Writing tip of the day

A popular nugget of writing advice suggests that you read your story out loud after finishing it. Hearing it being read helps to identity repetition, awkward phrasing and misspelled words that might be skimmed over while reading quietly.

While I agree that this is a good practice, I sometimes find it difficult to listen to the flow of the piece when I am reading it out loud. I get caught up on how to read it and often get no value of whether it reads well or not.

To help overcome this I have found recording reading it aloud and playing it back a big help. I like to listen to it with my eyes closed, as if it were written by someone else. I find this a great help in identifying pace problems, plot inconsistencies, stilted language and also if the story holds up or not. I find it helpful to listen to it again and again, when sometimes repeat readings can make the words meaningless before my eyes.

Have you ever tried recording your story and listening back to it? Did you find it helped?

Writing Tip of the Day

This tip I learned from the writer M.M Kaye and I find it very useful.

When you finish your writing session for the day, always finish mid sentence. That way, when you resume writing the next day you will either remember where you left off or set your creative juices flowing to finish the sentence you left hanging.

It is much more inspiring than looking at a blank page or a neatly tied up paragraph and helps you know where to go next.