When I go into editing mode, I try to find ways to distance myself from my words. I search for methods that will allow me to assess my work-in-progress in an impartial way. One of my favorite tools for this is the text-to-speech function on my kindle. I find it useful for different stages of editing.
Some of the issues it helps me to catch are:
- Pacing – There may be certain spots I’ve read over and over again, causing my eyes to skim over the content. When the automated voice is reading for me, I can’t speed it up or slow it down. This highlights places that drag, as well as places that are missing an extra something.
- Stilted dialog – If the robotic voice is reading a character’s dialog and it sounds like a robot, I know it’s worth revisiting.
- Misplaced or missing words – When I’m proofreading a manuscript, I find the text-to-speech invaluable for finding these problems. An extra “the” or “a” in a weird spot, or a word that is absent from a sentence won’t get picked up by spellcheck.
I’ve heard of other people using a speech function in Microsoft Word for editing. I plan to try this out someday too. What about you? Do you have any editing tricks that may seem unusual or uncommon?
Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Jennifer!
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Cursed and disfigured, Calliope must find true love before the final leaf falls from the Enchanted Tree. Being bound to her mansion on the outskirts of town leaves her with little hope.
Abandoned by his wife for a wealthy man, Bastian only needs one female in his life, his five-year-old daughter, Yareena. When she goes missing during a raging fire, fate brings him to a strange place where he encounters a woman wearing a golden mask. An attack by rogues puts Bastian in Calliope’s care. As he struggles against pride and prejudice, Bastian can’t ignore his growing attraction to the kind soul behind the mask. Yareena and the mansion staff do their best at matchmaking, but Calliope can’t reveal her darkest secret. Will Bastian discover her true beauty before it’s too late? |
Melissa J. Crispin lives in Connecticut with her husband, two kids, and an adorable Siberian Husky. She spends her days in the corporate world, and pursues her passion for writing in the late nights and early mornings.
From micro-fiction to novels, Melissa loves to write stories in varying lengths. But, no matter the story, it’s almost always about the romance.
Facebook: Melissa J. Crispin – author Twitter: @MelissaJCrispin Instagram: @MelissaJCrispin Website:www.melissajcrispin.com
Jennifer M Eaton 
I downloaded a free program Natural Reader to do the same as at the time I was using scrivener and that only had the read back feature for Mac not Windows
Oh. I use Scrivener as well. I might have to check that out!