What Helps Me with my Writing

I often use a text to speech software to help me listen to mistakes in writing when I'm self-editing. There's that old advice of reading your writing aloud, but this seems to improve upon that. The tendency to gloss over errors when reading our own writing undermines the purpose of the whole process. When listening to the narrative playback, listen carefully for plot development, speech patterns, and believable dialogue. As to the poets, you will hear the elements of imagery, rhythm, rhyme, and tone.



I have tried several such readers. My pick is www.naturalreaders.com. It is a free download (for windows users - I think macs have a built in reader already).


I hope this tip will be of great help to some of you.