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Reading Your Work Out Loud Is Your Unbeatable Resource for Creative Writing
When you hear what you’ve written, it takes on a different aura, and that’s where you find your muse.
A distinct difference exists between written writing and reading it aloud. It’s a technique every writer needs to use in their creative efforts. What are the benefits?
While reading your work aloud, you are not simply proofreading it, you are hearing the effect it has on you. At this juncture, YOU are acting as the reader, not the writer. That effect is what drives your writing and keeps your reader reading. Without a compelling “voice” in your prose, you are dead in the water. And you can best hear that literary and literal voice when you let your ears do the work.
How many writers read their work aloud in situations other than readings, seminars, or writing programs? I’ve heard it mentioned by editors, and we know that famous authors like Neil Gaiman, Colson Whitehead, and others utilize it.
Reading aloud helps you pick up language gaffs that are unclear or that would benefit from editing. It also helps when Spellcheck wants to change a word, and it’s not what you intended to write. I get that because it often wants to insert “the” in places where I don’t want it.
