Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading-out-loud"
Being Read To
I was thinking about this for my post on my From Light to Dark and Back Again book page on Facebook tonight.
The reason the topic came up is because I'm looking forward to reading a couple of my 100-word stories from the book at the upcoming Bridge House/Cafelit/Chapeltown event in London in December. But I'm also looking forward to being read to by the other writers taking part then. I've always loved being read to from a very young age.
A good narrative voice can add so much enjoyment to a story. I love the audiobook versions of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (the ones read by Tony Robinson) and we often have those on when on a long car journey. Makes the time just fly. You can hear the characters literally being given their own voice.
I find reading my own work out loud is a fantastic way of showing up where my dialogue is not quite so easy to read as I thought it was! If I trip over it, any reader would so out comes the old editing pen. I don't know what it is about the spoken word showing up faults in the word as it is written, but it does do so and I find reading out loud a vital part of my editing.
The reason the topic came up is because I'm looking forward to reading a couple of my 100-word stories from the book at the upcoming Bridge House/Cafelit/Chapeltown event in London in December. But I'm also looking forward to being read to by the other writers taking part then. I've always loved being read to from a very young age.
A good narrative voice can add so much enjoyment to a story. I love the audiobook versions of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (the ones read by Tony Robinson) and we often have those on when on a long car journey. Makes the time just fly. You can hear the characters literally being given their own voice.
I find reading my own work out loud is a fantastic way of showing up where my dialogue is not quite so easy to read as I thought it was! If I trip over it, any reader would so out comes the old editing pen. I don't know what it is about the spoken word showing up faults in the word as it is written, but it does do so and I find reading out loud a vital part of my editing.
Appreciating Books
I was at the Winchester Discovery Centre on 25th November as one member of a group of local writers invited to take part in the Centre's 10th-anniversary celebrations. I used to work in Winchester and passed the Centre countless times but had never been in there before. It is a stunning building and the library is beautifully laid out.
I'll be writing more about today's event for my Chandler's Ford Today post this week but I wanted to say now how good it was there were so many people in the Centre and that books are appreciated. Sometimes I've had the impression books can be sidelined. There ARE other forms of entertainment after all but to my mind you can't beat curling up with a good book, whether that is in book, audio or electronic format.
It was good to talk to people about what flash fiction is and, better still, read a couple of examples out from From Light to Dark and Back Again. Loveliest comment of the day was from someone who relished my reading to her as an adult! Perhaps we "grown ups" need to be read to much more often!
I'll be writing more about today's event for my Chandler's Ford Today post this week but I wanted to say now how good it was there were so many people in the Centre and that books are appreciated. Sometimes I've had the impression books can be sidelined. There ARE other forms of entertainment after all but to my mind you can't beat curling up with a good book, whether that is in book, audio or electronic format.
It was good to talk to people about what flash fiction is and, better still, read a couple of examples out from From Light to Dark and Back Again. Loveliest comment of the day was from someone who relished my reading to her as an adult! Perhaps we "grown ups" need to be read to much more often!
Getting Out and About as a Writer
I had the great joy of being at the Bridge House Publishing/Cafelit/Chapeltown Books and Red Telephone celebration event in London on 2nd December.
I'm published by Chapeltown for From Light to Dark and Back Again of course but am also on Cafelit (a lot of my flash fiction starts life there!) and have been in Baubles and Alternative Renditions, the Bridge House anthologies.
It was fabulous getting to meet fellow authors once again. I read some pieces from From Light to Dark and Back Again, which was great. (It is ALWAYS nice to know you have a sympathetic audience!).
I thoroughly enjoyed the other stories that were read out and thought the standard very high. I was at an event in Winchester the week before where I read some of my flash fiction out and one lovely comment was a lady who really enjoyed being read to as an adult.
There is something special about it because you are either reading to your children (which is also a fabulous thing to do and hopefully encourages a lifelong love for books in them) or you are reading your work out for editing purposes. To be read to for sheer entertainment is bliss and audiobooks are wonderful for this.
So read and be read to! Enjoy!
And I am already looking forward to next year's Bridge House event!
I'm published by Chapeltown for From Light to Dark and Back Again of course but am also on Cafelit (a lot of my flash fiction starts life there!) and have been in Baubles and Alternative Renditions, the Bridge House anthologies.
It was fabulous getting to meet fellow authors once again. I read some pieces from From Light to Dark and Back Again, which was great. (It is ALWAYS nice to know you have a sympathetic audience!).
I thoroughly enjoyed the other stories that were read out and thought the standard very high. I was at an event in Winchester the week before where I read some of my flash fiction out and one lovely comment was a lady who really enjoyed being read to as an adult.
There is something special about it because you are either reading to your children (which is also a fabulous thing to do and hopefully encourages a lifelong love for books in them) or you are reading your work out for editing purposes. To be read to for sheer entertainment is bliss and audiobooks are wonderful for this.
So read and be read to! Enjoy!
And I am already looking forward to next year's Bridge House event!
Reading Out Loud
Do you ever read stories out loud when you are on your own? (I accept if you do this on the Tube, the bus, or what have you, you WILL get some funny looks, so probably best not go there! If you're driving, stick to audio books for your sake and everyone else's!).
I'm thinking of those times when you're curled up at home with a cup or glass of something nice and have got a lovely book on the go.
I'm also not talking about reading to children (though this is one of the best things you can ever do as a parent. I cherish my love of books and stories, thanks to my mother doing this for me when I was a child. It was a great joy to share the joy of this with my son as he was growing up. Guess what, he loves books, though in totally different areas to me, which is fab.).
I sometimes read my own work out loud, record it, and play it back on something like Audacity to hear how my dialogue sounds. Does it sound natural? Am I tripping over something etc?
But why not read out loud with books you are reading for pleasure when you're on your own? Why? I think you pick up nuances as you hear how the prose sounds. I think it can give you a deeper appreciation of how well the words have been put together. And there is something about reading out loud that calls to mind where we get our storytelling from - the oral tradition - so very much a case of revisiting our roots here.
I'm thinking of those times when you're curled up at home with a cup or glass of something nice and have got a lovely book on the go.
I'm also not talking about reading to children (though this is one of the best things you can ever do as a parent. I cherish my love of books and stories, thanks to my mother doing this for me when I was a child. It was a great joy to share the joy of this with my son as he was growing up. Guess what, he loves books, though in totally different areas to me, which is fab.).
I sometimes read my own work out loud, record it, and play it back on something like Audacity to hear how my dialogue sounds. Does it sound natural? Am I tripping over something etc?
But why not read out loud with books you are reading for pleasure when you're on your own? Why? I think you pick up nuances as you hear how the prose sounds. I think it can give you a deeper appreciation of how well the words have been put together. And there is something about reading out loud that calls to mind where we get our storytelling from - the oral tradition - so very much a case of revisiting our roots here.
