I frequently hear about the quiet life of writing and wonder if I’m just the weird writer in the group.
Writing, for me, isn’t really a quiet, still, activity.
For one thing, I’m frequently charging around the house doing housework when I’m brainstorming ideas.
I get lots of ideas when I’m driving, too.
And when I write, I’m frequently talking. Yes, that’s me, talking quietly to myself at the neighborhood coffeehouse. Here’s why:
My dialogue sounds more realistic if I’ve given it a read-aloud test.
I’ll check for pace sometimes when reading aloud. Is it choppy enough for an action scene (okay, I’m not writing car chases in my books, but I do have an action scene in each of my mysteries). If something is reading slow, is that because it’s the calm-before-the-storm? Or have I written something boring?
Humor. For some reason, I always like to read humorous scenes out loud. Maybe that’s from watching I Love Lucy when I was a kid—I think of comedy in performance terms and want to see how my humorous scenes sound.
Problem scenes. If I’m done with my first draft, I’ll move on to a quick reread of the book. When I run into a scene that isn’t working for me, I’ll usually read it out loud. This usually helps me pin down the source of the problem.
Overall editing. If I’ve just written a book and I’m getting close to a deadline and don’t have time to let the book sit for a while, I’ll start editing immediately…and I’ll read aloud while doing it. For me, it’s one of the best ways to create distance from the text enough to catch basic errors.
Sometimes, I’ll get hoarse while reading to myself. I’ve discovered a neat function on my Kindle that might work for short periods of time (and I might be the last writer on the planet to use this, but I thought I’d mention it here.)
I’ve uploaded my drafts on my Kindle (not published them there, but uploaded them from my computer by dragging a .txt file copy of my Word document to my Kindle when it’s plugged into my laptop). And…there’s a cool ‘read aloud’ feature on the device that allows the Kindle to read to me. This will help me out for short spates when I’ve gotten hoarse.
Do you talk to yourself as you write or edit?
Elizabeth – I agree completely that it’s worth the time to check the dialogue for inconsistencies and other problems. And I often tell my students to do just what you do: read their writing aloud. That really does help. When I’m stuck, I sometimes do read aloud parts of what I’m writing. I find it helps best if I read it to my husband or to one of my first readers. They’re often very helpful at spotting whatever the problem is.
Even when not reading aloud, I “get into” the story to the extend that I used to alarm my dog. I’d be working on a tense scene, and look up and there she was “Mom? Where’s the threat? What should I do?”
That’s one thing about cats, I never have to stop and reassure them that the novel in my head is not real.
I used to read aloud more, but I do it more in my head now, because I hear the characters so vividly – and I don’t sound anything like them.
Very good post! More writer’s should practice this technique.
I put headphones on and sing very loudly!
Interesting. I will talk dialogue aloud sometimes – it helps keep it real. Most of the time when I’m talking my story, it’s because I’m hiking, or like you, running errands, doing housework, and ideas come to me. Speaking them aloud helps cement them into my brain.
The Kindle voice is very cool! Love the function.
I talk to myself all the time about everything. I especially like to read my stuff out loud, too.
I’ve always read my work out loud. It’s the only way you can really hear the story and the fumbles. Excellent post.
I’ve often found thinking out loud as I drive helps me discover my way out of plot holes. And yes, I make sure I’m alone in the car!
I’m always talking to myself. And I do read out loud as well. It helps. Thanks for these tips!
I do this :-) If I’m not mumbling dialogue to myself before I write it (*that* is my excuse for talking to myself!), I will read my work to myself. It’s a *great* way to catch problems with grammar as well as dialogue. It’s time consuming, but if you’re not willing to do this, hard to expect someone else to read it!
Daring Novelist, I have alarmed my children, in public, doing the same thing ;-)
I’m always reading my stuff aloud, and for the same reasons. Occassionally I do it in front of a mirror, but usually its right where I’m sitting and writing. It really helps to get your arms around what it is you’re writing, and then make necessary changes. Great post. I’ll tweet to that!
I find that reading aloud helps with timing as well. If you’re not careful, a character can go through three cigarettes, two danishes, and a coffee all within the span of a single line of dialog!
I read out chunks of my stuff sometimes – just not as often as I should. I’ll have to try that with my Kindle :)
I agree that writing is by no means quiet! Especially in our own heads. My friend uses the “read-aloud” feature and says it’s great to hear, because the robot voice has no diction. You can hear how things really come across without any emotion attached.
Both WIndows and the Mac OS, all versions, come with a text-to-speech feature.
With the Mac, you can access it via “Universal Access” which is found in the System Preferences panel.
I mainly use it for proof-reading, and it makes proofing galleys much easier.
I struggle with dialogue sometimes, so I started reading it out loud. It helps!
Reading dialogue loud is a good idea >:)
Cold As Heaven
Jen–Boy, that would run everyone off at my house! I sing pretty badly. :)
Margot–That’s a great thing to have passed along to your students! I’m sure they’ll find it useful.
Loree–Thanks!
The Daring Novelist–My dog gets right up on my FEET if I’m at home and talking to myself. She’s so worried about me! I think she’d take me to the doctor, if she could. :)
E. Arroyo–Good luck with it!
Deb–It’s fantastic for catching errors, isn’t it? I think I catch more this way than with any other method.
Stephen–Thanks so much! I make faces sometimes, too, if I’m trying to describe an expression. :)
Frank–Thanks!
Elena–The robot voice is just a little scary, but it definitely helps not to hear any inflection in the voice.
Julia–I didn’t think of it that way, but you’re so right. If I say something out loud, I won’t forget it as quickly.
Journaling Woman–I’m so glad I’m not the only one. :)
Marilynn–Now that’s interesting to know! I’ll check it out on my PC. Thanks!
Elspeth–I always wonder if people think I’m nuts when they see me in public…
Alex–I think it helps a lot, too.
William–Oh, good point. It sure would help with timing.
Cold as Heaven–It seems to work out well. Especially to weed out some of the phonier sounding stuff.
I always read my work out loud. It’s the easiest way for me to tell it’s off.
I NEVER thought to do that with my Kindle. What a great idea. (See you weren’t the last.) I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
Just finished reading a 105K word novel aloud. Found so many items to correct. And this was after many rewrites and a review by my agent and my editor. I use http://www.readplease.com sometimes, but prefer to read it myself.
Hope Clark
FundsforWriters.com
I talk out problem sections, especially when something doesn’t flow smoothly off the mind. I listen to classical music when I write (well, almost always) so that there are no words to distract and it makes reading aloud fun, as if I have my own movie score :)
I tend to read dialogue aloud, even as I’m writing it – usually without realizing. Must be a sub-conscious thing.