Read Your Writing Out Loud to Get a Good Idea of How It Flows

Thursday, January 14 2010 -

I've been reading Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) then Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) and now Brisingr Deluxe Edition (Inheritance) to my son. One of the major complaints I have with these books is with the place names. They are literally impossible to speak aloud: Ellesmera, Galbatorix, Alagaesia just to name a few.

My wife had a few of her high school students read a couple of paragraphs and they faired no better than I. It’s funny because depending on who is reading the book the names change considerably.

My son, however, loves these books. He can read them, and does when I refuse, but he really enjoys having me read to him. Nothing brings out the halting flow of prose like reading it out loud.

I’m at 102k words in my latest novel, just a few thousand short of the conclusion. As such, I’ve been thinking a lot about the flaws that annoyed me so much in these books (and others as well) and wondering how I can prevent or at least minimize them in my own work. One method, I’m going to try, is to read it out loud. Probably not to my son, but to myself just to see how poorly I’ve named things.