I read my two non-fiction books aloud to myself to catch clunky sentences. It's particularly an issue with non-fiction, where you're trying to explain complicated stuff - especially those as they were about the history of forensic science. It definitely helped to catch long sentences, which I tweaked.
You're right. That extra fact might make all the difference, if I can only find a place for it. If an adjective has taken you half a day of research, it's hard to leave it out or cut it.
There's an interesting contrast here with writing and reading maths equations and computer code. There might still be a language involved with a dictionary or lexicon, syntax and grammar rules, accepted structures etc, but how they're created and if they're read out loud provides no additional benefit to their accuracy or logical reasoning, unlike prose or poetry. Our brains are processing these differing streams of symbols and their assigned meanings very differently.
Yes, the sound of an equation makes no difference. I assume mathematicians stop hearing the word 'three' in their head, or 'lemma', when they get to a certain level of expertise. They are, I'm guessing, sensing the operation of the value or function (probably the wrong words) behind that sign.
It would be wonderful if the source (and perhaps the destination) for all these thought streams is the same: the space nature has made for our unique imaginations; the place in our head where we create new worlds, logical structures, characters and equations.
I was lucky enough to be part of a fantastic workshop before starting my MA this year. We were all made to read our story or chapter in full to the group before the discussion. We were also always encouraged to print out our work and read it aloud. This has stood me in fantastically good stead and I read my work aloud to myself over and over to get the rhythm and sense just right. I can already tell, just a few weeks into the MA workshops that many, particularly younger, writers have never done this. I’m probably blessed in that I enjoy the editing and rewriting just as much, if not more than, getting a first draft down.
The reading would usually take a good ten minutes - that’s about 1,500 words. Not always a whole story or chapter, but so valuable to hear people reading their work aloud - really brought it alive to hear the writers tone of voice, the cadence and rhythm they had intended. We don’t have time for it now at my uni - 4 writers, 3.5k words each per three hour workshop so we tend to go straight to the critique and discussion. That’s fine as it gives more time for what people see as the important part, but it means that many writers never even think of reading aloud to themselves.
The practice of reading your own work aloud is something my critique group always does (we don't send out our pieces in advance). The limit we try to stick to is 900 words (~2x A4) for 4-5 writers. This will drop to ~500 words if the headcount increases to 7-9 people. It's amazing, no matter how much you read and edit in advance, how reading to an audience makes any hiccups very obvious. We've even demonstrated the practice in real-time to a large student audience! :
Reading out loud was also encouraged by the tutor for a creative writing course I attended for three terms. It's a good habit to get into. Failing that, get your writing program to read the text out loud and let your ears pick out the glitches.
So interesting! For my latest stories I wrote chunks of the first draft by hand, it was especially helpful when I felt blocked. I liked the part where I typed the story on my laptop and got to revisit and improve it. Do you write your stories by hand?
(Un)fortunately, even I can barely read my own writing, so typing it has to be. I don't think I've handwritten more than a couple of hundred words in any one stint for more than a decade. My brain is clearly suffering!
I handwrite on my Scribe then type into my laptop. Now I'm considering handwriting one more subsequent draft in addition to reading out loud. It's time-consuming but worth it to create a flow that's enjoyable to read.
I read my two non-fiction books aloud to myself to catch clunky sentences. It's particularly an issue with non-fiction, where you're trying to explain complicated stuff - especially those as they were about the history of forensic science. It definitely helped to catch long sentences, which I tweaked.
You're right. That extra fact might make all the difference, if I can only find a place for it. If an adjective has taken you half a day of research, it's hard to leave it out or cut it.
There's an interesting contrast here with writing and reading maths equations and computer code. There might still be a language involved with a dictionary or lexicon, syntax and grammar rules, accepted structures etc, but how they're created and if they're read out loud provides no additional benefit to their accuracy or logical reasoning, unlike prose or poetry. Our brains are processing these differing streams of symbols and their assigned meanings very differently.
Yes, the sound of an equation makes no difference. I assume mathematicians stop hearing the word 'three' in their head, or 'lemma', when they get to a certain level of expertise. They are, I'm guessing, sensing the operation of the value or function (probably the wrong words) behind that sign.
It would be wonderful if the source (and perhaps the destination) for all these thought streams is the same: the space nature has made for our unique imaginations; the place in our head where we create new worlds, logical structures, characters and equations.
I was lucky enough to be part of a fantastic workshop before starting my MA this year. We were all made to read our story or chapter in full to the group before the discussion. We were also always encouraged to print out our work and read it aloud. This has stood me in fantastically good stead and I read my work aloud to myself over and over to get the rhythm and sense just right. I can already tell, just a few weeks into the MA workshops that many, particularly younger, writers have never done this. I’m probably blessed in that I enjoy the editing and rewriting just as much, if not more than, getting a first draft down.
Sounds great. How long did the reading out take? Were the stories quite short? I'd like to try this.
The reading would usually take a good ten minutes - that’s about 1,500 words. Not always a whole story or chapter, but so valuable to hear people reading their work aloud - really brought it alive to hear the writers tone of voice, the cadence and rhythm they had intended. We don’t have time for it now at my uni - 4 writers, 3.5k words each per three hour workshop so we tend to go straight to the critique and discussion. That’s fine as it gives more time for what people see as the important part, but it means that many writers never even think of reading aloud to themselves.
The practice of reading your own work aloud is something my critique group always does (we don't send out our pieces in advance). The limit we try to stick to is 900 words (~2x A4) for 4-5 writers. This will drop to ~500 words if the headcount increases to 7-9 people. It's amazing, no matter how much you read and edit in advance, how reading to an audience makes any hiccups very obvious. We've even demonstrated the practice in real-time to a large student audience! :
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCR-ylPNqxn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Reading out loud was also encouraged by the tutor for a creative writing course I attended for three terms. It's a good habit to get into. Failing that, get your writing program to read the text out loud and let your ears pick out the glitches.
Here's some recent scientific evidence that handwritten prose may indeed benefit from detectable creative brain differences, compared to typed words: https://www.psypost.org/handwriting-activates-broader-brain-networks-than-typing-study-shows/
So interesting! For my latest stories I wrote chunks of the first draft by hand, it was especially helpful when I felt blocked. I liked the part where I typed the story on my laptop and got to revisit and improve it. Do you write your stories by hand?
(Un)fortunately, even I can barely read my own writing, so typing it has to be. I don't think I've handwritten more than a couple of hundred words in any one stint for more than a decade. My brain is clearly suffering!
I handwrite on my Scribe then type into my laptop. Now I'm considering handwriting one more subsequent draft in addition to reading out loud. It's time-consuming but worth it to create a flow that's enjoyable to read.