Read Aloud-A Key To Writing Success and Excellence
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How much time do you put into your writing? How much of YOU do you put in, as well? Your heart and soul? Most writers are practical enough to know that they won't become rich overnight through their writing. There has to be another reason that compels them.
Writing can be therapeutic. It fulfills a need to be heard or a need to help. There is purpose in everything we write--it may help us or it may help someone else--but we do it because we care.
Then, why, why, why do we publish before it's ready? Perhaps we're in a hurry. Or, we may actually think our article is A-OK... but it's not. We press "publish" or click "send", sharing a half-baked work.
What do you think about when you read someone else's so-so work? Did it give you a sense that they didn't care enough to do it right? That probably is not so, but readers get an "ouch" when they come across a great topic only to trip over typos.
I have been guilty of haphazard publishing myself. When I discover typos in my work, I cringe! All the worse, if someone else finds it and tells me? Double-cringe!
I thank God for the year of writing I did for Ehow through Demand Studios. Their editors are tough. When you submit an article to them, the editors analyze it and decide if it's ready to publish or not. If it's not, it bounces back to you with instructions for changes. If it fails a second time, it fails! It is rejected! Done!
That's a lot of work to not get paid. It makes you want to get it right the first time, every time. More than once an editor said to me "Did you read this out loud?" In other words, I hadn't.
It only took a couple of editor comments for me to get it: READING YOUR WORK ALOUD is the BEST proofreading tool a writer can use. Fact is, it works!
Reading Aloud Takes Your Work from "Good" to "GREAT"
Have you ever worked on a post for such a long time that you couldn't see the words anymore? At that point, you were too close to your work. That's where mistakes happen.
The best thing to do is to close your work and take a breather. After a break, come back fresh and read again. You will see with new eyes.
Now, read it out loud and see what happens! Reading your posts aloud gets more of your senses in gear. You'll find all sorts of ways to improve your work bringing it from GOOD to GREAT! Simply put, adding the verbal element to your proofreading enhances your ability to catch mistakes.
What should you be looking for?
Spelling-there is no excuse for misspellings. Use a spellchecker and beware of properly spelled but wrong versions of a word. e.g. their, they're and there.
Grammatical Errors or Omissions-if grammar is weak, it makes it difficult for the reader to follow what you are saying. When a post is hard to read, the reader will eventually leave.
Inconsistent Tenses-switching back and forth from first person to third person is awkward.
Getting Off Subject-stay focused on the topic described in your title. If you take a bunny-trail, make sure it will edify the reader within the context of your topic or, if it's really good but irrelevant to your article, save it to be used in a different post.
Rambling--simple is better. If you can say it in fewer words, do.
Flow-does the text flow when you hear it? If it is awkward or choppy, refine it to a smooth-read.
Failure to Cite Sources-this is a copyright issue. If you use a direct quote, you must cite your source. Similarly, be sure that you have permission to use the photos you display and cite the sources properly.
Asking for Reader Response-and giving no place to respond? I've seen this error on some blogs. If you ask for an opinion, make sure that the comments field is there so that your readers can offer their input.
IN SHORT: We love to write. We were made to write. So, let's take that little extra effort to perfect it....read it aloud!
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About the Author...
Sinea Pies is a freelance writer for a popular parenting magazine and professional blogger for Ducks 'n a Row. Please feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to her RSS feed to be updated on new hubs and articles that she publishes. Click for more: Sinea's profile
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CommentsLoading...
Thanks colpolbear...try it! I think you'll like the results.
I am book marking this.. what a great help this is. I love to write but I do find myself hurrying to write something.
Thank you for a great hub
Debbie
I do this all the time and it works. When I rush past this step it really show in my work. Good Hub as usual! Voted Up as useful!
Very interesting idea I will be trying this out in the future. Its so simple, so obvious and so over looked.
Good hub
Thank you from the bottom of my heart (as an editor!) When an article is rejected and not published, the writer is not the only one who loses income - the editor does not received any compensation for the time investment either.
Any writer who follows your advice increases the odds of having an article accepted and published on the first submission exponentially.
This is such an important strategy but it is so easy to overlook how beneficial it is to read-aloud your work. Thanks for the reminder.
Deborah Brooks, you are so welcome. Glad that you find this helpful.
Thanks tonyfisher for the vote up and useful.
So you've experienced it! I still occasionally fall into old habits of posting without reading it aloud...but more times than not, I do verbalize it before publishing.
Thank you for the tips. When I think I'm done with a piece, I always leave it and go back to read it again. However, I haven't been reading it out loud consistently. This is an excellent reminder to do that.
Thanks Arioch. Try it out!
DonnaCosmato, I consider this a supreme compliment. Thank you so much.
You are very welcome, sturgeonl.
