[stylist] JAWS and Our Craft

[Applebutter Hill]

Bill,
I agree with you. I think hearing my writing has made me more aware of the
pacing and flow of the words. Good writing should stand out when read aloud,
IMO.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William L
Houts
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 9:17 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] JAWS and Our Craft


Glancing over some recent messages concerning screen readers and writing, I
thought I'd pony up some experience of my own.  In general, my experience
with Jaws as I carry on with my second novel has been spectacular,
especially when considering that blindness itself is, to put it mildly,
somewhat sub-optimal.  I wrote my first novel using JAWS with the Eloquence
synthesizer  (I'm one of that screen reader's older customers --my serial
number is only five figures long).  And as I prepare to plunge into the last
third of my current book, I'm seeing that my writing has actually improved.
And I think that might be because writing with a screen reader forces the
writer to pay attention to each and every word in a sentence, and make
editorial decisions based on rock solid standards about things like run-on
sentences and the use of ten dollar words where two dollars would serve the
purpose just as admirably.  Also, nowadays I have no patience for adverbs
which clutter up my prose line.  Noun, verb phrase period, that's the way
many of my sentences go.  Well, no, actually that's a bit of a lie.  I write
a comparatively poetic prose line, but it's rooted, I think, in elementary
grammar, the exception being when I think a semicolon and dependent clause
might be called for.

Anyway, I'd like to  know how other folks look at their writing from a
technical perspective, and whether they feel that writing with a screen
reader has helped or harmed their craft.  Any takers?


--Bill












--
"Let's drink a toast now to who we really are."

           --Jane Siberry


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