Nicole MacDonald Author

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

September 22, 2010 by Nicole 11 Comments

Reading out loud is invaluable. 
And guess what our crazy weather is up to at the moment *grin*.  It snowed last night!  Just on the tops of the hills in our valley and a very decent dumping on the Tararua Range.  Just to put this in perspective it hasn’t snowed once during this winter in our valley.  But along comes spring and hello snow!  Eeeh crazy NZ weather ;p  We now have weather warnings for fierce gales, flooding *yadayadayada* – they lifted the thunderstorm warning! *pout* So much for entertainment amongst it all *grin*  But aren’t the pictures of it pretty!
Back to the reading aloud.  The bestest thing EVER. 
Next to fabulous critiquers that is : )  As I’ve mentioned before I read aloud to my friends Sian and Loi who love the story as they are two of the four main characters.  So they like to add input as I’m reading… rather naughty input a lot of the time too! 
As I was reading through one scene I had one of those revelations.  It was boring – with a capital B.  Just the scene not the story but it means that today I’m working on removing bits of it and adding the ‘conflict’ I spoke of yesterday.  Which is pretty exciting. 
Actually there seems to have been rather a few posts lately by those I follow regarding conflict.  So if you’re one of them feel free to add a comment with a link to your post : ) No sense in me repeating it all *grin*  What I will say is that the line of conflict I’m adding will make all my beta readers happy.  It adds to the story, reveals the characters personalities more and throws in a hint of angst without making me wanna scream ; p  It also means I still keep my very awesome story line (OMG am I aching to start book two.. must finish current project!!).
And as a side note here’s a shout out to NZ designer Sera Lilly – your show was AWESOME!  And you had to have the sexiest models out of all the shows. Picking girls & women off the street for models was a fabulous concept (and yes they were trained to walk the runway – and looked stunning!)

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Filed Under: Pre 2016 posts Tagged With: reading aloud, Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Rowenna says

    September 22, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    Good point! I always feel like a goober reading my own writing out loud, but it does help to catch things you wouldn't see otherwise.

    Reply
  2. Mason Canyon says

    September 22, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    If I didn't read what I wrote out loud, I would have a new language created by now. LOL

    Spring is just coming for you and our summer is ending today.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

    Reply
  3. Clarissa Draper says

    September 22, 2010 at 1:14 pm

    I used to hate reading aloud but now I do it all the time. I even often read the books I buy aloud little bits at a time.

    CD

    Reply
  4. Jolene Perry says

    September 22, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    Wow. What a cool post. I always thought I'd use dancers if I were to be a designer. I don't plan on ever being a designer but I do watch Project Runway.
    I too am a HUGE believer in reading out loud.
    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Deborah Ann says

    September 22, 2010 at 10:58 pm

    I LOVE the deep purple colors here! Very nice…

    Reply
  6. SF says

    September 23, 2010 at 12:58 am

    Interesting post.
    I've always been told to read dialogue aloud, but I think reading everything aloud is the way to go. It forces an author to slow down and actually read stuff they might have read hundreds of times in their head. It adds a new perspective so you can 'see' the words again.
    It also makes any neighbours/housemates who overhear you think you're crazy!

    Reply
  7. Vicki Rocho says

    September 23, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Snow? That is a four letter word. It snowed on my birthday last year. Great present, I tell ya!

    Keep adding conflict in there…torture those poor girls–show the world how strong and resourceful they are!

    Reply
  8. Kerrin says

    September 23, 2010 at 5:10 am

    yay for conflict! torture is always great and you have to add that for great page turning quality!!

    Reply
  9. Kerrin says

    September 23, 2010 at 5:11 am

    not that yours doesn't have it already!!

    Reply
  10. Kelly Dexter says

    September 23, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Reading aloud is an integral part of my editing process. If anything trips me up or sounds forced and unnatural, out it goes.

    The dress in that last photo is absolutely gorgeous!

    Reply
  11. Lu's Place says

    October 11, 2010 at 1:43 am

    Hi I have not be blogging for several weeks due to a very sick husband. He seems to be on the mend so I would like to catch up with you. Did you finish your book? Did you get a publisher? We are having a beautiful autumn season here. The temperatures in the seventies and eighties but no moisture. The leaves are falling and people are putting out pumpkins for decorations. You have a good week!

    Reply

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