Quick Tip Tuesday: Read Your Work Out Loud
My final self-editing move is to read my book out loud. Gregg and I take turns, chapter-by-chapter – one person reading and the other with the open laptop making corrections.
Here’s why: You use a different part of your brain when you read out loud and hear the words versus when you read them on a screen.
You’ll hear a repetitive word even if you don’t “see” it when reading. You’ll realize she might have picked up the book twice when you’re hearing it versus reading it.
Your brain will also insert words it knows should be there when you’re reading silently. A missed “the” or a missing comma are not apparent; however, if you read it out loud, your brain doesn’t play those tricks with you.
If you don’t have a reading partner like me, having your computer read back to you will work as well. Most word processing programs have plugins you can add to listen to what you’ve written. If yours does not, you can turn it into a ebook and use an e-reader to read it to you as well.
With nearly a million sales, Hallee Bridgeman is aUSA TODAY best-selling and award-winning Christian author who writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real-world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the American Christian Writers (ACW), and Novelists, Inc. (NINC). An accomplished speaker, Hallee has taught and inspired writers around the globe, from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, to Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., and all places in between. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.