You're welcome, Healthy Pursuits. Glad to be of help!
Thank you, I will be using your suggestion.
i love writing and now, finally I have time too... this is excellent advice and i shall put it to good use!
Thank you for your kind words, Shyron E Shenko and Rebecca E. I appreciate it.
Excellent hub. I have learnt from my mistakes and had a few cringe moments myself! Now I write, take a breather and go back over the work to check for typos, grammar etc.
I love it, you pointed out some common errors most writers exhibit without knowing. For me its mostly because of this darn keyboard(my lame excuse LOL).
I know for sure though that I write much better on paper, than using a keyboard, as well as draft writing. It use to take me at least 3 drafts to get my wording and idea across accurately on paper. I guess its all adjusting to a whole new method of writing for most people, especially with such a huge crowd like the web has, the pressure appears overwhelming at times to write better as you've stated as well.
Maybe some day they can invent a sort of digital pad we can write on to translate into text, or maybe they have one already. In fact I'll Google that puppy right now.
Thanks for sharing such a useful tip as reading out loud, your hub was very well presented, and it shows when a writer proof reads or not, for sure. Voted up!
Really good stuff you have here. :)
Well done and important. Thanks for a great post on the best way to proofread. Voted up.
I voted this up! I am guilty of errors. I am happy when someone points out errors. I write and then go back it a day later and usually find a errors. I try my best...Thanks for writing this and keep us on our toes.
Thanks for the compliment, Editorsupremo.
Thanks Cloudexplorer for the vote UP! I know what you mean about keyboards...they can cause all sorts of trouble. LOL!
Thanks RTalloni for the compliment and vote UP! I appreciate it so much.
You're welcome, Alphagirl. This is as much a reminder to me as anyone else! Thanks for the vote UP!
Fantastic advice! When you read work out loud, you can often here the mistakes. Another great way is text to speech, as the program will also show up bad use of punctuation.
Thanks for SHARING.
My fella is my captive audience and I make him listen to my hubs as I read them. He tells me like it is and I appreciate his constructive criticism!
Awesome article!
Thanks Brett Tesol. Text to speech sounds like a great idea.
A great checklist. Flow is one of my problems. Voted up and SHARED!
Eclectic Fusion, you are blessed to have a live audience to listen to your work. My live-audience has a short attention span -- LOL -- so I don't subject either of us to the torture. :)
These tips always apply to creative writers. Reading our content aloud is one way of reaching out to the listeners.
Great write-up. Voted up as useful.
Thanks so much for the vote UP and SHARE, too, rebeccamealey.
Thanks for the vote up and useful, radhikcsree.
Great tips Sinea ~ I am glad to say that I do the things that you say we should be looking for. I have learned so much in the past year on HubPages. When I get to the point where I am in the final stages and I read my work aloud, that is an exciting time for me. At that point, I have already re-worked the crap out of it and I'm close to hitting publish.
I read my work aloud most of the time. I should always. Thanks for the reminder!
You're welcome, rebeccamealey. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Good hints Sinea. I think what happens too, when we read our own work sometimes we see what should be there not what actually is. Taking time away and then reading out loud certainly does help. Voted up.
Tillsontitan, you are so right. We DO see what should be on the page and don't recognize that it really isn't reading that way. Reading it aloud brings everything to light. Thanks so much for the Vote UP!
This applies not just to creative writing but non-fiction writing as well. Windows has a built-in voice reader, so you can hear a robotic and objective third-party say your words. Voting this Up and Useful.
Thanks for the Vote UP and useful, alocsin. You know, somehow I accidentally activated that reader. Had no idea what happened or how to repeat it! LOL!
Here is a related tip: If your computer uses a Microsoft Windows operating system, click Start - All Programs - Accessories - Accessibility - Narrator. Then make a copy of your document in progress and save it under another name. With some fiddling, Narrator, in a computer voice of your choice, will read the text of the active window. You can focus on listening for errors, flaws, and weaknesses while a very patient text to voice program does the reading aloud for you. When you hear something you want to revise, stop Narrator, make and save the correction in the original document, and delete and save the spare copy down to that point, so Narrator won't start reading again from the top. Using Narrator I have caught not only typos and Manual of Style errors that way but also logical inconsistencies, awkward phrasing, unsupported assertions, and the various flaws you mentioned.
Other programs, such Dragon Naturally Speaking for Windows or Dragon Dictate for Mac (see my hub http://bleekley.hubpages.com/hub/Product-Review-Nu also include a read text aloud feature, and I expect there are open source programs that do, too.
Thank you so much for the great tips, B.Leekley.
colpolbear Level 3 Commenter 3 months ago
This will be very helpful. I enjoy writing and I always check everything twenty times over, but I have never really bothered to read out loud. It seems like a good idea. Thank you!