How to improve your stories

[SheWaits4it]

As an avid reader of the stories on Literotica and a former English teacher who can slaughter the language with the best of you, I would like to give you a suggestion that can easily improve your stories.

After you think your story is ready for proofreading and before you let a proofreader read it, take your story, look at the wall, and read it ALOUD. You must read it aloud so that your ears can hear what you fingers and mind wrote. You will be able to discover many simple fixes on your own.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

 

[SyleusSnow]

Yes indeedy. Best done in private, though. I get stares when I do that on the bus.

Alternatively, use text-to-speech like the one in MS Word or tools like Balabolka. Amazing how many errors you can catch by listening. Also helps weed out crappy wording.

 

[SheWaits4it]

Yes indeedy. Best done in private, though. I get stares when I do that on the bus.

Alternatively, use text-to-speech like the one in MS Word or tools like Balabolka. Amazing how many errors you can catch by listening. Also helps weed out crappy wording.

Yes, but you can silently make you mouth move on the bus. If words came out you might have more than is allowed on the bus!

 

[Duil2]

Yes, as a volunteer editor on the site that would be my advice also.

 

[TheLobster]

take your story, look at the wall, and read it ALOUD

And if the story is good, your neighbors will urge you to keep going!

 

[Venefica]

I did not read loud but really read it almost orally. Yes, you will instantly notice weird connections etc. It is a very good hind.

 

[SheWaits4it]

And if the story is good, your neighbors will urge you to keep going!

And maybe come over to help

 

[TheLobster]

And maybe come over to help

Which could be material for another story!

 

[UtilityCurve]

As an avid reader of the stories on Literotica and a former English teacher who can slaughter the language with the best of you, I would like to give you a suggestion that can easily improve your stories.

After you think your story is ready for proofreading and before you let a proofreader read it, take your story, look at the wall, and read it ALOUD. You must read it aloud so that your ears can hear what you fingers and mind wrote. You will be able to discover many simple fixes on your own.

I told this to my favorite HS English teacher when he asked me about my thoughts as a learning writer. I have said it to anyone who will listen for decades and my college-age daughter since she was in the third grade.

All language had its first home in the ear. Stone tablets, papyrus, parchment, 20lb stock 96 brightness and ASCII came quite a bit later. What doesn't sound right never reads right.

 

[TheLobster]

All language had its first home in the ear.

Arguably it could’ve been the mouth, although to determine that is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.

 

[MaelieDawn]

even without reading it out loud (which is a good idea!), i often see plenty of things i can change/write better if i go back to proofread. sometimes i even wonder how i managed to phrase something like that, when it’s a better way

 

[TheWritingGroup]

There has been speculation that human language was mostly gestural before it became vocal. Since language before writing doesn't fossilize, it's hard to be sure.

 

[Duil2]

I told this to my favorite HS English teacher when he asked me about my thoughts as a learning writer. I have said it to anyone who will listen for decades and my college-age daughter since she was in the third grade.

All language had its first home in the ear. Stone tablets, papyrus, parchment, 20lb stock 96 brightness and ASCII came quite a bit later. What doesn't sound right never reads right.

Judging by the cave paintings found and their estimated age my guess would be that verbal and 'written' communication grew up together. After all you can generally find a stick and some loose dirt on which you can express what you want to communicate in whatever form works at the time. It's also easier to reproduce what you can see in picture form, I would have thought. But really, who knows?