Text to Speech as an editing aid

Hearing the words out loud helps in the editing process

I've found an awesome way to edit my writing. Listen to it! Not only is it amazing to hear, actually hear out loud, the words you've written (boy, is that really something I've written! It sound legit), but when you listen to the words you catch small grammatical errors. Something will just sound off and it's easier to catch with the ear than the eye. Also if you have a small typo, forget to pluralize something or you double type a word, you hear it quickly. 

You can use the READ ALOUD button if you are working in Microsoft word (It is under the REVIEW tabs). It works good, it's handy, and I personally use it way too much!

Read Aloud option in Microsoft Word

You can also use a Text to Speech website. There are a bunch out there. They will typically allow you to paste a little text and then allow you to hear it...the best part is that you usually have the options of different accents. I love a good British accent. Here is some of my writing, read by a Britain!

A MAP - Another Fantasy Tale

 World Building means making a map

Rough Map for AFT

It wasn't long into plotting out the basic story, and writing the first few pages, that I realized I needed to make a map. Not just for readers, but for me!

Creating a new world is fun, but it takes a lot of mental energy to both create it and then keep it straight (where was that mountain range again?)

I had made a general plan on where the story was going and I had three or four different locations where key events would happen - I had them going through a mountain, pulling a jail break at a rogue Castle, meeting the Council of Wizards...all of these things happened in different locations as they travelled across the land. Easy enough to keep track of, I thought. 

We start at the Wizard's manor. We end far south in the hellish land where the evil resides. The Halflings come from the North. The Council is just south of the Manor. The Mountain caves are nearby. Then the Castle and The Capital are near the evil lands. I had a rough vision in my mind...but again, it was like doing mental reps envisioning this made-up land over and over. It would be much easier to sketch out a rough draft as an external reference (save the brain for writing).

Doing this was kind of fun. I've always like maps and making up my own maps, so it wasn't a chore to me. Even though it is very basic it does a great job of showcasing the big picture. Like plotting out the big events in the story. The rough map was like, well, like a real- life map showing me the way from point A to point B. Using it helped me feel a bit more confident that I could get my vision across.

Putting the world on paper was a much needed step that helped me build the world, in all it's nitty-gritty. For instance the Halfling land is fairly close to the Manor, but I had the idea that it would be uncommon for Halflings to be near the Manor. The Manor should be out of the way. To show up there meant the Halflings would have had to overcome a tough journey through mountains or forests...which is why I threw in a mountain range and a forest blocking a direct route to the Manor. I also redirected the main road to angle away from the Manor. These were small details that I had to actually see on paper, before I made a blunder on the page.

Writers, get the ideas down on paper!

The map also pointed out that I hadn't actually named most of my locations. I knew what these places looked like, how the characters were going to get there, what would happen...but I needed some names. The visual of the map might help with writer's block. The name of the Mountain Cave could be a reference to its location - the Neck, or the Squeeze? That's if I can't think of anything else. Again, this map is giving me options. It's helping me move forward.

Do you Draw things out when you write?

PREVIOUS AFT BLOG POSTS

DRAFT ONE - ANOTHER FANTASY TALE

 First Page Draft. 

The first step to writing is to actually take a first step. Duh? 

You know that saying, every journey begins with the first step (or something like that)? To me, it works if my first step is more like a frantic, run from the-man-who-is-calling-from-inside-the house, kind of run. Not pretty. Arms flailing, lots of slips and falls, clothes get ripped open (possible showing of chest), and I will finally get caught and be brought to a dead standstill...but it gets me from point A to point B. Which is writing down the most words I can down in as little time as possible. Like a run for your life, you don't care what happens, you just go with it. So I just vomit words and ideas as fast as I can type (or write). I've found that if I think about grammar, spelling, word choice, sentence structure...all those little details, then I stop moving forward. 

I do not get my ideas down on paper.

I do not write. 

What I find works, is just throwing shit on a page and typing until I'm fresh out of shit. 

Then I clean it up after. 

This first part is often so bad that I need to put a warning for any member of the grammar police - this may cause long term trauma. 

A quick glance over 'the mess' is usually enough to catch any extremely offensive language mistakes. 

First patch.  

What I do after that is bring out the space-aged technology! There is a handy little button on my computer that will Read-The-Text out loud. Hearing the words, instead of reading them, is an ingenious way to catch little tiny grammar errors, word repetition, and run on sentences that when read can seem okay because maybe they are full of important information but when heard out loud they just sound very long and badly written. Bring out the handy man and shore up these mistakes. 

With a solid base I move onto the detail work. This is where I go old-school - Tree killing paper and toxic chemical pens. 

Step 2) I print, actually print a physical copy of the words. Sometimes I try to be eco-friendly and print it small, two pages per sheet, low quality ink...that kind of thing. It's the actual object that I need. To hold it. Write on it. Doodle. List. Draw. Scratch. Arrow. 

This is where I go over every word...does it bring me joy? If not, I throw it out...unless I can upgrade the word choice, then it has a chance of staying.  

I can say I do not relish this step. A) It is time consuming. B) It is heavy lifting for the brain. 3) It's hard. No other way to describe it. It's hard! 

The payoff is worth it though. By the time I'm done I have created a piece of art. Oh, and the writing has improved, at least I hope it has. 

Here is page one. 

First draft includes notes, doodles, and a coffee cup stain

I just want to frame it and put it up on my wall. If I had a writing room and wasn't using my kid's old laptop while sitting at the kitchen table I would totally wallpaper the writer's nook with these editing pages. Ego much? 

Do you have a method to your madness?

NEXT UP - I DRAW A MAP 

Name that Wizard.

THE NAMING OF A WIZARD

I have been working on a new novel - an epic fantasy. You know, with wizards, goblins, dragons, and a magic sword?

Wizards love their balls - fireballs!

 

It's great fun using the old imagination to come up with a mythical world, magical spells, hideous beasts, and that sort of thing. What I'm having trouble with is naming my main character - he is a grumpy Wizard.

There are some great Wizard names that I could borrow from:

• Merlin - the old classic, maybe too old and classic
• Albus or Harry - the modern wiz names, too soon, can't go there
• Gandalf - that's like a retired jersey number, a no go

Maybe a mashup of some well known Wizard tags would work - Ganderlin sounds Wizardy. Or Albandorf? 

Orko wants to change his name

The thing is, Wizards are typically from a made-up land where names are also made-up...so perhaps I should make-up a name...not perhaps, I NEED to make up a name. This is a chance to add to the world building I'm attempting to do in the book. It just wouldn't feel authentic if this wizard's name was Gary. Even just switching a letter or two gives it the feeling of a name from another world. Garvin (close to Gary), now that's a Wizard's name (from the awesome MYTH book series by Robert Aspirin).

But what if I did name my Wizard Gary? It could add to the character's personality. He could be traumatized/resentful by being a Gary, when he should have a Wizardly name like Ganderhoff. He could be so embarrassed by it that he insists to be called by a title instead of a name, ie Wizard, or Sir, or Master, or Master Wizard Sir.

Gary the Wizard ... I'm still not convinced

Okay, I think I've convinced myself to go with Gary...and Gary has a friend named Ganderhoff.

What do you think readers?