Getting Up To Speed

You get a very different impression of a place by riding through it in a car than if you walk. This observation is usually intended to encourage us to slow down and really absorb our surroundings, which is a healthy thing to do. But sometimes you need to pick up the pace.

Your reader will be in a car, but you as the writer must go on foot. This gives you the chance to stop and smell the proverbial roses, to find the rich sensory details that bring your story’s world to life. But it also puts you at risk of losing touch with your reader’s perspective. Getting from page five to page fifteen might take days for you, but it’ll probably be a matter of minutes for someone reading the finished product.

This is one of the many good reasons to read your prose aloud. Cruise through it at the same speed that it’ll be experienced by the audience. It will help you make sure the focus is where you want it, and that it flows.

Don’t get wrapped around the axel of this automotive metaphor, of course. Not every journey is meant to be perfectly smooth, or follow the most efficient route. It could even be a good thing if you skidded right off the road. But, whatever your intended effect, you’ll only be able to tell if you’re achieving it by taking it out for a spin.

A writing partner is someone who reads the work-in-progress out loud so you can listen to the engine purr.