The Read-Aloud Pass

When do we decide that we are ready to publish something? Most of the time, that moment is dictated by a deadline. The limitation of time and resources helps us find an endpoint, for better or for worse. (Fortunately, in my opinion, it’s often for the better!)

I’m not talking about just saying something is done—and never looking at it again. That’s one way of sending something out the door, but not a very satisfying way to do it. I’m talking about when you finish something and still are proud to look back at your work. 

Not that it’s ever perfect. I think writers and artists can agree on that. 

Fortunately, for me at least, not achieving perfection is totally alright. It’s about feeling good about the effort. Did I do what I could in the time? Can I learn from it for next time? Was it challenging in just the right way?

Maybe it’s corny—but it sort of works for me. I can sleep at night away, even if typos still creep in or I notice some pacing that doesn’t feel exactly right. That could just be my specific type of weird creative brain that lets me move on with life, but I’m alright with that.

Back to the question we started with, though, right? When do I know that the thing I want to publish is ready?

For The Writer’s Cat, a web serial I’m working on, it’s when I complete the “read-aloud” pass.

I made up that name. And it’s exactly what it sounds like. At some point, when I’ve edited things the traditional way, it’s time to try to wrap things up. And that’s where I’ve found solace in reading my work aloud as though to an audience. It reveals things about my work that I usually haven’t seen yet. It puts the narrative and the language I’ve used to a real-world test.

I try my best to work on the words in my story as best as I can—but having been in the publishing field for a while, working on your own can get you only so far. Really it should go through multiple people and passes for maximum polish. One thing you can do, even on your own, is shift your perspective and look at your writing from different angles. It’s a great way to break up the patterns you fall into as a creator, writer, artist, etc.

I stumbled upon this technique by accident really, but I’m glad I did. When start read my work aloud, especially when I’m in a rush, I always find things that I want to change right away. They’re usually smaller edits—but help me to capture my own voice. It’s simple and effective.

Pro tip: You don’t need to read your story to anyone. You can just talk to yourself. It’s fine.

So, the “read-aloud” pass. There might still be some copyedits to do after that, but I think it really is a satisfying way to finalize that thing you need to get out the door.

And that’s it! See you next week, reader, with another blog post.

And it’s almost Halloween

I don’t know how things changed so much! As a kid, planning for what I’d wear for Halloween was pretty exciting. And there was always plenty of time. Too much, even. I had weeks to anticipate the big day of playing pretend and walking around the neighborhood.

But now? It takes planning. Possibly ordering something.

It’s October here in the United States (and all over), which means that it’s time to think of that pesky Halloween costume. It feels far more like a chore than it did as a child, right? It was a family affair for me back in the day, of course. It was a nice little activity then and not much work for a younger me. As a child, it was a great creative outlet and there were so many characters to choose from. The good old days. 

Later on in life, I like to think of it as a challenge: Can I figure out something interesting yet simple to put together? What can I use from my closet? Is there even enough in there to choose from? Are people going to be able to recognize my costume?

It’s okay. I’m sort of on it this year.

Since I’ve had to navigate this whole lead-up before, I know that the couple of weeks before an office party, or anything like that, goes by quickly. I could just throw something together last minute, but I don’t think I have enough resources to make that any good.

So, the planning has begun! It’ll be a cat-related character since I’m busy with The Writer’s Cat anyway. I basically picked the first idea I had and just ran with it—which means I should be able to participate in festivities just fine this year. Whew.

How about you, reader? Do you need to start thinking about what you’ll be this Halloween?

The Tortoise and the Hare

Have you heard of the fable about a tortoise and a hare? Let me recap it for you.

Two animals decide to race for some reason. And they aren’t doing a hundred-meter sprint. Apparently, they are both fans of long distances. When I hear the story it always feels like they ran a marathon or at least a 10K, although the fable doesn’t specify the length of the race.

But no matter how long the race is, here’s how the story ends: The tortoise wins.

That’s an odd way to summarize the fable, for anyone who is familiar with it.  The story is basically about the hare—not about the tortoise. The hare gets out to such an early lead that he has all sorts of sojourns and adventures along the way. What the listener or reader hears about is the hare getting up to all sorts of fun. Occasionally, there is a very unexciting update about how the tortoise is just plodding along, trying to catch up. It’s the same update every time.

Basically, the tortoise only wins because the hare gets all tuckered out from having so much fun that he falls asleep. He naps for so long that the tortoise has crossed the finish line by the time he catches up, something like that.

What’s the point?

