Reading

When I was a child, I wasn't a good reader. And as I grew older and my reading ability and comprehension improved, I became very self-conscious about reading aloud. I always feared I would come across a word I didn't know and would be embarrassed. While I was in college, I refused to read aloud in English class.

Some time later I attended a church in which during Bible study we would take turns reading verses aloud. When I knew my turn was coming, I would silently read ahead and search for all the names I knew I'd have a hard time with. It is for that reason that I prefer the New Testament __ fewer difficult names.

I am still self-conscious about reading aloud, although I am willing to do it. When I read, it generally is with little infliction because mouth is several seconds behind my eyes and my mind, which are looking ahead for any difficult passages. With several seconds of lead time, I can work around some word with which I am unfamiliar.

I mention all this because I am self-conscious even if I am reading my own writing. If I ever get a book published, I can imagine having some reading and being so nervous about it ahead of time that I can barely go on. It would be better to just memorize vast portions of text and pretend to read them.

Reading your work aloud is good, however. I just spent the better part of an hour reading two chapters to my wife. Hearing your work read aloud helps you with pacing and in developing a true sense for how people will preceive it. There can be troublesome words or phases that you just don't pick up on without hearing your work aloud.

So find a good friend or loved one and read your work to them. Self-conscious or not, it will help.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.