I was intrigued when I read an article in the March 2017 RWR (Romance Writer's Report) by Patricia Watters, entitled Speak: A New Way To Edit.
I cut the article out of the magazine then put in my towering to-read pile. I finally got to it in the waning months of summer 2018.
Why had I waited? Aarrrgghhh. ðŸ˜x100
As writers, we've been told to read our own work out loud to find mistakes, clumsy wording and left out words. But I know from my own experience as well as talking to other writers, that we instinctively add those missing words, and add inflections when the prose isn't creating the emotions for us that we assumed were there. We even rewrite verbally ourselves if it's clumsy, yet often the correction doesn't make it to the page.
Worst of all, I HATE READING OUT LOUD. It's embarrassing and boring.
But now a great tool in MS Word Office 365, Read Aloud, has made this completely workable. It's a gem of a find.
You can hear your rhythm; languid words, staccato beats, and sentence fragments. While the narrators, David, Zira, and Mark, sound like fairly real people, even adding a touch of inflection, they are...well still AI. Yet the program is good enough to allow you to listen without thinking it's a robot reading.
What they read is exactly what you've written, the good, bad and ugly. And truly, isn't that what we want. The best product we can produce.
And as an additional perk, now that I'm just starting to delve into the audiobook world, is that I've found listening to my work is very revealing...finding those sentences that are awkward, even if they didn't read that way on the page!
Please try Read Aloud and tell me what you think. I'm sorry I waited so long to try this. Don't make the same mistake 😊
To help you find this in Word, I've taken some screenshots of its location in Windows 10, Word 365. You can click on the image for a magnified view.
I'll also have it on my website in an infographic under My Writing Toolbox.
Thanks for the valuable info, LA. This is a keeper. Cheers
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marilyn.
Delete~L
Thanks Leslie! I love how you explore the latest and newest tools that technology offers writers. I might add that Word 365 requires a subscription for a fee. Wanna-be writers like me are overwhelmed with all the writing industry offers for a fee. Editors. Online courses. Web designers. It's hard to determine what to sink your money into when you aren't published.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had a lengthy reply and it's gone. So I'll shorten it. Gretchen, yes it's a matter of choosing what is the most important tools in your writer's tool belt. Frankly, I have a few, Word 365 is one, as is Adobe Cloud photography Photoshop subscription. Paying for a good editor is also not a choice. So I have to cut back on other things.
DeleteAnd thank you for noticing that I try and bring you new tools and their uses. At least you all know they're there and then can pick and choose.
I do miss seeing you at our writer's meetings. I hope your award-winning mms is finding a home.
Hugs, L.A.
Sounds great, Leslie, but there is no read aloud button on my version on word :( I guess I'll have to stick to reading it aloud myself.
ReplyDeleteJill, yes, this is for MS Office 365, and I assumed it was a Win 10 upgrade feature not strictly a MS Office as you can adjust the setting in Windows, not just Word. Check your setting (look under speech) and see if it's something you can turn on.
Delete~Hugs,
L.A.
What about having it work on a Mac?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leslie Ann, for your guidance with new tools to help us writers. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Will have to do the same as Jill and try to adjust the setting in Windows, that is if I can figure out how to do it. You know me and technology--we don't get along so well--LOL!!!
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