Do you read your story out loud and edit it to make it flow

GoreQuill NachoVidal said:

I am on my third draft and am obsessed with reading it out loud. Not only to see if it makes sense, but i want it to flow. To have a rhythm to it. If it doesn't, even if it is a good sentence otherwise, I will change it.
To me, I think it makes it easier and more pleasant to read.

I even read books I really like out loud and they don't flow. Now, it could be in my mind but I don't think so.

Does anyone else do this? Or is it just me?

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Twins

Triplets.

I do read it out loud, but if something sounds funny I then read it in my head, if it flows ok in my head but not off the tongue I leave it. Some things sound ok when read inside and will never sound right out loud....plus I really hate the sound of my voice, so after a few chapters it all sounds horrible!

Yes. Absolutely. Many times, in fact.

As another useful exercise, it's worthwhile to read the stories of other good writers aloud. And another hint: Don't hurry when you read. I teach English composition classes, and have students read things aloud, from their own writing and from the published works of writers I think are good (without telling them who it is), and I nearly always find that they have a great craving for reading too fast. Slow down. Channel Barack Obama's speaking style.

caw

I just recently started doing this with my drafts. I've found it's given me confidence!

GoreQuill NachoVidal said:

Does anyone else do this? Or is it just me?

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I do edit for flow, relentlessly, but not by reading aloud, which rarely works for me. I can hear it just fine in my head.

But if reading it out loud works for you, go for it.

I tend to do this more when I write rather than when I edit, but I also find myself reacting aloud like the characters would be when writing scenes! I find it helps to really nail down the dialogue I should be going with.

I sort of whisper the words to myself as I go along, which I guess has the same effect as reading them out loud but I don't actually have to hear my voice.

I find reading in my head is adequate, but I sometimes act out bits of dialogue to check variants of delivery, expression, or word choice. Make sure I'm alone first though!!

Totally do. I find helps catch silly mistakes like missing words and contextual spelling errors, and also unblurs the line between awesome prose and utter drivel. Issues I might otherwise miss.

I like to mouth my writing out, rather than read it aloud. I think it has about the same effect of making you read more carefully and focus on how the words would sound, AND it let's you revise/read your work in public

Always. Then I hear repeated words and oddities. I usually read it from a printed version so I can make notes along the way.

I hear it in my head. I do the same when I read.

Yes. Multiple times. I also keep track of how long it takes me to read an entire script out loud, including stage directions. I do read the dialogue from my novel out loud at times to hear how it sounds and if it flows. Can it be stronger by replacing or omitting words? Things like that.

No, but that' because I can hear it in my mind, in all their different voices and speech patterns. But otherwise it's a good practice to implement.

If you've got an ereader, it can be immensely helpful to load your document onto it in actual book form (use calibre to format it in seconds) and read it that way. You'd be surprised what you'll pick up just by changing the way the words are laid out.

Even if you don't have an ereader, print out hard copy, or make a copy of the file and change the typeface completely (size and body font, and even margins/page size) for "re vision" so you see it again, but differently.

If you're shy about reading it aloud, read it to yourself but move you lips as if you were reading it aloud; there's a neurological thing that happens with we vocalize what we read that can help a lot with proofing, and our brains aren't going to care that we aren't forcing air through our larynx.

I read it out loud near the end of my editing process. Helps me catch awkward phrasing and errors. I didn't do this with my first book, and when I was preparing to do readings, I found bits I'd have changed if I'd read it out loud before publication. In my case, I thought I heard it well enough in my mind, but I really hadn't.

There is such a big difference between the spoken word and written word, so I don't see any value in reading my work out loud, which is specifically written to read and not speak.

Some writer friends like to do it, but it's not for me.

AW Admin said:

Even if you don't have an ereader, print out hard copy, or make a copy of the file and change the typeface completely (size and body font, and even margins/page size) for "re vision" so you see it again, but differently.

If you're shy about reading it aloud, read it to yourself but move you lips as if you were reading it aloud; there's a neurological thing that happens with we vocalize what we read that can help a lot with proofing, and our brains aren't going to care that we aren't forcing air through our larynx.

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This is good advice. I've found it helps me catch a lot I missed when I read it in some other format.

And I try the mouthing thing at times.

ETA: "You'd be surprised what you'll pick up just by changing the way the words are laid out." + 2 Cyia (I should've given you credit as well. )

I do see value in reading it out loud, just not sure about it personally. Maybe it relates to visual versus auditory styles.

When I read my work out loud, I get all tripped up, and not because it doesn't flow but because I'm distracting myself when I hear myself. I feel like my own voice, style and such gets in the way. I'm not big on having stories read aloud to me by someone else either. I can't get into the story the same and I get stuck on thoughts like, "I don't think that was the right tone for what was just said."

Any time something's read aloud, the reader and their voice becomes a part of it along with the words/writing. For example, when I read Dr. Seuss to my kids it sounds a certain way. I recently heard my sister reading it and it sounded like a totally different work. Even though I wrote the words to my WIP, when I read them out loud it's like I mix with the work in a different way, and I don't like that. I like to just see what I'm reading and hear it in my head. In my writing/critique group we read five pages aloud for the group, but instead of following along, I tend to just read it myself at my own pace and in my own way because it works better for me.

CJ

ETA: I enjoy poetry read out loud (though the reader has a lot to do with how enjoyable it is), and maybe the more poetic a work, the more fitting it is to read it out loud, even when editing it.

chompers said:

No, but that' because I can hear it in my mind, in all their different voices and speech patterns. But otherwise it's a good practice to implement.

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I also hear the story in my mind and the dialog in different voices and with different speech patterns.

The only time I read aloud is if there is a troubling passage, sentence, or something that makes me sense an error. Then, I will read that bit out loud to find what is going amiss.

Oh. And poetry and sometimes if I am critting someone else's work. First I read it in my head. Then, I read it out loud.

Not dissimilar to table reads.