Once you write something, try reading it out loud. It might change the way you write.
I worked with audiobooks for a number of years and few things were more interesting than how something sounded when read aloud by the audiobook performer, whether it was the author or a professional voice talent.
There were times, when an author read their own material for the recording, they actually stopped after reading a section and realized it made no sense, or at least was awkwardly constructed for the purpose of listening versus reading silently.
As I write these blogs, I will read it out loud after each draft, coming up with frequent edits making the text move quickly (at least it’s the plan!).
Many proofreaders will read out loud, finding it makes proofing more accurate.
When you read silently, more than likely you will skip words, like most readers, and miss those things which might create friction to understanding, or miss complicated combinations of words which slow down reading and comprehension.
Another element to this would be the issue of “voice” which if you don’t actually speak the words you write, might change. Often, a writer will speak in one voice and write in another, which is neither good or bad for fiction, but when writing non-fiction, if too much difference exists between your written and speaking voices, you will have trouble connecting easily in a public presentation of your work.
In addition, if your voice changes again in social media versus your written or spoken work, you will also confuse your audience. For instance, if you write with great depth of content and speak very articulately, using social media to tell funny stories or jokes or use words which could never be described as deep and articulate would cause a disconnect with your audience and break down your platform growth.
As an aside, regarding audiobooks, there is tremendous opportunity to expand your audience with a good audiobook. But I would caution any author not to read the audiobook yourself, instead, let a professional do it.
Unless you are quite unique in your abilities, you will do a less-than-stellar job narrating your own audiobook. It will take twice as long, cost more money, and more than likely be less listenable than if you had an experienced narrator do it.
Most authors do not do a good job reading their own audiobooks. It is a specialized talent done best by people who developed their ability to communicate verbally over many years of practice and performance.
Unless you are unique, don’t try this yourself at home.
Back to simply reading your writing aloud in the process of writing.
My suggestion is to do it only when you are in the latter stages of writing when you are attempting to smooth the flow, final self-editing, and preparing to show it to someone else for critique.
I suppose a major test could be to have someone else read it aloud to you, then you can actually hear what it sounds like.
It’s a simple technique to help you write a little better.
But you still have to know the proper use of colons and semicolons. Reading aloud doesn’t help at all with proper punctuation!
