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Why Should Writers Listen To Audio Books?
No matter the genre in which you write, it's important that you always keep learning. No writer, regardless of how successful he or she may be should ever come to conclusion that they've learned all there is to know about the craft.
How does a writer keep learning? It's important that you always have your trusty copy of The Elements of Style on hand and that you read as much as possible inside and outside your genre, including the classics. You need to make sure that you know story structure and that you know enough about stereotypes and clichs to avoid them or turn them sideways and use them as a battering ram.
Something else you might want to explore as a writer is audio books.
How can audio books help your writing? Think back to your childhood and remember all those times a parent, teacher, or librarian would read a book aloud. The cadence of the sentences, the choice of the words, and the pace of the story were all very important, and they didn't happen by accident. The writer (and probably the editor too) put a lot of thought into them.
As a writer, you already know that the words you choose are very important. While you may have some great phrases in your latest story, you need to consider how they are going to sound when a reader cracks open your book and digs in. Even if someone isn't reading the story aloud, their inner reader will still struggle with awkward phrasings. This is often enough to turn him or her away from your work.
Listening to audio books can help you learn the rhythms of written language so you can learn what does and doesn't work. Pay attention to the word choices in description and dialogue, and consider the pacing of the story.
Listen to a few books in different genres and you will see that they have a very different "feel" to them, a different cadence. A crime novel by a genre great like Michael Connelly will sound much different from how the latest Nicholas Sparks novel sounds. While different, both do exactly what they are supposed to do.
The best stories, regardless of genre, will be able to paint clear pictures in your mind. They will not have clumsy sentences and the dialogue will sound realistic. The story will flow. Listening to audio books is a great way to "see" this in action.
The next time you finish writing a story or a chapter, try reading it aloud. Sure, you might feel a bit silly when you start out and you might have a voice best suited for silent film, but it is for the best. You will spot mistakes your brain would gloss over if you were just reading silently.
Note all of the places that your tongue trips and stumbles. Remove or change those passages until they are smooth and fit with the other sentences. You may have to get rid of some sentences that you truly adore, but when you are writing for an audience, you need to remember that your job is to keep them in the story, to entertain them. Don't show off with how clever you are (or think you are) with your turns of phrase. All writers have to kick their ego to the curb.
You can find some great places online to buy audio books. Audible is one of the most popular, but the iTunes store and plenty of other online retailers have audio books for sale as well. If you don't have the money to spend on audio titles, you should be able to find some at your local library.
By Jason M. Tucker -
I am a fulltime writer living and working in Southern California, where the sun always shines and the only thing rising faster than zombies is the cost of living. My book MEAT CITY & OTHER STORIES, published... Next page: Free Audio Books Downloads
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