Reading manuscripts out loud

Another Editor · Mar 18, 2011

At the publisher where I work, it is standard procedure to read a manuscript out loud after its initial edit. This is a group exercise, always done with multiple editors present. The number of useful changes that are identified while this is done is quite remarkable and time-intensive though it might be, it is worth it for all of the insight that is gained when we hear the text, rather than just read it.

I have also found that this works when I proof things that I have written. After writing the first draft, revising it, and proofing it, I read it out loud, alone. Lots of things in there make me wince, and they get changed.

I think other writers could benefit from doing this. Has anybody here ever tried it? Would anybody here like to try it and relate their experience with it?

shadowwalker · Mar 18, 2011

I read every chapter out loud when I've finished it. As you say, it's remarkable the things one finds that get missed otherwise. The mouth finds what the eyes "interpret".

Maryn · Mar 18, 2011

I always read my work aloud. It's the one time I wish I had a pet, so someone could be my listener. When our kids were little, I read certain kinds of work aloud to them, and they still remember Mommy's Story when/if I mention it.

Maryn, admiring the way shadowwalker put it

seun · Mar 18, 2011

I read my books aloud when editing/redrafting. The amount of mistakes or issues that can be improved I catch is worth the time it takes.

HisBoyElroy · Mar 18, 2011

I read my stuff aloud to myself and my wife, God love her, reads aloud to me. This seems to add a great deal of objectivity. She doesn't know where the inflections go etc and it's easy for me to see where she stumbles (i.e. where my writing is not as smooth as it should be.).

NeuroFizz · Mar 18, 2011

It's one of the best ways to discover if your intended intonation matches your black-and-white wording and punctuation. It also highlights the flow of the prose at all levels: sentence-to-sentence, paragraph-to-paragraph, and scene-to-scene.

Wayne K · Mar 18, 2011

My brother hears me through the door and thinks I'm going crazy....er

Said The Sun · Mar 18, 2011

Funny. Just the other day I was telling someone here that the best editing is done with your ears.
Some writing programs have a built-in feature that will read for you. I use a program called yWriter but I think Word has it too (I was never able to make it work.) Once I'm done with a chapter I run it through the program, have it read out loud to me while I sit back and listen. It's true; you find a lot of stuff that otherwise silently—even after one hundred rereads—can escape even the savviest of writers' eye. This is a great thread and excellent advice!

Kate Thornton · Mar 18, 2011

Yes - it works particularly well for short stories. And it gets you going in case you must give a public reading, too - I am now more confident at public readings.

..

amergina · Mar 18, 2011

I always read my work out loud as part of my editing process. It helps catch those clunky sentences and awkward phrases.

And then after that, I have my computer read it out loud, (I use my Mac's text to speech function, but other people have used their Kindles for this) because it reads the actual words on the page and not what I think I've written. It catches repeated words, one letter typos, and my writing nemesis: through vs though.

Scribhneoir · Mar 18, 2011

Another Editor said:
After writing the first draft, revising it, and proofing it, I read it out loud, alone. Lots of things in there make me wince, and they get changed.

I do this, too. It's especially effective for making sure your dialogue can actually be spoken and sound natural.

Scribhneoir · Mar 18, 2011

amergina said:
And then after that, I have my computer read it out loud ... because it reads the actual words on the page and not what I think I've written. It catches repeated words, one letter typos, and my writing nemesis: through vs though.

This is helpful, too. Although I did do a double-take when the computer decided "apt" was short for "apartment". Really gave that sentence a twist

Lost World · Mar 18, 2011

Guilty (thankfully). Though I don't read the whole manuscript aloud, usually just dialogue and paragraphs that don't seem to flow properly. Sounding them out is a good fix.

AlwaysJuly · Mar 18, 2011

I don't do this, but I know I should. Blah. I guess I'll start with short stories and when I do the final round of manuscript edits, I'll do it to the novel too.

I know I should, but I'm not an auditory person. I learn things better through text than being talked to; even as a kid, once I was reading solidly on my own I preferred to read myself than being read to (which is weird, I know). Reading everything aloud just sounds painful to me.

It is true, though, that I always catch things when I read aloud in a crit group or whatever, so I should just do it.

Eddyz Aquila · Mar 18, 2011

Guilty as well. Reading manuscripts out loud, particularly the narrative parts, greatly improves your own work and opens your eyes where you missed the important bits.

Phaeal · Mar 18, 2011

I often read aloud as I compose. Then I keep tweaking the sentence or paragraph in question until it sounds right.

Maryn · Mar 18, 2011

I forgot to add something to my earlier post. My critique group (which meets in an hour, so naturally I'm sitting here in my bathrobe, with wet hair, at AW once again) sits in someone's living room and reads entire novels aloud, taking turns. We pause at the end of sections or chapters, and whenever the author needs us to pause so s/he can make notes on what wasn't working.

Maryn, who's getting offline now, honest!

KTC · Mar 18, 2011

Another Editor said:
At the publisher where I work, it is standard procedure to read a manuscript out loud after its initial edit. This is a group exercise, always done with multiple editors present. The number of useful changes that are identified while this is done is quite remarkable and time-intensive though it might be, it is worth it for all of the insight that is gained when we hear the text, rather than just read it.

I have also found that this works when I proof things that I have written. After writing the first draft, revising it, and proofing it, I read it out loud, alone. Lots of things in there make me wince, and they get changed.

I think other writers could benefit from doing this. Has anybody here ever tried it? Would anybody here like to try it and relate their experience with it?

I do this for everything I write. I write articles, song lyrics, commercials, radio content, press releases, poetry, plays, novels, short stories, etc... I ALWAYS do this and suggest that all writers should.

Being first a poet and playwright, I found it NECESSARY to read my work out loud to make sure it 'sounded' right. I took that practice over to everything I write. Works great! You always pick up things when you hear staccato noises when you read out loud.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 18, 2011

Used to do it, and stopped because I hate it. I found I can trust my inner ear as much as my outer.

muravyets · Mar 18, 2011

I've been doing that piecemeal for bits I have trouble with, but I think I'll start doing it on purpose now as part of SoP. I know I always catch typos while doing it.

CACTUSWENDY · Mar 18, 2011

I have a little computer program that reads out loud to me. It's pretty cool.

Polenth · Mar 18, 2011

I notice less when I read out loud than when I read in my head. So no, mostly I don't read things out loud.

thothguard51 · Mar 18, 2011

A lot of script writers I know use this technique and swear by it. One says it is best if you have someone read from behind you so you can not see their efforts, but have to listen...

Me, I read in my head, or will read a section aloud to my girlfriend, but not whole scripts...

artemis31386 · Mar 18, 2011

When I finish a chapter and when I'm editing I read the manuscript aloud to help me hear problem areas.

ladyleeona · Mar 18, 2011

When I'm having trouble writing particular scenes, I read it/them aloud. Generally not whole chapters...I can't listen to myself for that long!

When I write stuff for school/research, however, I usually do employ the reading out loud plan, and it has always been pretty good about highlighting typos and other junk.

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