John Hewitt’s Writing Tips: Read it out loud
December 10, 2005 by J.C. Hewitt
One of the most important steps you need to take when editing any document is to read it out loud. Staring at text on the screen or on paper and looking for errors is important, but there are some problems that can only be solved by reading the words out loud. This is especially true when editing creative work.
Story elements such as dialog and narration are meant to give someone a voice. If you have given someone a voice, the next logical step is to listen to that voice. Dialog, in particular, can look good on the page but fall flat when read out loud. That is because the pattern and rhythm of speech is different from that of writing. You need to make sure that whatever you write passes both visual and verbal scrutiny.
The obvious way to read a story out loud is to start at the beginning and work your way to the end. Dialog, however, should also be read in groups. Make sure that the way a character speaks is consistent across the story. Ask yourself if the speech sounds real, and if the speech sounds as if it all comes from the same character. Beyond that, you should also look for differences between characters. Are the characters’ vocal styles distinct? Not everyone speaks in the same way, and these differences should be manipulated (subtly) in your writing so that characters can stand out from one another.
Don’t limit reading out loud to just creative work though. You may be surprised at how often your tongue trips over sentences that look grammatically correct. When you can smoothly read your entire article out loud, you can begin to feel good about what you have written. You can be satisfied that it at least sounds good.
I have primarily been an actor but I do have experience in writing
and directing. The “read through” is the 1st step of production after
casting. Obviously, in casting, the director must heavily weigh an
actor’s intonation, dialog, ect. On the stage you can see facial
expressions and many times the face is not supposed to match the
dialog. Since the writer’s audiance does not have the ability to
“see”, the writer must be able to convey the same thing through
words. I think your suggestion of reading out loud is brilliant
in it’s significance and simplicity. Excellent.
Great advice! I have a television background, so it never occured to me NOT to read (especially dialogue) out loud. My books are Civil War novels and I do a great deal of research and I went to hear David Herbert Donald (foremost Lincoln expert) speak at the Carter Center one night and he — writing
nonfiction — does the same thing. Reviewers have complimented me on my dialogue skills. It’s not as easy as it might seem and bad dialogue can ruin an otherwise good book.
Another problem is TOO MUCH dialogue. Professional editors HATE dialogue because so many people use it as a crutch. Minimize it — and read it out loud. Editors will love you for it!
Even as editors, we follow this strategy for all types of documents. Not only does this help us to hear the flow and clarity of the language for editing purposes, it also helps in the proofreading process because it forces us to concentrate on every word and punctuation mark.
Thanks for providing this great tip.