Comments on: Reading aloud

By: Suw

Suw — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:42:41 +0000

ACW, a ‘chine’ in the UK means deep gully formed by water. There’s a place on the Isle of Wight called Blackgang Chine. I suppose that must sound a bit strange to non-local ears! Supposedly it was named after a local smuggling gang. According to the dictionary on my Mac, ‘chine’ can also mean:

a backbone, esp. that of an animal as it appears in a cut of meat.
• a cut of meat containing all or part of this.
• a mountain ridge or arête.

to cut (meat) across or along the backbone.

the angle where the bottom of a boat or ship meets the side.

However, I had to look up alcoa. Not a word, but a company it seems!

Me, I’ve got another British placename – Denby, and a company/personal name, Nordheimer.

By: ACW

ACW — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:47:56 +0000

Reading aloud to my wife is one of the comfortable, pleasurable constants in our thirty-year relationship. I can’t even remember all the books I’ve read to her, from classics to trash. I should write about it on my own blog.

Present reading: Infinity’s Shore, second volume of an SF trilogy by David Brin.

Captcha: attain chine. What is chine? I’m doubtful enough about chine that I’m going to recaptcha. OK, “virginia alcoa” is better.

By: Suw

Suw — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:15:42 +0000

Publication used to be a grail for me and to some extent I suppose it still is in that I’d love to be published. But I’d rather be read and that’s a goal I know I can achieve, whereas being published is anyone’s guess.

Lots of people love Pullman. I got a lot of crap on Twitter for saying I thought his writing was awful. It’s mediocre at best. I have no idea how he has ended up getting so much adulation. Are we that starved of good fantasy in this country?

Amusingly, my reCaptcha this time is “court-ordered arizona” (all lower case). Is that the sequel to Raising Arizona?

By: Stormy (storming) 's status on Wednesday, 23-Sep-09 20:11:52 UTC - Identi.ca

Stormy (storming) 's status on Wednesday, 23-Sep-09 20:11:52 UTC - Identi.ca — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:08:18 +0000

[...] I enjoyed reading about Suw Charman-Anderson reads outloud. http://chocolateandvodka.com/2009/09/23/reading-aloud/ [...]

By: Kay Sexton

Kay Sexton — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:52:01 +0000

yeah, you’re right, but I always think in publication terms because it’s such a grail for so many. I love Pullman btw, although I’ve never tried reading him aloud. Did read many Pratchetts to the Rock God when he was small enough to be read to. I also read comics aloud, especially the sound effects, especially on trains – guarantees nobody sits next to me unless they are also a graphic novel fan.

I am resolutely NOT commenting on the captcha.

By: Suw

Suw — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:45:23 +0000

Kay, I’m not assuming that it increases your chance of publication, but I do believe that it exposes flaws in writing that might go unnoticed when you just read it over silently. I’m sure some editors love those complex multi-clause sentences. Personally, they’d be the kind of editors I’d prefer to steer clear of!

SirBenfro, yes, reading dialogue aloud is a good way to make sure it works but I’ve certainly found it helpful to read out the rest too. It can be hard to find the time and the peace and quiet required, but it’s always highlighted other problems for me too.

Loving the reCaptcha portents, btw. Perhaps this is a whole new field of divination. Captchamancy, perhaps? I got ’06 cohere’ – perhaps a warning that six people, or six groups, will come together to achieve a common goal soon?

By: SirBenfro

SirBenfro — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:13:49 +0000

I find that reading dialogue aloud is the only way to avoid terrible howlers, but I’ve never really tried reading a whole book that way. I get too many strange looks from the dogs. Still, Stuart MacBride swears by it too, so maybe I’ll give it a try.

(and now the captcha is ‘of parsed’ which seems kind of apposite.)

By: Kay Sexton

Kay Sexton — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:45:26 +0000

I’m not sure reading your work aloud increases your chances of publication, because there are many who love the convoluted Faulknerian multi-clause sentence, and most of them seem to be editors. But reading your work aloud should make you a better writer, that’s for sure.

As an aside, and worryingly, your captcha is ‘Pakistan beware’ – beware of Pakistan or Pakistan should beware what (apart from Al Queda)? Portenteous stuff for a bot-spotting device