Five Reasons You Should Read Your Writing Out Loud

Use your ears to hear your stories.

Photo by kyle smith on Unsplash

Part of my background is in broadcasting, so reading out loud and speaking to people electronically or in person is in my wheelhouse. But most writers do not think of their words in this way—words to be heard. To them they are only words to be read, usually silently.

If you write, it is to your advantage that you read your work aloud. Let’s hear what you have to say. Here are five reasons why this process can benefit your writing.

1. You will catch awkward or unnecessary phrases. When we write, we write in silence, meaning we figure out the words in our head and then simply type them. And when you do this, you tend to create unnecessary phrases and sentences, description that is filler, fluff. If we read the work out loud that “fluff” jumps out at us. It will reveal what needs to be cut.
2. You find the music in your words. When people say, “that writer writes so beautifully,” they usually means he/she writes like a poet, a lyricist, and the words flow like the most magnificent of songs. And how do we know we like a particularly song? We hear it. It’s not enough to see the notes on a staff; we must experience the melody aurally. Words on a page are no different. Reading out loud will let you know immediately if you are one of the “beautiful writers” or…