Every
author develops a toolkit of writing skills and techniques, preferred software
and hardware, and proven processes to develop a polished manuscript. In my
online course, Revision and Self-Editing
(next
month-long class starts October 1 if you are interested), I suggest authors add the Auditory
Read Through to their stockpile of available tools.
If you
are like most modern authors, you compose your first draft using a
word-processing program, which means you first see your words on a screen. You
may rewrite your manuscript using a screen to display your text, or you may
print out a copy of your manuscript, make handwritten corrections and then
convert those back to an electronic form.
Many
authors have learned that they find different problems when they view their
manuscript on the screen compared to what they find when using a hard copy. I
know authors who change from their standard font and a single column printout
and use a different font and two columns to make sure nothing looks “familiar.”
In addition to these techniques, I suggest that you
will discover different issues when you read your manuscript out loud.
Even if
on previous read throughs you silently sounded things out in your head, you were
not using your sense of hearing. Before the written word, stories were spoken,
and you should listen to yours to discover a few last issues you may have
missed.
Approaches
to the Auditory Read Through
#1 I read it myself
One key
to this approach is I try to mimic a reader’s experience.
I print
out the manuscript single-spaced applying the same font, type size, lines per
page and page size as the publisher uses. As I read, I’ll see, for example, a
long paragraph that needs splitting or dialogue that runs unbroken for two
pages. [I do not worry about exact layout, orphan lines, where words break on a
line, or anything like that.]
What do
I listen for? Anything that doesn’t sound right on a sentence-by-sentence
basis, or as part of a paragraph, or the entire page. Whenever I stumble or
trip over a word, there is a good chance I need a rewrite. This gives me the
opportunity to straighten convoluted sentences and exchange flabby diction with
precise wording.
I often
discover I used a word several times within a short span. I might not see the
multiple uses on screen or page, but my ear picks them up. Reading often
reveals double words: detritus remaining from earlier rewriting (the the is my most common).
I pay
attention to adverbs: are they covering for a flabby verb? Make sure every
adverb is necessary. As an example, consider the line “She quickly
walked to the sidewalk.” With the multitude of verbs available to describe
exactly how she moved to the sidewalk, this sentence employs a lazy
approximation for what the reader should visualize as they read.
Where I
used multiple adjectives, can I replace them with one perfect descriptor?
Have I
noun-ized verbs (xxxxx-ness) or verbed nouns (xxxxx-ize)?
Are
verbs that end with “ing” appropriate?
Have I
fallen into a repetitive pattern? Do too many sentences share the same form?
Are sentences all the same length?
#2 Use software to read the
manuscript
I used
this technique with Empty Promises
(Seamus McCree #5) this week as the final step before sending the manuscript to
my editor. I allow the software to read the words (fully engaging my ears in
the process) while I follow along on the computer screen. A variety of free and
for-purchase software exists to read documents. I use the voices incorporated
in Microsoft Word.
Most of
my POV characters for this story are male, so I chose Microsoft’s David Mobile.
Unlike a voice actor, or when I read my WIP aloud, this electronic reading does
not provide inflection, which allows me to pay more attention to the actual
words. It does take a bit of getting used to. Microsoft mangles many proper
names because it tries to pronounce them phonetically and guesses at syllables.
One character is Frank Cabibi. I’ve pronounced his last name in my head as
Că-BEE-bee. Microsoft David chose CAY-bǝ-BY.
David also doesn’t correctly enunciate the difference between the “live” in live bait versus the one in live and let live.
The
occasional auditory jar startles me back to listening with careful ears. When I
read my own work, I read through typos. (I know what the word is supposed to
be.) Microsoft David reads what’s there, catching, for example, “habit” in a
sentence where I intended “habitat.” (The error had survived two earlier
drafts.) He always reads double words, something I sometimes miss when I read
my own manuscript.
Some
things are more obvious when I listen to my writing rather than read it myself.
I can’t catch words or sentences I stumble over—Microsoft David is too
competent to stumble. However, I do catch more clunky sentences when hearing his
monotone—words, not inflection, must carry the meaning.
#3 Record, then listen
I have
not tried this technique, but I know authors who swear by recording themselves
reading their manuscript out loud and then listening to the recording. While
they record their words, they muzzle the internal editor. (This is the part I
find impossible.) Once they start the playback, they are truly listening (since
they are not also reading).
When to perform an Auditory Read
Through
My current
workflow incorporates two Auditory Read Throughs. The first is as I described in
my use for Empty Promises: when I
think I have a manuscript ready to send to my editor. I know the editor will
find many things for me to change, and much of this polishing will be wasted
effort. However, if I’ve corrected all the problems I can see, it allows my
editor to spend her time spotting things I haven’t seen. For me that is worth
the extra time.
I perform
a final Auditory Read Through on the final, final, final, manuscript. It’s my
last bit of quality control before I approve the manuscript for publication. I
admit it’s probably a belt-and-suspenders approach to a clean read, but
hey—it’s my name on the cover!
If
you’ve tried the technique, how did you think it worked for you? If you haven’t
performed an Auditory Read Through, do you think you might?
~ Jim
There is still time to register for the Revision and Self-Editing class, which you can do from Jim's website.
