Why you should ALWAYS read your story aloud before publishing here. Or anywhere.
In college I got in the habit of reading every paper I wrote aloud. I caught grammatical mistakes, way more than an English major should cop to. When I began at the student newspaper, I muttered each piece to myself before filing it to my editor. I read aloud from any book I loved, too, so I might better hear the rhythms of beautiful sentences. At my first job, at an alt-weekly in Phoenix, I read each of my features aloud before filing. I kept up the practice when I moved to Dallas, where I worked at one magazine, and then again in Boston, where I worked at another.
When I made my way to Connecticut and ESPN the Magazine I thought I need not carry on such childish pursuits. I quit reading stories aloud.
A pro’s pro doesn’t do that, I thought.
It was only before the publication of my first book, wondering if my voice remained consistent across chapters, that I started to read aloud again. I was shocked at how much I caught. Unnecessary words, poorly paced sentences or, worse, preening and self-satisfied ones: Reading The Saboteur aloud saved my ass. And this was after I’d silently read the whole book — I don’t know — five times, maybe.
