1:13 PM

Reading Aloud

I recently heard from some other authors about their practices of reading their WIP aloud to an audience of a friend or two for editing and feedback purposes. I had never thought about such an option and didn't know how well it would work for me. Considering my friends are pretty busy people and also possibly too nice to give me honest feedback, I didn't know if I'd have someone to be able to do this with. That's when an idea hit me, why not record it and listen back to it myself? While I understand this novel is my baby and I may be biased about things, I figured if nothing more it would help me hear the character voices and check the flow of the plot. I decided to use my completed MS The Other Side as my guinea pig. I've re-read it several times in the past but never out loud. Let me tell you, with just one chapter, I can already see how many things I need to change and how juvenile some of the writing seems. Maybe I'll re-record it and put it up here for you guys to laugh at (it sounds awful now as I'm sick and losing my voice). I would definitely recommend trying this yourself, even if it's just a passage and not a whole chapter. I'd also suggest reading to others as well if you have a willing participant. I hope it will help you guys better edit your work!

2 comments:

Lisa Gail Green said...

That's a great idea! I do read aloud to myself but I bet you can catch more if you record and really listen to it. I might have to give that a try...

MBee said...

You might also be like me and think "OMG. I have *such* a manly voice!" Heh. Hope it works for you!