The reverse edit

muse said:

Did you check out the Quick Access Toolbar? Click - Customise quick access toolbar - More commands - and select the Speak button. (Looks like a square speech bubble.)

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Thanks muse, and yes, exhaustingly and a few times. I'll take another peek for the bubble, but it's alphabetical, and nothing under S, or Text to Speech. The help page includes versions older and newer than the Word I have . . . sigh . . .

Actually, just double checked with my version (11) and it doesn't have speech.

The textedit is fine though, and I'm sure it's the same voice.

DarienW said:

Thanks muse, and yes, exhaustingly and a few times. I'll take another peek for the bubble, but it's alphabetical, and nothing under S, or Text to Speech. The help page includes versions older and newer than the Word I have . . . sigh . . .

Actually, just double checked with my version (11) and it doesn't have speech.

The textedit is fine though, and I'm sure it's the same voice.

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That's a pity. They must have done away with it in 11 (I have 10 )

muse said:

That's a pity. They must have done away with it in 11 (I have 10 )

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Are you on a mac? Just curious . . .

I'll add that I have become so used to the computer voice. The way it says "yeah" was really off putting at first, but I've adjusted. "Read" can be the wrong version: doesn't rhyme with "red," and a few other things are weird, but overall, it's really helpful, and hopefully any 11 users out there can paste to the Textedit as I do.

I use TextAloud. I think you can try it out - but I could be wrong. Anyway, it allows me to adjust the pronunciation of words and names, which is a blessing if your character's names are uncommon or you use some foreign words. I can also adjust the reading speed. Very nice app, but good voices are IMO expensive.

I just tried it on an extract of my current WIP, the British English one, bearing in mind that my MC is 15 years old and from London (working class dialect, sarcasm, lots of slang and some swearing) and it's got a fairly lighthearted tone with a lot of comedy - the voice read it in an RP accent in the same tone that they'd read a tragic literary story on BBC Radio Four.

Well, if you want your novel to sound like it's being read on Radio Four, this is the app for you. I'd imagine that's a huge plus point for most writers. I'll probably still use it anyway, for the purpose of helping to spot errors. To be honest, I'm quite impressed with it.

neandermagnon said:

I just tried it on an extract of my current WIP, the British English one, bearing in mind that my MC is 15 years old and from London (working class dialect, sarcasm, lots of slang and some swearing) and it's got a fairly lighthearted tone with a lot of comedy - the voice read it in an RP accent in the same tone that they'd read a tragic literary story on BBC Radio Four.

Well, if you want your novel to sound like it's being read on Radio Four, this is the app for you. I'd imagine that's a huge plus point for most writers. I'll probably still use it anyway, for the purpose of helping to spot errors. To be honest, I'm quite impressed with it.

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I guess Radio Four doesn't sound like a smart-ass kid?? I think they have some very good voices available these days, but last time I looked the cost was around $45.

neandermagnon said:

I just tried it on an extract of my current WIP, the British English one, bearing in mind that my MC is 15 years old and from London (working class dialect, sarcasm, lots of slang and some swearing) and it's got a fairly lighthearted tone with a lot of comedy - the voice read it in an RP accent in the same tone that they'd read a tragic literary story on BBC Radio Four. .

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Similar experience with the text to speech too - I've got a sweary Essex 16 year old as my narrator! I quite enjoyed how proper the software made her sound. The UK female voice is less wooden than the male voice, I think. As someone who thinks reading aloud is the best editing method there is, I'll certainly be using this - I was quite impressed by how fluid it made my writing sound, actually!

WriteMinded said:

I guess Radio Four doesn't sound like a smart-ass kid?? I think they have some very good voices available these days, but last time I looked the cost was around $45.

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It's much more about the mismatch of accent (which is massively linked to social class over here), register and tone than anything else. They would have characters from any background on Radio Four if the story's good enough (they only broadcast the very best) but it would be read by an actor with the appropriate accent, rather than always in an RP accent. But their default for anything that doesn't require an accent would be this kind of RP. There's more than one type of RP and some people even call this type "BBC English" (other kinds of RP accents sound posher/more upper class) so strong is the association between the accent and the BBC.

Radio Four is BBC's radio station for current affairs. Radio 1 is up to date music aimed at young adults, Radio 2 is music for my age group* (yay!) i.e. oldies but with some of the better new music mixed in, Radio 3 is for classical music, Radio Four is for current affairs and they also do a lot of drama and story readings, the occasional comedy show** etc (Radio Four... because their English is so perfect it feels wrong to put the digit in there), Radio 5 is for sport and Radio 6 is for alternative music, i.e. also aimed at the Radio 1 and 2 age groups but with music that's not so mainstream. Radio Four is the one, as you can imagine, that broadcasts in perfect English while other radio stations have DJs that are valued for their ability to connect with the audience. Radio Four does not have DJs. It has presenters.


*because "Radio 2 age group" sounds so much more positive and life-affirming than "middle age" (ugh)

**like The Infinite Monkey Cage

RaggyCat said:

Similar experience with the text to speech too - I've got a sweary Essex 16 year old as my narrator! I quite enjoyed how proper the software made her sound. The UK female voice is less wooden than the male voice, I think. As someone who thinks reading aloud is the best editing method there is, I'll certainly be using this - I was quite impressed by how fluid it made my writing sound, actually!

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I agree, I think it's a very good tool. I think I'll get over the whole RPness of it after a while and focus on the words being spoken. In fact the change of accent might help to spot more errors.

There must be a huge market for the "make your story sound like it's being read out on Radio Four" thing though...

My mother did copyediting for a number of years. She would look through sentences in reverse to help find typos. It's definitely a later-stage editing tool because it puts focus on the words, rather than the structure.

DarienW said:

Are you on a mac? Just curious . . .

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Nope, not a Mac, PC.