Aloud

I’m currently in the midst of my read-aloud for First Step. Other than the usual typos or missing words, I’m also finding instances of word repeats. Those are the cases where I use a word and then within a sentence or two, use it again. You’d think something like that would be obvious, but in reality it’s only when I read the story aloud that I find those. Why? Because they break the flow of the spoken word more than the written. Saying the words aloud should mean a nice narrative rhythm. It’s when there’s a break or even a falter that I find something that needs to be reworded or rephrased. The flow of the language should be natural. I’m about a quarter of the way through the book, and as always, it’s a very useful and instructive exercise.