I've been writing stories and poems since I could hold a pen and form letters, so you'd think I'd have nailed it by now, wouldn't you?
I'm in my final year of a Masters in Writing with the Open University, and I have to submit my second piece of coursework in a few days. I decided, in a moment of inspired foolishness, to submit a chapter of my ongoing novel set in a Sixth Form college.
I have had a lot of feedback on this piece and it's been written and re-written so many times I could probably recite it verbatim - which actually is, I've discovered, exactly what I should have been doing! Thinking smugly that it was just about as perfect as I (and all the lovely MA students and friends who have read it and given me suggestions for how it could be improved) could make it, I read it aloud to my partner last night.
I was hoping it would be simply the final confirmation that it was ready to submit. He would nod, unable to speak through the tears of admiration welling up in his eyes, and eventually he would take command of himself and whisper 'Darling, it's a masterpiece, a triumph...and I love you more than ever!'.
Well, this didn't happen, and not only because he doesn't talk like Noel Coward.
What actually happened was that I discovered that my precious story, which I had thought was polished to a vibrant lustre, had numerous errors in it. Ok, they were fairly minor: words repeated too close together, moments where the narrator's distinctive colloquial voice faltered, places where I'd failed to remove words I'd intended to remove...But they were all things I should have noticed sooner.
Reading it out loud made these things stand out like spots of blood in the snow (which is appropriate as the piece is called 'Snow Day').
So, my advice is: ALWAYS READ YOUR WORK OUT LOUD. When you say the words aloud, your eyes aren't allowed to slip past words or misread them, your brain isn't able to fill in gaps in your reading with what should have been there but actually isn't. And if you're reading out loud to a conscientious listener, it is even better because they can hear any errors you miss.
And after you've done that, DO IT AGAIN - but a day or so later. I bet there are even more drops of blood glistening on the snow.
Happy writing!😀
Really great advice. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice. And for those who read what we thought we wrote, Grammarly helps too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, guys! It's really exciting to get comments!
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ReplyDeleteThis really made me laugh out loud. I did exactly the same thing today. Husband read it last night and pronounced it ready to be submitted. I read it to the adoring audience of my dining room table this morning and immediately made several (admittedly minor) changes, making it the 150th version of the story to be saved. (OK maybe I exaggerate 'slightly' but it FEELS like 150!)
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish my husband was more Noel Coward. Sadly, he is more Barney Rubble. (He doesn't really read books). So I just read it out loud to myself, which is not ideal but will have to do. I do, however, have a friend I send it to who is very helpful, and thank goodness for the forums whose advice has been incredibly helpful. I agree about Grammarly also the Flesch reading ease scale in Word, in the document checker is handy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise, always great advice.