Well, as someone who identifies with the tortoise most of the time, it was pretty funny to have someone else remind me that the tortoise is the winner. Because it doesn’t look like it for the large majority of the story.

I thought about this weird dissonance, how logically I knew that the tortoise won and yet he really doesn’t feel like a winner. I think the crowd does cheer him on after he wins, though, so that’s nice. Victory for the tortoise!

(Sidenote: I honestly think a modern retitling of this fable would be just The Hare. It’s his story. Even though he loses, I’m pretty sure everyone thinks he only lost on a technicality.)

With the launch of The Writer’s Cat under my belt, which took a while to get to, this just felt relevant. I don’t know if I have a point, actually. Maybe to celebrate the wins, because otherwise it’s so easy to lose sight of them.

Also…

It’s fun to retell a well-known fable, fairytale, or legend. Trust me, lots of writers do it.

Later, reader!

Just publish it

Time flies when you have a deadline. Other times, it creeps by in the most frustrating and slowest way possible. Even when I had only one day left before my big deadline (completely self-imposed), I felt both extremes of the effect you get from that looming deadline.

Fortunately, I don’t report to anyone for this deadline, it wasn’t too stressful and I got to feel some excitement about it too. I mean, I guess I report to you, reader, internet person, what-have-you, but you seem pretty chill. It’s basically just free reading coming your way, so I’m sure you’re excited about this new content too.

And now it’s here!

But what is it? What am I publishing? Is it even good?

I can answer the first two questions, which are basically the same anyway. But the last one is for you to figure out all on your own. Anyway, today, Monday, September 29, marks the official release date of my web serial/web novel The Writer’s Cat. If you’re looking for a serious, dramatic read, then this isn’t it. Instead, I am sending out into the world a light, sitcom-like web novel about a cat.

The cat is named Dot, and she lives with a writer named PJ. Together they make the great writing duo that is PJ & Dot. There is a long, drawn-out writerly battle against deadlines and unforeseen circumstances. There is even a fantastical world the cat dreams up when she’s bored. But mostly it’s about the writing stuff.

Did I write and edit nonstop before publishing this thing?

No, definitely not. I wrote and edited, sure. But a lot of my time over the last couple of weeks has been spent figuring out how to get this story out to you and any other readers in the world: What is Substack? How does social media work? Is there an ideal structure for a web serial novel like mine?

Regardless, I made it. Dot made it. PJ made it. We’re all here.

If you, reader, are interested in seeing what the world of PJ and Dot is like yourself—AKA the world of The Writer’s Cat—then there are a couple of ways to check it out. If you just want to bookmark my website www.josephapauwrites.com, you can find everything you need there on The Writer’s Cat homepage. I will post full chapters at the end of every week.

But the exciting way to follow along is via The Writer’s Cat Substack newsletter. I am publishing Dot’s story in little pieces on a daily basis, Monday through Saturday, as I build up to a full chapter at the end of each week. (You can also subscribe to the weekly Chapter Digest if you want the full chapters sent to your inbox instead.) The full story of The Writer’s Cat will run for about six months! I have no idea how this experiment will turn out, but it should be interesting.

Until next time, reader.

The value of a good walk

The third blog post. This is where it really gets good. Otherwise, you’ll probably just leave and never come back. (I’m joking. I’m sure you would never do that, reader.) I was thinking about what to bend your ear about this week on a walk I took one day. And how did it go?

I thought and I walked. I walked and I thought.

And really, I didn’t feel super inspired since I had such a busy week. The walk was nice, though.

On a busy week, have you ever just needed a nice break that got you moving? Maybe you wanted to feel like the world wasn’t so focused on one thing and you needed to stop and smell whatever was out there on the sidewalk—hopefully roses or something nice. I myself get to see a stoplight, a corporate-owned coffee shop, and some houses. On a bad day, and in one particular stretch of a neighborhood across the way, I’ll be dodging a maze of evidence that dogs do in fact live nearby.

I usually take a walk on my lunch break since otherwise I would be shirking my work. And really, these walks are great! I can think about my blog and get some vitamin D. Since I’m working from home most days, I can enjoy the outside world for a solid forty minutes without any of the crowds downtown. If I’m feeling like a pick-me-up, I can grab something from the grocery store at the end, because everyone knows that a treat at the end of the walk makes it that much better. 

I’m getting off track, I guess. Where was I?

Right.

I was walking and taking in the sights. I was thinking about what to write for you all, and happy to see a little sun. I was sure I’d figure something out by the end of it.

Wait, hey! Look at that.

Walks are pretty great.