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.