Does anyone else do this?

[TheOtherTeacher]

When I'm getting ready to continue writing a story, I use a text to speech website to read me back what I've already done. Sometimes I only read back what I wrote last session. Other times I get it to read the entire text, from start to current finish.

Anyone else do something similar?

 

[lovecraft68]

I do it "old school" I'll read what I wrote to my wife. I catch some mistakes that way, and get a better feel for how it flows, and at times also get the "Jeez, what was I thinking here" and I'll change things before I move on. My wife's great for feedback as well. An eye roll or a sigh is the "Really?" a little smile and lipsuck tells me its working. That and questions like "wait, why would they say/do that?" its far more of a help than a program.

 

[TheLobster]

I normally just read & edit what I wrote last. I tend to leave quite a few continuity break markers throughout the text so it’s always pretty easy to find a self-contained chunk that eases me back into the flow.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I tried that and found it unsatisfactory. It gave me no sense of the rhythm or flow of what I had written.

 

[karina_jayde]

It's another tool in my proofreading toolbox. It helps me to catch word choice errors and clunky sentences, but it's not the only thing I rely on.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I've tried in the past, and it can help, but I find text-to-speech tools don't catch the nuance or rhythm of language quite like a real person. Unlike some people here, I can't share what I'm writing out loud to another person either. Not during the writing process, at least (I might go over passages aloud with my editor later).

So I just read it in my head. Sometimes if I'm feeling bold I'll read it out loud, but only to myself.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yes. It's my last step in my proofreading.

 

[KeithD]

I don't do any of that anymore, although I think it's all a good idea to do it. I used to read the stories aloud to myself, but I confess I don't do any of that anymore either.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Does anyone else do this?​

This has probably been the single greatest contributory factor in the reduction of glaring typos in my stories. I do it all the time. I agree you get something else from reading it yourself, but a useful and complementary tool.

Emily

 

[visioneer]

What Emily said. Text-to-speech is invaluable in catching typos, awkward phrasing, etc. Plus, to a limited extent it takes you out of author mode and puts you into reader mode, which gives a sense of how the story will sound to your audience.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm doing it right now in preparation for submitting a story.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I hate being read to, and even more so by a computer. So never. I hear it in my head when I read through anyway.

Once to write, another to edit and put the punctuation in, re-read sections and the whole thing ideally a couple weeks later, then edit formatting on my desktop in a different font, which means I end up reading random sections, a spell check, and then paste it into the Lit page and preview it (nearly made a mistake in the title when I submitted one yesterday!) Seems to work well enough. When I'm not sure about a structure, I try to get a beta reader to take a look.

 

[RejectReality]

It's my final step of proofreading before sending it off for a second set of eyes to look over, but I never do it mid-draft. I'll read back through what I've written mid-draft sometimes, but I don't put it through TTS except at the end.

It's enough of a struggle to find time when the house is quiet to do it once.

 

[OffNSFW]

Reading your own stories aloud, just to yourself, is by far the best way to catch problems of clarity and flow. If you stumble over a sentence while reading aloud, your reader will probably stumble over it in their head.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I did it once or twice out of curiosity, but that was it.