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Read-Aloud, Anyone?
In the days before Hurricane Sandy paid her violent visit last year, I sat down to perform a "final" read-through of my manuscript, prior to ensuring that it arrived safely in the hands of my Kickstarter supporters in time for Christmas. My husband suggested reading the whole thing aloud to him, and I happily agreed.
As I embarked on a more sonic journey through the writing -- after so long working with it on the page, or visually -- I found there was a plethora of issues to be grappled with! What began as a final pass very quickly became a detailed, agonizing, and deeply rewarding trek through my manuscript.
So what did I discover?
1. The "music" needed arranging: the rhythm, tonal quality, the where and when of repetition, how motifs were woven through (or not!) ... in placing the story in space and breath, the language moved for me in new ways, and this demanded a new form of editing/revision. I have Synesthesia (I might blog some other time on that!) so art (especially sound and language) for me tends to be fully dimensional. Hence as I read, the language had textures and colors, and that all had to be masterfully blended. As I read aloud, these elements at times clashed and bled into each other, often lacking artistic precision. The amazing thing was that I could not "see" or "hear" these jarring moments until the novel was spoken.
2. The character who mysteriously vanished after 30 pages. I am a firm believer in the idea that a story reveals itself to you, and so this sudden disappearance -- one that had been thus far remained undetected by two editors and an agent (let alone the author!) -- took hold, and showed me that there was another aspect of my story that now needed to be discovered, and told. In doing so, it meant I had to face a wound I realized I had been protecting my character from. I had no choice but to dive in and feel the pain for her, then write her through it. Ouch. Tears over that one. And again, until spoken, this aspect was hidden.
3. Developing the motivation for the journey. Three quarters of the way through, I looked at my dedicated listener, and we both knew that we no longer believed the major decision the protagonist had made to go on her solo journey. We believed her emotion, but not that her reason. So again it meant delving back into the story, overturning ideas like stones and searching for things I had left behind. I found them, and then rewrote major sections, as well as adding new ones. This meant layering my character with more pain, which was hard, but she had to face her world and feel the fulness of it. And for her to do that successfully, I of course needed to take her there myself.
3. Adjusting punctuation. Finding the right moments for breath, and making them relatable across two different writing cultures - Australia and the USA have different ideas and usages of commas, and to find a balance between them was like needing to utilize a form of bilingualism. It compelled me to reach deeply into each sentence and be true to the breath and expression in it, regardless of the pulls between two ways of punctuating. And understanding that on each continent would be a person unhappy at some point, but ... c'est la vie.
So, Hurricane Sandy hit, and for those of us in Jersey (as elsewhere), this was a hard time. Then there was another house move, brought on by health concerns in the place we had rented that were causing illness and inability to work. And the read-aloud continued. It continued in the respite of staying in an isolated Maine farmhouse while Christmas snow thickened the ground and iced the edge of the sea. It continued through unpacking boxes and hosting visitors, and times where I have had to feel through the trauma my characters have needed to embody.
The Edit is nearly finished -- way past my Christmas deadline, but we're on track for a March 1 release. And considering March 2 is the birthday of the one who suggested I start this whole read-aloud in the first place, it seems an auspicious date!
I never imagined that reading aloud would take me the places it has, but I would now never trek my stories any other way. But next time I will bring a first aid kit, a warm sleeping bag, and the means by which to light fires to ease the darkness and cold.
And chocolate.
Comment
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Comment by Catherine Evans Latta on March 4, 2013 at 2:12pm -
Reading aloud the MS, either poetry of fiction, is always a tough process. I usually leave it to the last moment, which should not be the case. I sent in a short story recently and read it aloud to myself (not the best audience for focus) and found many minor and some major issues in the 5,000 word MS. When I was hoarse, and there was a submission deadline, I said to myself "that's enough for now." Will the story make it -- I have no idea, but I'm prepared to look at it again if it comes back. I found that I often had a sense of something missing, but it could take a day or so or more to put a finger on just how to fix the problem.
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Comment by Niki Tulk on February 13, 2013 at 5:38am -
Thank you for your generous words. What is your main instrument? (curious!) I think it is interesting that we can utilize many different "pathways" as editors of our own, and others' work. It is a good thing to celebrate these, and share them with others ... there is no one road to bringing out the truth in our work, eh!
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Comment by V. Lynne Murray on February 12, 2013 at 11:13pm
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This is an outstanding article. I am a professional musician and so the music of the written word has always been in the forefront of all my work, especially of course, poetry, but also all the prose I have ever writen. As an editor I always read the manuscripts out loud and if they don't work, as you say, you can really hear it. And punctuation...yes, it must work as part of the music of the words. Thanks for eloquently sharing something that not everyone has thought about. Beautifully put.
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Comment by Jeanne Nicholas on February 11, 2013 at 11:25am -
I read mine out loud often to hear the pace and rhythm. I also find many typo's where I've left out a small word like 'as' or 'the'. When typing so fast I am writing what i think but don't necessarily catch everything in my typing (those damn fingers). I found reading out loud showed me many different aspects of plot weakness and punctuation errors as well. There is an old blog that I kind of laugh at http://wasteofwords.com/2011/01/31/read-your-crap-backwards-a-quick...
Just one of many good tips you find about editing your own work. Reading backwards is really great to find missing words.
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Comment by Marigold Kim Sing on February 9, 2013 at 5:57am -
My 93 year old mum, always an avid reader but now finding her eyesight a problem, has a friend come and read to her once a fortnight. she loves the way it becomes a shared exprience, quite different to reading to oneself. Perhaps some of us could offer this as a gift to our elders or those who have other difficulties in reading for themselves. It might be a good place to get used to the sound of hearing ones own voice if speaking was a way we wanted to go. Just opened up a bit of advice to myself there!
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Comment by PA Flaherty Pagan on February 8, 2013 at 11:25pm -
I often read aloud to myself (or my huband). I find it helpful to figure out when I want to pause thoughts vs. when I want to end them. It's very interesting that this method helped you make characterization changes. In writing groups or class, I prefer to have someone else read it aloud, though. Then I can hear what is really on the page and not just in my tone of voice. PS-I'm glad that it is common to read aloud at home; my house keeper thinks that it is weird when I do it :)
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Comment by Annis Cassells on February 8, 2013 at 7:30pm
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I've used the reading-aloud method myself and also have recommended it for my writing students. It works. Thanks for sharing the changes that doing so led you to make.
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Comment by Kerry Headley on February 8, 2013 at 6:08pm -
I always find things that need tweaking when I read aloud. It really reveals elements that need tending to. I am always trying to convince students to do this. It is shocking sometimes what huge holes become apparent when I read my work aloud.
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Comment by Niki Tulk on February 8, 2013 at 7:11am
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I hear you on the bravery aspect. I did my first public reading of excerpts from S & W for fellow MFA students in December, and it was terrifying! Thankfully they cheered heartily, which was a huge relief, but there certainly is a vulnerability in literally putting the words into space, and hearing their music with others. I am learning to enjoy the "false notes" as well as the true ones, though, and see them all as part of the creation process ...like,I keep remembering that it is all meant to be fun! ;-)
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Comment by Sue Barsby on February 8, 2013 at 3:48am -
I read the first part of my book aloud for the first time to my writing group a few weeks ago and saw as I was reading which bits needed changing. Luckily the feedback from the writing group confirmed the same thing. It's strange, the difference it makes, and yet you have to feel brave (or have an empty house) to actually read everything out loud. Isn't it strange though?
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