Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading-out-loud-in-editing"
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.
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!
