More About "Listening" To Your Novel

I'm not much for proclaiming, "This is gold, Jerry! Gold!", but the Read Aloud feature in Word truly is, at least for me. I was thinking about this as I read a discussion regarding "writing rules". I hate those; not discussions; rules. At this point there are so many so-called rules that trying to adhere to them all would be like struggling to follow a recipe with instructions such as, "Don't add too much, now!" or "I know I said pepper earlier, but what I meant was salt." You end up with a collapsed cake that goes immediately from oven to trash can.

There's a difference between what "reads right" and what "sounds right". Odd for a writer as insecure as me, but I tend to render my manuscripts as good when I re-read them. Except I'm not reading the missing parts. It goes back to the old mind reading misconception. I certainly know what I meant by that passage! It makes perfect sense to me! 

I won't claim that sitting back and listening to my story is a foolproof way to spot its problems. If I'm over-familiar with a particular passage (say, from editing it a hundred times) I'll anticipate what's coming next when listening, so again I've mentally filled in the blanks. But I've been drafting my current novel for a long time, and I've honestly forgotten a lot, so what I'm hearing seems new. Objectivity! Egads!  

All this brings me back to rules. Here's my rule: If it sounds right, it is right.

Clearly, my downfall is description. I sprinkle it in when it feels appropriate, but description for its own sake is a conceit. Right now I'm glancing at the little clock on my desk. Sure, I could describe it to you in minute detail, but why? Even if, say, a little clock played a role in a story; such as a character waiting for another character to arrive or the main character is tense waiting for something to happen, do I really want to write, "I stared at the little white clock with its numerals in Garamond type; its second hand gliding from the one to the two; its red alarm hand halted at four thirty. The clock's efficiency fascinated me; so silent, yet so commanding." ?

Uh, okay, but what's happening in the story?

Maybe I don't do this because my characters rarely sit around and ponder. I know little about literary fiction, except that it sounds like a pain in the ass to read, but while my clock scenario might well fit into a literary novel, all it would accomplish in one of mine would be to slow the story down to a crawl. So, in the context of my current story, if I heard that read back to me, I'd exclaim, "Oh, come on!"

But, you know, one of "the rules" is show; don't tell.

If you ever wonder if you're following one of the rules too strictly or not strictly enough, or not following a rule at all, just listen. Does that section sound like it needs something? Does it go on and on until you've lost the thread?

And no adverbs? Really? Tell me why not. I can go along with not leaning on adverbs as a crutch, but that holds true for any facet of writing. Not every noun needs an adjective, either, but if I'm asked to picture something, sometimes it's clearer if I know what color it is. Again, how does it sound out loud? 

To be honest with regard to adverbs, there are only so many ways to say, for example, "run" when describing the particular manner in which a character is running. Do I really want to waste half a writing session looking for an action verb to replace a simple descriptor? If it bothers me that much, I'll deal with it in the editing process. Stephen King isn't the boss of me. Funny thing, though, when I've heard passages in which I've added adverbs, I don't even notice them.

If you write in a program other than Word, one that doesn't have a read aloud feature, you can always read your manuscript out loud yourself. Personally, I would never do it; maybe I would if I lived alone. "Oh, there she goes; talking to herself again. Quick, call the mental health hotline!" But hearing your novel is so invaluable, don't overlook it.

Sure, I've only gotten through a tiny bit of my story so far, but right now, I find myself dreaming about turning it into an audiobook.