Why You Should Read Your Writing Out Loud

I was talking to a friend of mine about how I hadn’t found a new writing group since moving. This friend is a screenwriter, and writes really compelling, socially conscious material. She told me that there is a group of students at our alma mater who read her work and provide feedback. They also read her work OUT LOUD, so that she is able to hear how the words will sound on-stage.

As you know from my “About Me” page, I am not a screenwriter. However, reading any written work -- fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc. -- aloud, can be beneficial to the author. There are three main advantages:

1.       Hear How Your Audience/Reader Will Receive Your Words

Hearing the words, as you’ve written them, allows you to hear how your audience will “receive” your work. In other words, you’ll know how it will sound to your audience if they’re reading out loud. This enables you to hear whether you’re effectively communicating what you meant to say. You’ll also hear how your work will sound inside the mind of your reader.

2.       Improve Your Dialogue

As an author, hearing passages of dialogue out loud, is extremely helpful! In fact, this might be the most important reason for you to read your work out loud. Hearing words that your characters are saying allows you to hear whether what you have written sounds authentic. Today, many casual conversations are filled with slang and on-trend phrases. This can be difficult to write. Listening to what you have written will make it easier for you to catch odd phrases and sentences. 

3.       Identify Unnecessary Words and Passages

When you listen to your writing, it will be easy to identify words and phrases that don’t belong. Perhaps you added them to take up more space, or maybe they seemed essential to conveying your message. If what you’ve written bores you or adds confusion when you hear it, delete it. Boring or confusing your readers will cause them to lose interest.

Pro-Tip: Record yourself reading your work. This will allow you to go back and really listen to how your words sound out loud so you can then make necessary edits. There are a ton of apps that allow you to record and save your files. You can also keep it simple and use your phone’s camera.