it's fun! For me anyway…
Oh, I always do – especially the dialogues, that way I know if they sound realistic. Also, I think it's enormous fun to do the accents of the characters!
yes reading aloud is soo helpful
I do it to my girlfriend who I carpool with – we're stuck in the car together for 45min each way *mwahahahaha*
Someone gave me the best advice… you wanna know what it was? "Read your own work aloud, you'll be amazed at the mistakes you'll find"I've put it to good use and they were right. The next time I'd give the info to someone to read they would say it had been huge improvements and I have remembered it from here on out!
I do sometimes, and my husband likes me to, so he doesn't have to read it…But I have a terrible narrating voice, too, so I hate doing it. :S
I totally do, though I'm fairly sure people would think I'm mental if they found out. *g* But it helps SO much with the pacing when you realise where you stumble. I think it's the best thing you can do to get the choice of words and the flow right.
I haven't done this too often, but I know people who swear by it. I should probably give it a try someday, maybe I'll swear by it too.
I do. When no one is home and the windows are closed
I read my stuff aloud. I make sure to read slowly to catch as many mistakes as possible.
I follow Laurie Halse Anderson's LiveJournal also and she writes about revision and the writing process fairly often. One of her revision tips is to record yourself reading the manuscript so you can go back and forth to make changes. This is the link to her blog http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/Good luck!
My beta underlined things he wanted me to read out loud to myself. As soon as I did, I understood why he had a problem reading it. If your writing doesn't sound smooth, it won't read any better. (Hugs)Indigo
Yes (in fact I've posted abut this several times, including today!) and sometimes it's even better to have someone else read it to YOU. They catch every stumble and missing word. When I read it aloud, I try to read it TO someone, because that forces me to slow down and be more objective. Either way, I usually do it one chapter at a time. Maybe two. Happy Monday.~Lola