Normally I like to read what I've written in silence, and once I have most of it down, or think I'm done, I go back and re-read allowed. Tonight I actually had my word doc read my first 2 chapters to me, and I found that it helped a lot. Does anyone else do this? Do you guys have any friends that you ask to re-read stuff back to you?
Of course you are allowed to read your own work, why wouldn't you be? Nope, I don't read my stuff aloud, cause then it just makes it feel weird.
Work I'm try to edit I read aloud. It's great practice for finding awkward wording and stumbling points.
What @EFMingo said ^ When there's nought but me and a falling tree in a forest, I'll read my stuff aloud. Matwoolf man encouraged me to do so. It helps—save for the timbering wood—I'm a solo thespian with an audience of none.
What I have done before now, is paste a paragraph or two into one of these text-to-speech widget things. There’s a few online ones that vary in quality and how much text it allows you to paste, but if you can find one of the more natural sounding ones it can be quite effective.
I don't see pictures or scenes when I write, I hear the words in my head. Same when I'm reading my work or someone else's writing. I hear the words. So, most of the time I can just read my work because it feels about the same. If a particular part is giving me trouble, I might read that section aloud. But the results tend to be about the same for me. Poetry I always read aloud. And I read it aloud many times. With poetry, the sounds and placement of words is more important than in prose. It can take me weeks or months to write a poem to where I will submit it. Still, I have never published any poetry. But I also like to read poetry written by others aloud. It makes for a more beautiful and intense experience.
Mostly I only read aloud during the editing process. Occasionally when I'm trying to achieve a specific effect with pacing, I'll read it aloud during the writing to see if the rhythm is OK.
Reading through the entire work aloud is one of my editing steps. Another is to use WORD's read-aloud function. I use the latter if my wife is around, because I can wear headphones doing it. Don't want her to think I'm THAT weird.
I only read out loud to an audience.... and when I say "audience" I mean my dog. She has no idea what I'm saying, but she looks at me so intently and her tail wags, that its really encouraging. Almost like she's really happy and excited that I'm reading to her and only her. I also like reading my WIPs out loud to my sister (though she is not as thrilled and excitable as my dog!). I tend to catch more mistakes when I am reading to someone rather than just out loud to myself. I'm more conscious of errors when there is an audience.
