5 Reasons to Read Your Draft Aloud

by Jemi Fraser

As a teacher, I'm pretty comfortable reading aloud. I know not everyone is, but I think there are some really valid reasons why you should read your story aloud to yourself. Not the first draft, but when you're nearing the end of the process, when you suspect the story is almost there.

Here are some of the benefits I've found from reading aloud my own stories - and the stories of others.

Read Aloud Benefit #1 -- Stilted Writing

• what may sound okay on paper, might reveal itself as stilted once you read it aloud
• of course there are different levels of formality in writing and in speech, but generally, we want our writing to sound accessible and comfortable
• if you feel even a little awkward reading a certain section, rethink it because your readers may feel just as awkward when they're reading it

Read Aloud Benefit #2 -- Sentence Structure

• as you read, you'll notice if your sentences aren't working
• sometimes, they're just too long -- you should be able to breathe easily as you read
• you'll also be able to hear if you've got a variety of sentence lengths. If many of your sentences match structure-wise, you'll probably find yourself sounding mildly robot-like. Mix it up!

Read Aloud Benefit #3 -- Dialogue

• dialogue should sound like people talking (obviously), so, if you've got a problem, reading aloud makes this one easy to spot. If you automatically change your words to their contraction form as you read, it's a good idea to do that with the written form too. Same with sentences, words, or phrases. If you say it differently from the actual text (good readers do this all the time because their eyes are tracking ahead), consider if what your brain substituted is actually a better choice
• when you're reading aloud, it's also easy to spot when you have too much dialogue with too few physical actions or reactions between. If you get confused as to who is saying what, your reader is going to be confused as well

Read Aloud Benefit #4 -- Humour

• humour is tough! I'm not talented in this area at all, but I've read aloud a lot of books by authors who are
• when you read aloud, you'll hear & feel the beat of the humourous sections, and it's easier to tell if it's working or falling flat
• you'll find there are better places for humour than others (in the sentence, in the paragraph, in the chapter)
• you'll hear what works directly after that beat of humour - sometimes the silence of a chapter ending is the perfect finish for the punch line

Read Aloud Benefit #5 -- Practice

• one day, you might be asked to read aloud some of your own work - at a book club, a book signing, on TV, or to a group of movie directors asking how you want to play out a scene (hey, if you're going to dream, dream big!). You want to be comfortable doing that. 
• as with anything else, reading aloud takes practice. I would NEVER ask a student to read aloud something they hadn't had a chance to rehearse and I'd suggest the same to you. The first time we do anything, we tend to not be very good at it. So, don't make an important read aloud your first time. I advise students to read aloud the section at LEAST ten times before they present. 
• the more you read your own work, the more natural your voice. You'll know when to pause, when to inflect, how to pace yourself. And you'll actually find yourself having fun!

Hope some of those help you decide to try this out! I've found it a very helpful and effective editing technique. Have you tried it before? Any tips or reasons to add?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs  and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

Revising with Scrivener!

by MarcyKate Connolly

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably caught on to the fact that I’m something of a Scrivenervangelist. I LOVE IT. It revolutionized my writing life in so many ways, but in particular, it streamlined and organized the way I revise.

So when I hear people on Twitter say things like, “Oh I love Scrivener for drafting, but I still revise in Word,” it Boggles. My. Mind.

And since I’ve been seeing this a lot lately, I thought I’d share with you lovely readers how I use Scrivener to revise.

When I get notes back from beta readers (or an editorial letter!), I divide them up into two buckets: Things Run Throughout the Book and Things That are Scene/Chapter Specific. (Lucky for me, my editor actually writes editorial letters like this, which is just one of many reasons why she’s awesome!) After reading them over, sleeping on them (not literally – you might get a paper cut!), and reading them again until they’re imprinted on my brain, I open up my Scrivener file.

Project Notes & Document Notes Feature

My favorite part of revising with Scrivener is the notes feature on the sidebar (on the right-hand side, under the Synopsis and General Meta-Data). You can toggle between Project Notes and Document Notes. 

Here’s why I love them:

Project Notes 

• Used to track larger scope edits such as themes or threads that run throughout and need to be beefed up. If you have the Notes toggled to "Project," they will show up regardless of what scene you are on in the manuscript. 
• Example: Good for when you need to add a character/theme, or add/remove a plot thread.

Document Notes

• Used for individual scrivenings (that’s the official name of the text files in Scrivener) and notes specific to each chapter or scene. If you have the Notes toggled to "Document," they will change depending on what scene you are viewing. 
• Example: I pasted the relevant notes from my edit letter for each chapter here

Why They Rock

• Insta-reminder of what needs fixing that is constantly in your line of vision
• Easy way to keep your revisions organized, so you don’t have to keep referring back to other documents. 
• Easy to implement color coding for specific themes and such if you're just doing a read-through to plot out revisions.

Split Screen Feature

But wait! There’s MOAR :) Another awesome tool is the split screen feature. This is located right above the ruler and next to the sidebar.
You can split between two scrivenings vertically or horizontally. It comes in handy for moving pieces from one scene to another, or keeping a particular scene in mind that impacts the one you’re currently revising. It’s also very good for those unfortunate times when you need to rewrite a scene from scratch but want to reference the original. And if you store research or inspiration in your Scrivener file too, it’s a great way to keep those things easily at hand for reference.

Status Selection

A neat way to keep track of where you are in revisions and what pieces need work, is to use the Status flags. These can be adjusted either under the General Meta-Data in the main drafting view or on the notecards view (right click on the Note card, scroll down to Status, and select the appropriate one). Scrivener comes with several default Statuses, but I like to add my own so I know where it is in the process. For example, I’ll label a scene I know needs work as "To Do," and the one I’ve gone over twice already as "Edited Draft." If I have to draft a new scene, I’ll flag it as "New Draft" so I know that while it’s complete, it will need some polishing.  And I must say, there’s great satisfaction to be had at changing a scene’s status to “Final Draft.”

And one last tip: you can keep a running “Cut Scenes” folder in your Scrivener Doc so all those little bits and bobs you love, but have to cut, are easily accessible in case you want to recycle them elsewhere.

While there are, I’m sure, about as many ways to use Scrivener to revise as there are people, these are things I personally find particularly useful.  Do you use Scrivener? If so, please share your tips in the comments!

MarcyKate Connolly writes middle grade and young adult fiction and becomes a superhero when sufficiently caffeinated. When earthbound, she blogs at her website and spends far too much time babbling on Twitter. Her debut upper MG fantasy novel, MONSTROUS, will be out from HarperCollins Children's Books in Winter 2015.