Nov 30 2008
Reading Out Loud
So … we talked about audibooks last time - and it seems that not only do most of us find them useful, but also that we all have some experience with reading books out loud.
I find reading out loud to be the best way to actually ~get~ what I am reading. Anything that I have actually read out loud, like Omeros, for example, tends to stick with me a lot longer than the stuff I just read. It is awfully time consuming though!
Reading my own work out loud is also really helpful when it comes to editing, I find…. it allows me to find my errors, or the places that might look okay on the page but trip a reader up when read. I keep encouraging my students to read their essays out loud before they submit them; most of them don’t though, unfortunately.
It is also very useful when I’m writing fiction. I especially love doing readings for groups of people; quite often, when I do that, I will find myself changing things up on the fly …. after a reading, I go back and edit the work accordingly.
Thinking about reading out loud reminds me of how much I used to enjoy reading to my kids. I used to change things up on the fly then too … half the fun, for the kids, was in catching me changing the words.
I am absolutely an advocate for reading one’s work aloud. Especially for dialog. Nothing highlights stilted or static dialog like reading it out loud. Reading aloud definitely helps with my editing. Reading out loud to my husband does even more.
Reading out loud to my kids is truly the best time we have together and will always be the memories we treasure most. We brainstorm the voices of the characters based on their description, and I stick to those voices throughout the book we’re reading. (We just finished “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and loved it.) No matter how awesome an event I take them to or how great a game we play, I know that it’s our reading time they’ll remember most to their children.
I feel like such a ham when I read aloud…and I love it! It’s so much fun to help kids “see” the story come to life. I also think kids learn to read aloud well themselves if they’ve heard adults reading smoothly and enthusiastically.
I have been taught since I was a child to read in silence and as I read everywhere I still do that. Just into writing and editing a few months ago as just got into blogging. No kids so don’t know the experience of reading out loud. Was a champion storyteller when I was a child but that was it…Nice blog though…
Reading aloud works for me too. I usually preview blog posts and read them out loud several times before publishing. This helps with flow and helps catch errors.