One of the earliest things I learned about revising our work and editing was to read the words out loud. It may seem odd for some, but reading out loud can help find a myriad of grammatical and punctuation errors which our eyes can easily miss.
Diana over at Myths of the Mirror, has written an excellent article on the importance of reading our work aloud.
DGKayewriter.com 
I always read aloud much to the dogs amusement. I do find it helps a lot.
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Lol, well at least you have an extra pair of ears. )
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Haha… I’ve seen cats have a similar reaction when I do that. I had to throw in their names here and there. If it wasn’t about them, they didn’t find it interesting. 😉 Hugs!
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OMG you crack me up!!!!! xo 🙂
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Hey, Debbie 🙂 What a nice surprise this morning. Thanks for sharing. I hope your day is full of good news and smiles.
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Hi Diana, thanks so much. I loved your article because it resonated so much with me when I learned the importance of reading our work aloud when I was editing my first book. It makes a huge difference what the ears can catch which the eyes may overlook. 🙂
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Extraordinary post; thanks for the re-blog. What I commented: “This is the best rationale for reading aloud I’ve even read/heard/saw! I need to do this before my chapters get shipped to a developmental editor. Thank you!”
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I’m so glad you found it useful Marian. It’s really an important trick of the trade. 🙂
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It’s so valuable to do this. I always read my writing aloud. And, much to the annoyance of the person who spends the most time with me, I often read it aloud to my husband! But two times aloud are better than one, right?
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Right. And your husband sounds amazing to listen to you. It’s fantastic that he takes so much interest in your work; unless of course you hijack him for the ride, lol. 🙂
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I second this advice and always do this, searching ruthlessly for redundancy and a better word order. The advice is as relevant to non-fiction as it is to fiction.
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Absolutely Malcolm. Thank you.
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I read aloud to my dog and he has to listen. When he wags his tail, I know I’m onto something. Besides, then I don’t feel silly talking when no one else is in the room 🙂
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Lol, thanks for sharing that Kristina. Just enough confirmation; less is more. 🙂
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I’ve been reading aloud for years, and I tell every writer they should too. It is surprising how easy it is to find some errors when doing this exercise.
Thanks for spreading the news. This is something all writing courses should teach.
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Absolutely Di. Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
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Yesss, it works so well for me too! I get most of my proofreading done right when I read my work out loud. Great tip there 🙂
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Thanks for sharing Abeeha. It seems to work for many writers. I wanted to share this post because there are a lot of new writers who may not be aware of how helpful reading aloud really is. 🙂
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Reading aloud really is a good technique. If a sentence is difficult to speak, it tends to slow down the person reading it too. It’s also important (especially with larger works) to proof from a few different formats, like print, PDF, computer screen, the Adobe tool that will read your document out loud… Reading something that appears even slightly different to the eye will help you find mistakes and problems.
Okay I’ll get off my editor soapbox. 😉 Mega hugs!
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Thank you for standing on the soapbox Teag, and expanding on the importance of reading aloud. Agreed on all counts! 🙂 xoxo
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I completely agree with you; reading out loud works great when proofreading your work. When I read my work out loud I catch things I would normally miss. Thanks for sharing the article! 🙂 xx
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Thanks for visiting Vashti and sharing how helpful reading aloud really is. 🙂 ❤
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Thanks for this Debbie.. I often read back my poems aloud. 🙂 Maybe I should read out loud more.. xxx
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Yes Sue, read it out LOUD! 🙂 xo
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🙂
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This is a great writing tip Deb. I often read out loud to hubby, he is so patient, but it is the best way I know to catch errors. The MS for my memoir might be a different matter though 🙂 xoxo
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You’d be amazed what you will catch by reading your memoir out loud too Sherri. Indeed, the ears, catch things the eyes sometimes overlook. 🙂 xoxo
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So true Deb, and never fails! 🙂 xoxo
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I read this one the first time round and 100% agreed with it then – Still do 😀 fantastic advice, now if only I could remember to follow it!!!!!
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You’ll be amazed how helpful it is! 🙂
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