Reading (out loud) is Fundamental

I'm onto the final stages of rewriting, which is exciting, daunting, and, well, tedious.

I'm reading the whole frakking book out loud to myself. And it's taking forever.

(Ever heard that joke?

"How's life?"

"Taking forever.")

I had a whole three day weekend to do this and I'm only about a third of the way through. Okay, so laziness and a deep desire to take naps interfered somewhat. But also, your dang voice gets tired after awhile. And the cats look at you funny. And the neighbors can hear you as they pass your front door.

However, I deeply recommend this as something to do as you get ready to submit your manuscript. I've caught all sorts of typos, missing words, bad punctuation, stilted sentences, dialogue in need of work, ideas that need clarifying, and so on.

And you can practice your otherwise terrible acting skills and facility with accents. I've got the Cockney bodyguard down cold but am having trouble with the smooth more upper class British hero. But it's kind of fun to try. Most importantly, I'm making my book look as polished and professional as possible before anyone claps eyes on it.

Oy. More reading out loud ahead tonight. Wish me luch with the Corsican mobster!