Reading Our Manuscripts Aloud - the entire thing & Wayne Caldwell & Osondus

my porch

I think I can be back tomorrow to put up my Friday Shoot Outs, which is Doors & Windows (if memory serves me correctly . . . ), because this time I do want to make it about "my town" and not someone else's town!

I'm peeking in to say good morning and I already miss stopping by your sites to say hello and see what you all are up to, however, I know that I simply must must must focus on Vk Saga's Book 2, Secret Graces. I will continue to put up something here, because it starts my day nicely.

What I wanted to tell you is how yesterday I went to Osondu Booksellers, where Margaret Osondu is having "Lunch with Authors" series. Wayne Caldwell, author of the novel Cataloochee, was there to talk about his novel during the 75th anniversary of the Smoky Mountains National Park. His first novel explores this a little, but his second novel will explore it even more.

Anyway, when he was reading from his galley for the second novel (galleys are what the publishers send to you to read over - - there is that last chance to catch any errors and it's the most EEK time for me. Because of that Last Chance. If the editors at the publishers, and the author, and anyone else who may be reading, do not catch an error, it goes to the printer with the error) he stopped and said, "Oh oh, I just found a dangling modifier!" I just laughed out loud! Thought about my "cleaning up our manuscripts post" and the dangling participle one *teehee*

But what struck me was how he said he read ALL of his novel manuscript ALOUD! I asked, "You read the entire novel aloud?" He said, "Yes . . . " I sat back. I pondered. I wondered. I thought, "Oh dear." Because that is exactly what I am going to want to do now. I've read short pieces aloud, I've read my pitiful attempts at poetry aloud, and I've read portions of my novel that I may have stumbled over a bit, but never ever have I read the entire novel aloud! I didn't read Tender Graces aloud. So now, now that the handsome and wonderful Wayne Caldwell of Cataloochee fame has said he reads his MS aloud . . . ole Kat has a bee in her bonnet buzzing about - - I simply will have to do it. Another layer. Another "thing" that will allow me to have as perfect as I can manuscript - which perfection never happens, still . . . I know that reading aloud can "point to" snags in our manuscripts, but the idea of reading page after page after page after page aloud - oh dear. But, that bee is buzz buzz buzzing . . .

What do you think about that? reading your manuscript--your entire novel draft--aloud?

Tomorrow I will be speaking to the Asheville Writing Enthusiasts in Asheville North Carolina!
The Asheville Writing Enthusiasts group is dedicated to helping writers improve their writing while helping other writers do the same. The group is led by award-wining author, teacherand AWE Director David Pereda. The group is a regional affiliate of the FWA